February 2, 2024

American Bison: The Other Red Meat

Bison, Grass Fed, Prevent Cardiovascular Disease

There are few more iconic images of the prairie and the American West than the American Bison. These huge animals once roamed throughout the United States West of the Mississippi in numbers estimated at more than 60 million. The American Bison played a central role in the lives and culture of many Native American tribes. However, as the pioneers moved West and the railroads advanced, the American Bison was hunted to near extinction. By 1893, the American Bison population was estimated to be less than 300.

Today, domesticated American Bison flourish on bison ranches across the U.S. Approximately 150,000 are raised on public and private lands, and roughly 20,000 are slaughtered each year for food. While the bison industry is miniscule by comparison to the cattle industry which slaughters 125,000 cattle every day, bison meat offers distinct health benefits compared to domesticated cattle.

Health Benefits of Bison Meat

1. Lower Chance of Food-born Illnesses such as E. coli

Unlike domesticated cattle, American Bison are typically grass-fed bison. Commercial feed used in the cattle industry is comprised predominantly of subsidized grain in order to cut costs and streamline production. Unfortunately, the unnatural diet is not properly digested by the cattle and they require vaccinations and injections and sometimes surgery to help them digest the feed. On occasion the animals develop pathogens from the improperly digested food. One of the most common is E. coli. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that at least 2000 Americans are hospitalized and about 60 die every year as a direct result of E. coli infection.

The main avenue for the spread of E. coli is ground beef. In mass-produced pre-packaged ground beef, one pound of ground hamburger could contain meat from thousands of different animals. Greatly increasing the chances for one infected cow to spoil a large batch of meat.

American Bison are raised in a pasture and are grass-fed. Their natural diet. They are also processed on a much smaller scale and the probability of food-borne illness is significantly lower.

2. No Hormones

While rBST is banned in the European Union, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and most of the Western world; it is legal in the United States. The producer of rBST, Monsanto, continuously fills key positions at the FDA, NIH, and USDA with former and current employees to ensure that their products remain legal.

Here is just a short list of Monsanto employees that helped ensure the legal status of rBST in the United States: Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas; Deputy Commissioner for Foods at the FDA, Michael R. Taylor; U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Ann Veneman; Deputy Administrator of the EPA, Linda Fisher; former Acting Commissioner of the FDA, Michael Friedman; and U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Mickey Kantor.

The hormone rBST is created by injecting the amino acids of BST into the DNA of E. coli bacterium. Despite their best attempts to ensure the legal status of rBST in the United States, growth hormones have become wildly unpopular with American consumers. Due to consumer demand, cow meat and cow products infested with rBST have been eliminated from store shelves at Kroger, Wal-Mart, Starbucks and numerous other national chains. No American Bison farms inject their livestock with hormones.