Sept. 24, 2025

The Hidden Truth About Meat and Eggs in America

The Hidden Truth About Meat and Eggs in America

Not all beef is created equal. Not all chicken is what it claims to be. And those eggs in your fridge? The label might not tell you the whole story.In this episode of Chasing Eden: Natural Health God’s Way, host Caroline Thompson takes a deep dive into the food labels that confuse and mislead us. What’s the real difference between conventional feedlot beef and grass-fed, pasture-raised cattle? Between cage-free chickens and truly pasture-raised heirloom birds? And why are pasture-raised eggs packed with far more nutrients than their conventional counterparts?Learn how to decode the packaging at your grocery store, avoid marketing tricks, and understand how your food’s diet and lifestyle shape its nutrition. We’ll also talk about the importance of supporting local farmers — and even how raising your own backyard chickens could change your life.👉 Subscribe now and visit ChasingEden.net for more resources, natural health wisdom, and inspiration to make better choices for your family.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Hello, and welcome back to Chasing Eden. I'm your host,

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Carolyn Thompson, and today we're diving into a topic that

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touches almost every household, how to buy the best chicken

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and beef. We all want to feed our families nourishing food,

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but the labels at the grocery store can feel like

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a foreign language. Words like grass fed, organic, cage free,

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free range, pasture raised, and heirloom.

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They sound good, but what do they really mean and

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are they worth paying extra for.

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In this episode, we'll talk about the real differences between

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conventional beef and chicken versus those raised on pasture. We'll

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also discuss how the animals are treated, what they're fed,

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how that changes the nutrition in the meat and eggs,

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and how to read labels without getting tricked by marketing.

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We'll also explore why supporting local farmers matters, and even

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how raising your own chickens could change your health in

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your life.

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So grab your.

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Cup of tea, coffee, whatever you like, and settle in

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and let's chase some truth together. So let's start with beef.

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Most beef in America is what we call feed lot beef.

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So here's the journey of you may be familiar with

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this too. We've seen a lot of stuff on this,

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We've seen documentaries and different social media posts about this,

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but I'm just going to discuss this briefly for those

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people who aren't so familiar. Cattle are often raised in

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crowded feed lots, standing shoulder to show on dirt lots,

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and I'm not trying to make you feel bad about it.

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I'm just stating the facts here. Nobody's trying to turn

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you into a vegetarian or a vegan, which I've done

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in the past myself. These typical cattle beef. They're primarily

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fed corn and soy crops that you know. They're cheap

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and designed to fatten them up quickly. Because cow's stomachs

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are designed they're actually designed for grass, not grains, this

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diet actually can make them sick, and oftentimes it does so.

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In order to compensate for this, they often give antibiotics

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to keep their infections under control. Growth hormones are sometimes

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used to speed up weight gain and well. The result

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is a fatty cut of beef that may taste perfectly fine,

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but it's nutritionally very different from a cow that lives

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on a pasture. So here's some of the differences. Hey,

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feed lot beef has higher levels of Omega six fatty acids.

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And this particular fatty.

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Acid is the kind link to inflammation when it's eaten

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in excess. It has fewer of the beneficial compounds like CLA,

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which you might know as conjugated linolaic acid, and omega

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three fatty acids, which grass fed beef contains in higher amounts.

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If you're familiar with the omega three fatty acids, they're

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actually known for being helpful in inflammation, So they're the

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opposite of the omega six as far as that's concerned.

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And you do need some omega six fatty acids, but

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the ratio typically in our food chain gives us more

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Omega six. It's just not a very very good balance there.

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The vitamin and mineral profile is also so it's weaker

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compared to the pasture raised beef in this conventional beef

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or the feed lot beef. So let's look at the

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other side, the grass fed beef. These cows live on

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a pasture eating the food their bodies were designed to digest,

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which is grass. They are usually healthier and they require

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fewer or no antibiotics. The beef they produce is leaner,

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richer in nutrients, and it carries a flavor that may

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describe as more robust and earthy. So as you probably suspect,

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there are more nutritional advantages to this type of beef.

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It has up.

