Fitness
Meaty and Marbled: The Best Grass-Fed Steaks You Can Buy Online
No offense, standard grocery meat, but nothing beats a deep-red, well-marbled steak. Not only do grass-fed steaks look more appealing—even in their raw state—those webs of white fat running through the cut finish off juicier, meatier, more flavorful, and also healthier. Grass-fed steaks contain up to five times more omega-3 fatty acids than grain-fed beef with lower levels of saturated fat.
Grass-fed operations have also proven to be a more ethical and environmentally sound way of raising cattle. In general, fields of grass promote land and soil biodiversity as well as drought resistance while inhibiting floods. Moreover, grass-fed beef production can sequester carbon, which helps offset methane emission and reduce greenhouse gas levels.
No question, grass-fed steaks are the healthier and tastier choice for grilling. So where do you splurge on some? Order your premium slabs from one of these five outstanding operations.
Where to Buy the Best Grass-Fed Steaks Online
Verde Farms Courtesy Image
1. Verde Farms
During a trip to South America, the founder of Verde Farms was so inspired by how reverently the gauchos (cowboys) treated and raised their cattle—he adopted their tenets: Respect the animals; honor the land; value family, simplicity, and integrity.
The company now sources its USDA organic, 100 percent grass-fed, grass-finished beef from just a few family farms in Uruguay—one of the world’s top grass-fed beef producers. Free-range and antibiotic- and hormone-free, Verde Farms products also include ground beef, sausage, roasts, and stew meat.
[From $11; verdefarms.com]
Belcampo Courtesy Image
2. Belcampo
This network of eight farms began with one 30,000-acre spread at the base of Mount Shasta in Gazelle, California. The founding mission: bring pasture-raised beef to market with regenerative farming practices while using certified-humane slaughtering processes.
Dedicated to allowing its animals to remain in herds and rotate frequently through robust fields, Belcampo is committed to healthier animals and ecosystems. Aside from grass-fed steaks, the company also sells premium pork, lamb, poultry, bacon, sausage, offal, bones, and jerky.
[From $14; belcampo.com]
3. White Oak Pastures
Based in Bluffton, Georgia, this former industrial farm began switching over to regenerative farming practices over 25 years ago. Emphasizing organic and holistic farming, White Oak Pastures ethically raises 10 species of livestock, while making efforts to capture soil carbon to neutralize greenhouse gas emissions from cattle.
A zero-waste farm, the company uses every part of an animal after processing. Hides are dried for pet rawhide or made into leather. Fat is rendered down for tallow. Other parts are composted to serve as fertilizer.
In addition to grass-fed steaks, several other premium meats are sold here—including poultry, lamb, heritage pork and Iberico pork, plus specialty meats like bison, boar, elk, and gator.
[From $16; whiteoakpastuers.com]
4. Alderspring Ranch
This cattle ranch is run family-style with seven daughters in tow over 46,000 acres of rangeland near May, Idaho.
The Alderspring Ranch crew is dedicated to raising cattle according to the animal husbandry method—a timeless technique requiring close attention to livestock’s natural tendencies, meeting animal needs on their own terms. They also practice “stockmanship”—the art and science of proper herding.
Beef is purely grass-fed, certified organic without the use of antibiotics, growth hormones or GMO crop feeding. Lamb, pork, poultry, dairy, and a home-grown jerky line called Wild Cow are also available.
[From $19; alderspring.com]
5. Carman Ranch
This small group of Oregon ranchers was spearheaded by a multigenerational family raising cattle in the state for over a century. Carman Ranch and its five producers are fully dedicated to regenerative farming practices that sequester carbon while restoring and building soil utilized for livestock production.
All animals are grass-fed and grass-finished on free-range pasture, and never fed antibiotics or hormones. In addition to all cuts of steaks, Carman Ranch sells lamb, poultry, pork, bone broths, hot dogs, beef sticks, and hook-and-line caught tuna and cod.
[From $17; carmanranch.com]
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