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Go Green or Bust? When to Buy Organic
Animal Products
Verdict: Go green
Pick your protein wisely. Organically raised cows, chickens, and pigs are not given antibiotics (which may pave the way to drug-resistance in humans), their feed has not been genetically tweaked, and they may be treated in a more humane way, says Newgent. (Interestingly, chickens and pigs raised in the U.S. are never given hormones, rendering a "hormone-free" label relatively meaningless.) Besides protecting yourself from potential superbugs, you might be sparing your waistline: Organic meat is brimming with Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA), thought to promote weight loss and lessen your risk of cancer and heart disease; organic milk may contain higher amounts of health-promoting nutrients like beta-carotene and omega-3 fatty acids, along with CLA.
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Cows and chickens are in fact fed hormones in the United States. Factory Farms grow chickens from birth to slaughter in 42 days, and have altered some breeds to grow breast meat as much as 5x larger than they originally did. I'm sure not all farms do this (hopefully), my info is based on several farms in the upstate and finger lakes regions of New York.
9/8/2012 11:16:37 AM Report Abuse