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To five times more Omega three fatty acids than grain

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fed beef. It has a significantly higher CLA, which has

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been studied for its role in fighting cancer and reducing

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body fat. It has higher levels vitamins A and E

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plus antioxidants like glutathion. Now glutathion, that's an interesting antioxidant

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because you may or may not realize that. In the

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doctor Gerson cancer therapy, one of the things that he

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recommends are it's a type of coffee cleanse. I won't

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go into too much details, but it's a it's a

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coffee that is not fully roasted, and it's a type

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of cleanse and it helps the body produce glutathion.

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Just thought i'd throw.

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That little tippit in there. As far as the labels

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for the grass fed beef, you want to look for

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one hundred percent grass fed on the label because some

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packages they'll say grass fed and the animal was fed

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fed grass, but only part of the time, and then

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it's typically finished on grain. Grass finished ensures the animal

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eate only grass and forage its whole life. Pasture raised

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usually means the animal roamed outdoors instead of living in

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a feed lot. Okay, so those are important things to consider.

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So let's talk about chicken. And this is where labels

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get really confusing. And I have my favorite chicken that

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I like to purchase, so I'll tell you that after

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I go or the different types of chickens. But I

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have a little secret I'm going to tell you about chickens.

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It's a little kind of a hack I guess that

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I do when I buy chickens. So we'll talk about

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that in a minute. As far as conventional chicken is concerned,

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it's raised in large barns, often with tens of thousands

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of birds. And I'm sure you may or may not

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have seen this. Again, social media loves to show us

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these things, especially when you're looking at the case for

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vegan and vegetarians, and I'd say they when they show

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this kind of stuff, they make a pretty good case.

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They're given diet, a diet of grains and soy. Sometimes

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laced with antibiotics, and they rarely see the light of day,

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which is really sad. Now we have the label cage free,

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and that sounds good, doesn't it. But it doesn't mean

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that the chickens roam and open fields. It simply means

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they're not kept in small cages.

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They're still usually.

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Indoors and packed in barns. Okay, So now we come

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to another term. Free range.

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Chickens are given.

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Some access to the outdoors, but often that means a

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tiny door to a small outdoor lot, and many chickens

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never even make it outside.

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Okay. So now we're.

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Getting to the label you want to look for if

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you're looking for something healthier. Pasture raised keyword pasture. This

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is the gold stand. Chickens roam on an open pasture,

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pegging at bugs, grass, and seeds their natural diet. They

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also get supplemental feed, but their lives are far healthier

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and they're happier. They're happier and they're getting sunlight. Meat

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from pasture raised chickens is richer in flavor and nutrients.

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So that brings us to my favorite kind of chicken,

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and that is the heirloom chicken. Heirloom chickens are often

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considered synonymous with heritage chickens, referring to breeds that have

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been preserved over time, and they're not hybrids. These chickens

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typically have stable genetic traits, can reproduce naturally, and are

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valued for their historical significance and unique characteristics. They grow slower,

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live more naturally, and produce meat and as with deeper

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flavor and often better nutrition. Now, I know organic is

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a great thing to look for, and ideally you would

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want to look for an organic heirloom chicken. However, this

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is a time where I just don't care if it

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says heirloom chicken, I go for it.

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And one of the.

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Reasons why is what we just read that these chickens

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they have stable genetic traits, they reproduced naturally, and they

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have unique characteristics. They grow slower, they live a more

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natural life, and the meat is absolutely delicious. It's unlike

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any chicken you'll ever eat that you've ever had. Now,

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what I noticed was a while back, quite a while back,

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probably ten or eleven years ago, we went to Ireland

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and I had hadn't heard of a heirloom chicken ever,

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and I had never eaten an heirloom chicken, and we

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ordered some fo food when we were in one of

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the towns there. I can't remember which one, perhaps it

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was Dublin or it could have been Galway. But we

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sat down to eat and I ordered the chicken and

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I was blown away. I couldn't believe it.

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I was just wow, wow, you know.

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And one of the things I noticed about the chicken

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was the fat on the chicken wasn't like the fat

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we have on chicken in America as and like, for instance,

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if there was fat on there, I could easily scrape

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it away with my fork, and it was just not

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thick and rubbery and kind of this weird texture to

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it like we have here in the States. So fast

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forward to coming back to America, and I don't, honestly,

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I can't even tell you how I discovered the heirloom.

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I think maybe I just read the label.

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I was curious, I don't know, but I bought an

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heirloom chicken, and maybe I watched some video who knows,

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brought it home ate it and I couldn't believe it.

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I went, wait a second, this tastes like the chicken

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that I had when we were in Ireland. It's delicious,

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and it's got great flavor and it's moist.

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It was amazing.

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So if you've never had chicken that was overseas or

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somewhere where maybe they grow things more traditionally, you really

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don't have much to compare it to. But there was

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this young woman who did a video and it was

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pretty funny. And I can't remember what country she was from.

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I think she was from England. But she said, America,

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what is wrong because she's visiting America, what's wrong with

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your chicken? She goes, It's not chicken. This is not chicken.

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She goes, I don't know what this is, but it's

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not chicken. It doesn't taste like chicken. I don't get it.

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It cracked me up because I knew exactly what she

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was talking about. Once you have this particular chicken, you

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look at the other chicken. You know, you can tell

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the difference in the texture. It's just our chicken's kind

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of chewy. It's kind of rubbery, even at its are freshest.

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It's just not the same. So hopefully.

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Heirloom chicken doesn't start selling out or something, and I

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can still get a hold of it after this.

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But it's really fantastic.

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If you've never ever tasted it, it's definitely something you

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want to try at least once.

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They also have other cuts.

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Of heirloom chicken, like the chicken thighs and the chicken

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breast you can buy separate. You don't have to buy

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the whole chicken if you like making bone broth.

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I love to freeze the.

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Carcass of my heirlom chicken and make bone broth with

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it when if I run out, so I always have

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a couple of the heirloom chicken carcasses and my freezer

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ready to go. So here's a label tip for your chicken.

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Typically you want to look for certified humane, pasture raised

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or animal welfare approved. Those certifications actually mean something, okay.

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So let's move from the beef and the chicken to

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the eggs. Okay, So the egg labels can be really tricky.

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For instance, we have our conventional eggs, which are from

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hens in cages or barns. They're fed grains and soy.

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They have pale yellow yolks and lower nutrition. Then we

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have what they call cage free eggs. They have slightly

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better housing, but the diet it's the same. Then we

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have the free range eggs, which I bought for many

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years thinking that I was buying the best. They do

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have some outdoor access, but not always meaningful. Then we

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have the pasture raised eggs. Now these are the true winners.

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The hens live outdoors, they eat insects and greens, and

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you can see the difference in the yolks, dark orange,

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almost glowing. Now, keep in mind, they're not always going

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to be dark orange.

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Depending on the time of year.

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Winter time, you're probably gonna the yolks are gonna the faith,

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they're gonna fade depending on where you're coming they're coming from.

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So during the spring and the summer months, you're gonna

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get a darker yolk, and then naturally, with the color

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of the grass, they're gonna lighten up. So that being said,

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there are nutritional surprise, right, there's nutritional differences between pasture

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raised and conventional eggs. Okay, so the pasta raised eggs

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have twice as much vitamin E, three times more omega

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three fatty acids, seven times more beta caroteene, higher levels

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of vitamin D from sunlight exposure. As doctor Berg points

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out about this, he says, quote, if you want nutrient density.

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Pasture raised eggs are one of the best foods on

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the planet unquote. And this this really does matter. It

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matters because you're your beef and your eggs, whether grass

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fed or grain fed, whether they're pasture raised or free range,

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they don't have the same profile nutritional profile for you.

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This is basically, your food is information for your body.

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The real pasture raised, grass fed animal foods send signals

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of health, balance, and nourishment to the body. Industrial feed locked,

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grain fed, and synthetic versions can send your body signals

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of inflammation, imbalance, and disease. Now, Gary Breca he is

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a human biologist on social media, and he's really great

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at making things easy to understand. He reminds us of this.

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He says this quote, We aren't just eating food, We're

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eating what our food ate.

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If your cow ate.

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Corn, soy and antibiotics, that ends up in you. If

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your chicken scratch for bugs in the sunlight, those neutral

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and end up in you too. So here's another piece

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of the puzzle of where you might want to buy

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your food and why your local farmers often provide pasture

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raised beef, chicken, and eggs at prices comparable to the

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grocery stores. Farmers markets are an amazing place to meet

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people who grow your food. Now, I will say this,

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check out your farmer's markets. I've got one on main

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Street over here, and it's beautiful. We have a beautiful

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main street in our town. But they're kind of pricey.

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But don't let that. Don't let that.

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Hinder you because there are so many other farmers markets,

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oftentimes nearby. If you're out in the country or something

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that's even better, you probably have a farmer that you

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can touch base with, who can share a cow with you,

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or who might sell meat. I know that we have

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a person, I want to say, thirty miles away here

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who sells pasture raised, grass fed beef for like five

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00:17:12.079 --> 00:17:17.000
dollars a pound, and we went in with a doctor

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friend of ours and we bought a quarter of the

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00:17:19.480 --> 00:17:24.160
cow and that lasted us, oh, I think about five months.

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We'd like to eat a lot of meat. That's a

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lot of meat. So if you look around and you

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shop around, if you do some searching, go on the internet,

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talk to people, talk to people out in town, talk

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to the go to a farmer's market, talk to people

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at the farmer's market and ask them if they know

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anybody who sells beef, who can who wants to go

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in on a cow?

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Who you know?

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I didn't even know you could buy a fourth of

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00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:48.920
a cow. I thought you had to split the whole cow.

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We paid I think a little over seven hundred dollars

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for a fourth of the cow.

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Or no, we shared one fourth of a cow. So

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I take that back.

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We we shared one fourth with another family and that

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was a little over seven hundred dollars. But that was

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a lot, a lot of meat. Now, buying locally, the

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good thing about it is it keeps the dollars in

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your community, and it supports the farming practices that honor

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our land and our animals.

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So if you want to.

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Help the local farmer, you want to help people, and

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you want to make this stuff more affordable and more plentiful,

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you know, help them by giving them your business and

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encourage them that you're you know, and talk about it.

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If you find a good farmer, share it with your

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friends and talk to people about how important it is.

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Get the word out about how important it is to

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stay local. I have see I'm sure you have too,

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on social media, seen some disturbing video information. This was

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news media from other countries where they want to start

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and may have already started vaccinating the animals or the meat,

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so that they're trying to vaccinate people through the beef

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and different things. So just for the fact that they

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do strange things to the meat, it's a good idea

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maybe just to have more control of the source of

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00:19:16.920 --> 00:19:21.359
where your meat's coming from and know who's producing that meat.

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And another thing that I like about getting your getting

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00:19:25.880 --> 00:19:28.799
beef locally or from a person you know, or sharing

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a cow, is that you may already know this, but

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00:19:32.960 --> 00:19:34.599
a lot of them when you go by beef at

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00:19:34.599 --> 00:19:38.480
the store, that's just a mass amount of beef from

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00:19:38.799 --> 00:19:41.960
hundreds of cows that's all put together in one big lump,

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and it's all mixed in.

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To be honest, I don't know.

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The true significance of it, but it is believed by

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00:19:51.880 --> 00:19:56.160
some that it's better to have the meat from one

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00:19:56.200 --> 00:20:00.920
animal on your plate instead of multiple ones in one

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pound of beef. I'm sure I haven't done a real

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deep dive on that, but for some people, they believe

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that it's healthier to go the route of just getting

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the meat from one source, one animal, and not a

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00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:19.559
bunch of animals in that one package. So if you're

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up for an adventure, raising your own backyard chickens can

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00:20:23.519 --> 00:20:27.119
be life changing. Fresh eggs every morning, direct connection to

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00:20:27.160 --> 00:20:30.759
your food, and a deeper appreciation for what it takes

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00:20:30.799 --> 00:20:35.839
to raise animals. We have neighbors here that have chickens,

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00:20:36.519 --> 00:20:38.480
and Eric and I went on a walk a little

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00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:40.759
while ago and we came across a neighbor in one

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00:20:40.799 --> 00:20:42.920
of these really fun Victorians.

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In our neighborhood.

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It was actually a Victorian that was in a movie

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at one point. I don't know the name of the movie,

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but they used it in a movie. And if you

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look at the house, you would understand why. There's a

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tire swinging out front, there's a white picket fence, there's

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a porch. It's just a really, really attract charming Victorian home.

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And we started a conversation with the gentleman that owns it,

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and we ended up in we're very social people, and

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00:21:09.279 --> 00:21:11.240
we start talking. You got to get rid of us.

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We ended up in the backyard and he showed us

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how he built his own chicken coop and we got

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to meet his chickens, and he started talking to us

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00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:22.519
about how much easier it is to have your.

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00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:23.640
Own chickens than you think.

