Pollinators Thrive on Land Grazed by Cattle, New Study Finds

Grass-based farming is essential for protecting our ecosystem and our health. The extra dollars you might spend to get higher quality meat are worth it for so many reasons. Grass-fed beef has a perfect balance of omega-3 to omega-6, and is much higher in CLA than CAFO beef. If you still think beef will give you heart disease because it contains saturated fat and cholesterol, think again. My article Saturated Fat and Heart Disease: Unraveling the Myth addresses some of the misconceptions around these nutrients.

Laurel Blair, NTP
www.dynamicbalancenutrition.com


A Way to Save America's Bees: Buy Free-Range Beef

by NICOLETTE HAHN NIMAN

Here on our ranch, the yard and gardens are now humming with so many busy bees that if I let our two-year-old go barefoot outside, I'd probably get arrested for child endangerment. Meanwhile, a suburban woman recently complained to me that she hadn't seen a single bee in her garden this year. This contrast would make perfect sense to scientists at the University of California - Berkeley, who've just released a study showing that grazing lands provide critical habitats for wild bees and other pollinators.

The research was led by Berkeley environmental sciences professor Dr. Claire Kremen, among the world's foremost pollinator authorities. The team evaluated the role of wild pollinators, concluding that they are essential to our food system and that livestock grazing areas are vital for protecting them. "Preserving rangelands has significant economic value, not only to the ranchers who graze their cattle there, but also to farmers who need the pollinators," Kremen concluded from her study.

Globally, about three-quarters of crop species depend on animal pollinators to produce fruits or seeds, and over 90 percent of vitamins A and C in foods are derived from pollinator-dependent crops. More than a third of total crop biomass depends on animal pollinators, especially bees.

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