Doctor’s Note: Advice on Sourcing Your Meat

The following is an excerpt from Dr. Michael Crupain’s new cookbook “The Power Five”. A board-certified preventive medicine physician whose mission is to make the world a healthier place, Dr. Crupain is a multiple Emmy® Award-winning producer and author of the best-selling book “What to Eat When,” the sequel “The What to Eat When Cookbook” and “The Power Five: A Cookbook.” You can try a recipe from his latest cookbook here.

Sourcing Your Meat

While meat falls into the “eat less” category, it really should be “eat better.” Here’s a secret your doctor hasn’t told you: Sourcing better meat is better for your health. And I’m about to tell you why.

Let’s start by addressing the rise of plant-based meat products. The popularity of Beyond Meat and the Impossible Burger are an acknowledgment that eating more plants is something people want to do—and that’s a good thing. We should be increasing our plant consumption and decreasing our meat intake for the benefits of our health and environment. However, the jury is still out on whether these manufactured plant-based foods are any better for us, healthwise. In my opinion, if you want to eat meat, you should eat the real thing. Just do it better by choosing higher-quality meat and eating it less frequently.

I became interested in where my food comes from in my 20s, even taking to YouTube to create a fun and informative series called The Dairy Show. I hit the road with a camera and started interviewing farmers, ranchers, and animal husbandry experts. I quickly learned these professionals really cared about the animals they raised, and I expanded my relationships with some of the best over the years.

I’ve come to know and respect Paul Willis, the founding hog farmer of Niman Ranch. Twenty-five years ago, when he started with Niman, small, pasture-based hog farmers were struggling to compete among the industrial livestock competitors dominating the industry. Paul wanted nothing to do with the hog factories that were springing up around his home in Iowa. His first five pigs were actually given to him for free with his purchase of a sow, which he says sounded like a good deal at the time. It turns out that sow would change the course of his life—and meat production as a whole. Paul’s work impacted hundreds of ranchers who also wanted to raise animals cleanly, sustainably, and humanely.

“I enjoyed the animals being out on the pasture,” Paul told me. “Our standards are based on the natural inclinations of the animals. They have to have bedding to nest and plenty of room.” Paul’s systems are based on Swedish methods, developed when confinement systems were outlawed there. “At the time, I wasn’t raising pork chops, I was raising pigs.”

After seeing free-range chicken labels start to pop up at grocery stores, Paul wondered if there was a market for pasture-raised pigs. He connected with Bill Niman and ended up selling pork to some of most influential chefs in the country. “Bill told me Alice Waters of Chez Panisse loves it. I said, ‘Who’s that?’”

Paul and Bill found other farmers who were interested in raising animals more naturally and sustainably, and more chefs and regular folks signed on as customers. Today, Niman has a network of 750 family farmers, all committed to raising their animals with a high standard of care. Paul admits he had no idea what the Niman Ranch company would become when he started, and he takes pride in its grassroots beginnings. Paul’s farm was the first in the United States to be Certified Animal Welfare Approved.

A few years ago, I attended the Niman annual Hog Farmer Appreciation Dinner in Des Moines, Iowa. At the dinner, famous chefs use Niman products to whip up an amazing meal to honor young farmers. It was truly the “farmer prom” of my dreams and was actually incredibly moving. In a world where fewer children are following in their farming parents’ footsteps, I met younger and older generations who work hand in hand to sustain the family business and the land at the same time. I saw more than a few tough dudes break down in tears during some of the presentations. These folks work really, really hard and rarely take a break. They take amazing pride in what they do and being part of Niman lets them farm better and live better all around.

But the sad truth is most of the meat consumed in the United States is not from operations that meet Niman standards. The supermarket meat we buy and consume largely comes from industrial farms very far removed from what generations of ranchers know is the best way to rear animals. Factory-farmed meat keeps cows or hogs congregated in small quarters amid feces and bacteria. They eat on large feedlots or grow-out facilities designed to increase speed to market and increase the bottom line, not make a healthier animal.

I am not the first to point that out to you, and I won’t be the last. But I will tell it to you straight: It’s useless to fault corporate farms for trying to pump out more meat for less cost. As a society, consumers have been telling them for years that’s what they want—quantity over quality. After all, eating meat two meals a day, seven days a week is the American way. We line up for new fast-food fried chicken sandwich launches the way we used to queue up for concert tickets. We come running at the promise of a steak as big as our head with a double coupon on Wednesdays. Watching another Netflix documentary showcasing the problem will do little to improve your health, but choosing better with your dollars sends a real signal to the meat industry. And decreasing the demand for commodity meat by making it a sometimes food rather than a default main could protect you from disease, lengthen your life, and leave you with a more varied palate that seeks out different flavors and textures.

I have learned one important golden rule when it comes to buying meat: How the animals are raised makes a difference in the final product. And if you eat meat less frequently, it’s easier to afford paying a little more for better quality.