From Care2 comes the top ten eco-friendly reasons to buy organic meat and dairy…

1. Free of Antibiotics, Added Hormones, GMO Feed and Other Drugs

Animals raised organically are not allowed to be fed antibiotics, the bovine human growth hormone (rbGH), or other artificial drugs. Plus, the animals are raised in a healthier environment, fed organic feed, and often eat a wider range of nutrients than those raised in factory farms.

2. Mad Cow Safeguard

Animals are fed 100 percent organic feed without ground up animal parts.

3. More Ethical Treatment Of Animals

Factory farms treat animals like commodities.

4. Free-Range

The words “free-range,” and “ranch raised” are clues that the animals were raised in a more humane way. Their diet tends to be more well-rounded; the animals are not confined and spend time outdoors in the fresh air.

5. Manure

On small, diverse farms, manure is used to naturally fertilize soil. Industrial farms produce so much manure that it becomes a human health risk.

6. Animals Are Integral To Small Farms

Small farms often have trouble acomodating all the animal offspring, so selling some of them makes economic sense and is an economic help to the farm itself.

7. Fewer Chemicals Used

Residues of persistent chemicals such as DDT, PCBs, dioxin, and many pesticides concentrate in animal fat. Eating organic animal fat reduces your exposure to these chemicals. Plus, farmers working on organic farms are exposed to fewer chemicals.

8. Diversity

Industrial farms rely on just a few species of cattle, chickens, pigs, etc., whereas small sustainable farms tend to raise a wider variety of livestock. Support our food supply by buying food representative of a wide gene pool.

9. Factory Farms Are Resource Hogs

The factory farm industry is run with cheap, nonrenewable fossil fuel. Organic farms tend to use less energy with careful ecological management and natural ecological balances to solve pest problems. Buying from local farms also further reduces energy use by reducing the distance the food travels to your table.

10. Your Dollars Support Your Farms

If you buy your meat from an organic farmstand at a farmer’s market you support that farm. You can contribute to the wellbeing of your community by supporting small, local, diverse organic farms.

Check out the Organic Trade Association’s website for more information. The OTA is a membership-based business association that focuses on the organic business community in North America. Its mission is to promote and protect the growth of organic trade to benefit the environment, farmers, the public and the economy.

Photo credit: American Farm Burea