Pasture Perfect: How You Can Benefit from Choosing Meat, Eggs, and Dairy Products from Grass-Fed Animals

by Jo Robinson, Frances Robinson (Editor)

Jo Robinson s popular book Pasture Perfect explains the far-reaching benefits of choosing meat, eggs, and dairy products from animals raised on pasture. Drawing on over 13 years of research, Robinson explains that products from grass-fed animals are safer for you and more nutritious than food from animals raised in feedlots. The animals benefit as well. Chickens are free to graze on greens, scratch for insects, enjoy sun baths, and roost in comfort. Cattle, bison, dairy cows and lambs are truly contented as they graze on green pasture, breathe fresh air, and stay on the farm from birth until market. What s more, raising animals on pasture is better for the environment. It requires less fossil fuel, enriches the soil with nutrients, and turns manure into a resource, not a waste problem. Robinson is the first investigative journalist to gather all the scientific evidence about the benefits of raising animals on pasture. As readers will learn, products from grass-fed animals are free of added hormones and antibiotics and are less likely to transmit foodborne pathogens. The food is also higher in Vitamin E, beta-carotene, omega-3 fatty acids, and CLA, a cancer-fighting fat. Pasture Perfect does more than explain the benefits of choosing pastured products it also helps you locate, store, and cook them. Sixty pages of recipes will show you how to bring out the tenderness and flavor of this highly nutritious, environmentally friendly food. Accurate and carefully researched, Pasture Perfect provides a concise overview of this greenest of all industries for consumers, policy makers, and farmers.

Genres: Health, Food, Nonfiction, Nutrition, Sustainability

152 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Jo Robinson, an investigative journalist and New York Times best-selling writer, is the author of the book, Pasture Perfect, and the principal researcher and writer for the eatwild.com web site. Jo has spent the last nine years researching the many benefits of raising animals on pasture. Her interest grew out of a previous book, The Omega Diet, co-authored with Dr. Artemis Simopoulos, that explores the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet. While researching the book, Jo learned that meat from pasture-raised animals is very similar to meat from wild game and that both promote optimal health.

Starting with this insight, she began an exhaustive search of the scientific literature from the 1960s to the present. To date, she has identified hundreds of peer-reviewed studies showing that raising animals on pasture is good for the animals, the environment, farm families, and the health of consumers. She gives talks to ranchers, government agencies, sustainable agricultural groups, and the general public around the country. Jo has been interviewed by scores of journalists and reporters about the benefits of raising animals on pasture.

Jo's book, When Your Body Gets the Blues, extended her interest in natural health to human psychology. Working with Dr. Marie-Annette Brown from the University of Washington, she developed a clinically proven, all-natural program that boosts women's mood and energy level and tames their appetite. (The book was featured in an hour-long special on PBS throughout the summer of 2003.)

Jo lives on Vashon Island in Washington State. She is developing a test garden that features plants with exceptional nutritional value that are similar to plants growing in the wild.

Reviews

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book that is a must read for those who eat meat or other animal products and do not stick to a plant-based diet alone. The author, Jo Robinson, goes into great detail regarding how our food is produced and processed and what healthy production means for our health, the health of our land and soil, and the welfare and health of our animals. She tells you what to look for, where you can find it, and even how you cook it. She leads you to a great resource: www.eatwild.com, which contains a state-by-state directory of farmers who raise their animals on grass and so much more. The back section of the book contains recipes from Eatwild farms and ranches. This is followed by a section that includes sauces and rubs. The book ends with a great Notes and References section, which is very detailed and easy to follow.

[Deeanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is excellent. My only complaint is that it is so short. I don't really know what more there is to say on the topic, but I could've kept reading about it forever.

I read this book once, slowly to digest all the info and then one more time right after so I could be sure I retained the information. The writing is succinct and very informative, while still being easy to understand. Now that I have more concrete knowledge about animal products, I have actually started taking action and modifying what I eat. There is still progress to be made, but I rarely see actual, tangible results from books I've described before as "changing my life". I got this book from the library but I will buy a copy someday and keep it around for reference.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you care at all about the source of your food, this is a very important book to read. Eggs from the grocery store and eggs from pasture raised chickens are not the same thing. The difference was apparent by looking at them before, but it was good to read what exactly is different.

It makes perfect sense, and the author does a very nice job of staying unbiased in her research and backing up her findings with study upon study.

Boy, I have alot to say about food and what we are doing to ourselves as we put things in our mouths. If you're interested, email me or something! (Or I can give you a reading list. . .)

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Succinct and valuable book about the benefits of eating meat and eggs from animals raised naturally, on pasture, rather than in CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, such as feedlots for cattle, or the ubiquitous chicken houses of our area). Simply put, just as we can say to a person, “You are what you eat” – meaning that our health depends on what we put into our bodies, so we can also say that our FOOD “is what it eats.” The vitamins and other nutrients in pasture-raised meat far surpass those in animals fed on grain, animal by-products, and other substances.

[Mary Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous book that includes recipes by grass-fed beef ranchers! Purchase it at Eatwild.com, a watchdog for local sustainable farmers, or make a donation to the cause. Eatwild.com is a comprehensive webpage that explains the difference between grass-fed and regular beef, the benefits to animal and man. It includes an interactive map of the US, so that you can find local farmers and grass-fed ranchers near you.

Check it out at: http://www.eatwild.com/products/index...

[Gwendolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that should be read by anyone who eats meat or other animal products. Learn about how our food is produced and what it means for our own health, the planet's health, and the health of the animals. A truly eye-opening read.