Is Organic Meat Worth It?

I learned a few things recently about this whole organic meat thing. Here is the article link.Very cool stuff.

• Non-organic chickens used for their eggs and meat can be housed in small dark cages and may be fed genetically-modified feed to increase their weight faster than the average four months it takes to reach slaughter weight.  Conversely, organic chickens are given a free range, direct sunshine, open air, and organic feed. 

• Kristin Schafer of the Pesticide Action Network of North America authored a recent report that found toxic pesticides above “safe” levels in many U.S. residents.  She shares, "Many of the pesticides found in the test subjects have been linked to serious short- and long-term health effects including infertility, birth defects and childhood and adult cancers."   Indeed, the Cornell University reported than elevated levels of zeranol, a common growth hormone given to animals, was found in girls who began puberty early in the 1980’s; however, a follow up study by the USDA did not corroborate these findings.  Despite the lack of research confirming a direct effect on humans, in 1989, the European Community (now European Union) issued a ban on all meat from animals treated with steroid growth hormones, including U.S. beef, which was still in effect as of June 2000.