How can eating grass fed meat benefit the environment?

Grass fed meat.

A topic we love to chat about in our Herefordshire farm shops, and one we feel extremely aligned with as we all work together to support sustainable farms of the future.

But why?

What makes pasture fed meat, such as grass fed beef and grass fed lamb, so special in many people’s eyes?

Well, up first are its undeniable health benefits. From being lower in saturated fat in comparison to grain fed meat to containing high levels of vitamins and minerals… The list really does go on! We’ve compiled just some of the many health benefits of eating grass fed meat here in this blog if you’d like to take a read.

And then there are the environmental benefits of rearing livestock on a diet consisting of grass and preserved forage, such as silage, which we shine a spotlight on below:

1. Grass preservation and restoration

According to Defra (the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs), all arable and horticultural crops, uncropped arable land, land used for outdoor pigs, temporary and permanent grassland and common rough grazing accounts for 70% of the total area here in the UK.

And as the NFU (National Farmer’s Union) explain in this article, grazing animals such as cattle and sheep on this farmland give some grasses, which would have otherwise been inedible, a new lease of life as they help to nurture nutritious meat that’s packed with the amazing health benefits mentioned above.

What’s more, these areas of farmland also provide homes for native insects and wildlife. They too play their roles in balancing our ecosystems by maintaining soil and recycling nutrients which in turn, encourages the regrowth of healthy grass.

2. Reduced carbon footprint

While livestock and other animals regenerate the soil with organic matter, carbon is being captured and stored in place of polluting the environment.

In this blog, Pasture For Life (The Pasture-Fed Livestock Association) shares that the carbon footprint of farms with grassland is lower than farms where crops are grown to feed animals. This reinforces the National Trust’s report ‘What’s Your Beef?’, where their findings advocated that feeding cows on a purely grass diet is the most sustainable way to rear beef, as well-managed grass pasture can also absorb carbon from the atmosphere and reduce net emissions by 94%!

3. Reduced usage of chemical-based fertilisers

You may have heard more recently that ‘legumes’ are being sown into grassland (and you may have also seen this in action within the recent season of Jeremy Clarkson’s Farm).

Legumes, such as clovers, help to create nutritious forage for livestock, are known for improving bio-diversity, and make nitrogen from the atmosphere and the soil – for free, meaning the land then requires less chemical fertiliser to grow, in addition to needing less water too.

In our farm shops you’ll always find the freshest, locally-sourced grass fed beef and grass fed lamb which has been reared within just six miles of our Bromyard store’s doorstep. It has, and will always be, our mission to back British farming and work with our neighbouring farmers to supply you with the most tender and flavoursome meats that benefit your health and the environment.

Here are some of the grass fed cuts you can also order from us online, have delivered to your door and enjoy: