"ORGANIC" LAMB: Necessary?

(Zu) #1

Hello, I have a debacle. (pardon the long post)

The meat I love dearly is fatty lamb and I need to be eating more of it i’m pretty sure. Sure, I will eat chicken, beef is okayyyy, but I can be slightly off put by the smell though I am improving. I do not eat pork due to my religion and I require halal meat - which Australia is the biggest exporter of - so its not a really issue to find halal here. BUT…

I have been eating strictly Organic meat for around 3 years, as I am pretty unsure about the antibiotics/and chemical drenches and wormers they pump them up on factory farms. I can find ample organic beef… but hardly any LAMB.

So now I have two requirements: halal (non-comromisable), and Organic. Which makes things tricky. The two don’t generally go hand in hand and if so its exported and not retailed in Au - if it is I certainly do not know about it and I have hunted far and wide. There is hardly ANY organic lamb in AU and none of it is halal.

Australia is one of the best quality lamb producers in the world. Every lamb completely free range and is finished on grass, and raised its entire life pretty much on just grass, and none are given hormones of any sort - organic or not. But they are given antibiotics and drenched with wormers and other tick drenches which is absorbed into the animal. Who knows what that does to us? mutates our DNA? Disrupts our fragile endocrine systems?

I have spoken to lamb producers who assure me that the reason WHY there is very limited organic lamb in AU is because the non-organic stuff is so darn good, and so close to organic natural rearing that there is no need to even have organic. Is that marketing spiel? Is it worth compromising and eating non-organic lamb?? Or should I just hold out on organic beef and chicken.

(Allie) #2

I don’t buy any organic meat, the cost is prohibitive.

(Bette) #3

Honestly, I would say first and foremost is knowing where your meat comes from, so then you can know how the critters are treated beforehand. Then ensure that the butchering is done halal, and rejoice if it’s also organic. If you know where your meat comes from, you often find that you get better quality meat for reasonable pricing, and don’t have to worry about unwanted hormones/chemicals, etc. So even if it’s not officially ‘organic’, it’s still high quality meat, butchered as required, and nice and tasty.

(Zu) #4

We do slaughter our own goats… but im not too fussed on them as they are too lean. Sheep dont do too well in our area otherwise I would just rear my own!

The post didnt come out right as my net cutout… I fixed it now

(Zu) #5

We did this once, we bought a sheep off a bloke who said it was all natural reared - alive, and then home slaughtered. Its a lot of work… and entrails. afterwards you just wipe the whole thing out in one bbq, back to square one - no on-going supplier of juicy lamb…

(Bette) #6

I can understand that thinking, by the producers, because going fully organic is a LOT of hoops to jump through, and can end up being detrimental to the stock itself, as treating them naturally can be less effective than using approved medicines/care methods that are not considered organic. Thus one of the reasons organic meats are often more expensive.

In the end, it’s up to you what you want to spend your money on. If you’re too worried about possible chemical contamination, then go organic and find other ways to cut costs to accommodate that. Whatever you choose, research prep methods for the meat so you can make an informed decision, and not just speculate as to what may or may not be in the lamb. :slight_smile: Then you can better determine if what the suppliers say is just marketing spiel or is actually true.