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And I was actually complicating it thinking it was going

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to be so hard, and I wondered, how are they

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going to stay warm during winter? That was one of

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00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:35.440
my questions. How do they stay warm when it snows,

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because we do get a little bit of snow where

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we are here in Oklahoma one or two days and

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it gets cold.

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And he said, you know, they huddle, They huddle together.

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So they have a little enclosure that they can go

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in and they can huddle, and it's actually better for

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00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:53.640
them than getting them a warm mat or something, because

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apparently their bodies somehow get dependent on the warmth, like

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if you do if you heat it up for them,

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00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:03.039
So it's kind of better for them to get used

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to just kind of huddling together. Now that being said,

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00:22:05.440 --> 00:22:08.640
he did have a little little warmer, some little container

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and there was something that he bought, a unit that

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00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:13.240
keeps them warm during winter. But it can be dangerous

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if that breaks. So I don't know all about that.

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But we have another friend in Tulsa who has his

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00:22:20.880 --> 00:22:23.519
chickens in his backyard and he doesn't have anything keeping

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00:22:23.519 --> 00:22:25.799
them warm. He said, once again, they all huddle together,

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and they're fine, and they're really resilient. So he actually

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00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:33.400
had one get loose for several days. He didn't know

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00:22:33.400 --> 00:22:36.240
where it went. He couldn't find it, and it was

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00:22:36.279 --> 00:22:41.799
wild because he discovered it in an ice chest. Somehow

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00:22:41.920 --> 00:22:44.559
it jumped in an ice chest nearby and the lid

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00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:46.960
closed and he opened it up and the chicken was

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00:22:46.960 --> 00:22:49.759
still alive. It was fine, he was running around, he

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00:22:49.799 --> 00:22:53.720
was doing great. So they're pretty pretty strong animals, they're

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pretty resilient, and they're really cute. Also as far as cleaning,

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00:22:57.960 --> 00:23:00.799
because I was a little worried about that, the gentleman

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00:23:01.640 --> 00:23:04.319
in our neighborhood was saying, it's actually very easy to

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00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:06.480
clean the coop, and he was going over it with us.

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00:23:06.519 --> 00:23:08.400
You know, there's some type of flooring you lay down.

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00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:10.160
I can't remember what he put down, if it was

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00:23:10.680 --> 00:23:14.079
hey or what it was, but he just showed us this.

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00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:15.000
Is not hard at all.

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00:23:15.559 --> 00:23:18.200
So if you're up for an adventure, that something you

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00:23:18.279 --> 00:23:19.960
might want to do might be kind of fun. If

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00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:22.200
you have children, if you have a family, you can

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00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:25.279
get everyone in on the action. You can show him

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00:23:25.319 --> 00:23:26.799
how to take care of the chickens. You can all

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00:23:26.880 --> 00:23:29.839
learn together something you might want to do for your health.

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00:23:30.400 --> 00:23:33.759
And hey, the cost of eggs these days it's pretty steep, right,

383
00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:37.480
so how great would it be to start? And chickens

384
00:23:37.480 --> 00:23:39.400
are cheap. You can buy chickens pretty cheap from what

385
00:23:39.400 --> 00:23:43.079
I've seen. You can buy chicken coops online. They're not

386
00:23:43.119 --> 00:23:45.640
even they don't even look that pricey. You really don't

387
00:23:45.640 --> 00:23:47.079
even need to make your own chicken coop if you

388
00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:51.039
don't want to, And with all the tutorials on YouTube,

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00:23:51.079 --> 00:23:53.160
I'm sure you could find a way to make it

390
00:23:53.240 --> 00:23:58.119
happen if you really wanted to. So that being said,

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00:23:59.480 --> 00:24:05.279
when you're in the store, here's a quick guide for beef.

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Choose one hundred percent grass fed, grass finished, pasture raised,

393
00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:17.359
avoid grain finished or vague claims. Keep in mind it

394
00:24:17.440 --> 00:24:20.759
needs to say one hundred percent grass fed and not

395
00:24:20.880 --> 00:24:26.000
just grass fed. Okay, as far as your chicken, look

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00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:31.039
for pasture raised and the words certified humane and don't

397
00:24:31.079 --> 00:24:33.680
be fooled by just cage for your free range. And

398
00:24:33.880 --> 00:24:36.960
let me throw this in. Pasture raised is awesome, We

399
00:24:37.079 --> 00:24:41.200
do buy it. But when heirloom is available, I go

400
00:24:41.279 --> 00:24:42.200
for the heirloom.

401
00:24:42.680 --> 00:24:43.960
So if you want to.

402
00:24:43.960 --> 00:24:48.880
Try something super special, check out that heirloom chicken. Now,

403
00:24:48.920 --> 00:24:52.599
as far as the eggs are concerned, the best we

404
00:24:52.599 --> 00:24:55.519
we discussed are the pasture raised. They typically have dark

405
00:24:55.599 --> 00:25:00.880
yolks and they're ideally local if you can if you

406
00:25:00.920 --> 00:25:04.960
can find local ones, that's ideal, okay. And if you

407
00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:08.079
can raise chicken yourself and you have you can have

408
00:25:08.119 --> 00:25:10.440
them yourself, that's think about how fresh that is.

409
00:25:10.920 --> 00:25:12.519
So as far as eggs.

410
00:25:12.200 --> 00:25:14.240
Are concerned, I don't want to go on a long

411
00:25:14.319 --> 00:25:17.720
rabbit trail, but I will say this, there is a

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00:25:17.759 --> 00:25:23.240
British cook who has a demonstration on how to tell if.

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00:25:23.079 --> 00:25:24.400
Your eggs are fresh.

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00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:28.759
Because let's face it, if you don't have chickens, then

415
00:25:29.480 --> 00:25:31.200
you know. If you have chickens, you're going to get

416
00:25:31.200 --> 00:25:33.680
fresh eggs. But you don't always know how fresh the

417
00:25:33.720 --> 00:25:37.359
eggs are from the store. So, for instance, if I

418
00:25:37.400 --> 00:25:39.440
want to make a poached egg, and I really want

419
00:25:39.920 --> 00:25:42.160
to have a good poached egg and I want it

420
00:25:42.200 --> 00:25:42.839
to turn out.

421
00:25:42.680 --> 00:25:45.519
Really perfect, there's a little trick you can do.

422
00:25:46.839 --> 00:25:49.799
You can put the egg in a glass of water

423
00:25:50.680 --> 00:25:52.920
and if it sinks evenly all the way to the bottom,

424
00:25:53.000 --> 00:25:55.720
you know that's a fresh egg. If it starts to

425
00:25:55.920 --> 00:26:01.359
rise up and point toward the top vertically. It's less fresh,

426
00:26:01.440 --> 00:26:04.920
and if it floats, it's really unfresh. It's not fresh.

427
00:26:05.039 --> 00:26:07.920
Unfresh is that even a word? It's not not as fresh.

428
00:26:08.160 --> 00:26:08.519
Okay.

429
00:26:09.240 --> 00:26:14.079
So, just so you know, thank you for joining me

430
00:26:14.559 --> 00:26:18.240
on today's episode of Chasing Eden. We've learned that not

431
00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:21.359
all beef is the same. Corn Fed feed lot beef

432
00:26:21.400 --> 00:26:25.240
and grass fed pasture beef are world's apart. Not all

433
00:26:25.319 --> 00:26:29.720
chicken is equal. Cage free may sound good, but pasture

434
00:26:29.839 --> 00:26:33.559
raised is the real deal. And when it comes to eggs,

435
00:26:33.880 --> 00:26:38.039
those golden nutrient rich pasture raised yolks speak for themselves.

436
00:26:38.640 --> 00:26:43.200
Remember food is just not just fuel, okay, it's communication

437
00:26:43.359 --> 00:26:47.119
to your body. Choose wisely, support your local farmers if

438
00:26:47.160 --> 00:26:49.440
you can, and consider raising a.

439
00:26:49.359 --> 00:26:50.920
Few chickens of your own.

440
00:26:51.640 --> 00:26:55.079
If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe to the podcast

441
00:26:55.079 --> 00:26:57.720
so you don't miss out what's next, and head over

442
00:26:57.759 --> 00:27:01.160
to Chasing Eden dot net for more recent sources, guides,

443
00:27:01.279 --> 00:27:06.519
and natural health wisdom. Until next time, stay healthy, stay diligent,

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00:27:07.039 --> 00:27:11.200
and keep Chasing Eden. M.