Buying meat can be incredibly confusing if you don’t know where to look. There’s regenerative, organic, free-range, pasture-raised, grass-fed, grass-finished, and somewhere in the mix… feedlots, antibiotics, and grain-heavy diets. It’s enough to make you want to give up and just eat chickpeas.
But here’s the thing: there are some major differences between conventionally farmed and regeneratively farmed meat, and knowing what you’re looking for can make a huge difference to your health, the taste of your food, and the planet.
So, what does healthy, sustainable meat really mean, and how do you know you’re getting the good stuff?
🥩 Grass-Fed & Grass-Finished vs Feedlot
Grass-fed meat sounds great, right? And it can be! But the truth is, “grass-fed” doesn’t always mean what you think it means.
Many cattle and lambs are “grass-fed” for part of their lives, but then sent to feedlots for grain-fattening before slaughter. This grain-heavy diet (often corn and soy) causes rapid weight gain, which might be efficient for farmers, but not for your health.
Here’s what to look for instead:
🔎 Grass-Fed AND Grass-Finished (Beef & Lamb):
This means the animal ate only grass their entire life, never grain. No feedlots. Just pasture, fresh air, and natural growth.
🌱 Know Your Farmer:
Knowing your farmer and ensuring they use regenerative and sustainable practices guarantees the animal wasn’t fed GMOs, wasn’t treated with growth hormones or routine antibiotics, and was raised with animal welfare and environmental stewardship in mind.
🚫 Avoid Grain-Fed or “Finished on Grain”:
Even if the meat was raised on pasture, finishing on grain reduces its nutritional quality - and ramps up inflammation-promoting fats.
🐔 What About Chicken (and Pork)?
Chickens and pigs are monogastric animals, which means they can’t survive on grass alone like cows or sheep. Most supermarket chicken is from birds raised indoors in crowded sheds, with no access to sunlight or pasture, and fed a diet of cheap grain (sometimes with added antibiotics or growth promoters). Not ideal.
Here’s what good quality chicken and pork should look like:
✔️ Regeneratively Farmed, Free-Range or Pasture-Raised Chickens:
Regeneratively farmed chooks are raised outdoors with plenty of space to scratch, forage, dust-bathe and behave like chickens should. They’re fed organic grain (no GMOs, no synthetic pesticides) and never given antibiotics unless medically necessary.
✔️ Heritage or Slower-Growing Breeds:
Fast-growing commercial chickens reach slaughter weight in just 5–6 weeks. Slower-growing breeds live longer, have better flavour and better welfare outcomes.
✔️ Regeneratively-Farmed Pork:
Like chickens, pigs need supplemental feed, but when raised on pasture-based systems, they can root, wallow, and live a natural life, and their manure becomes an asset, not a pollutant.
❤️ Why This Kind of Meat is Better for You
Across all animal types, sustainably raised meat is more nutrient-dense, better balanced, and lower in harmful residues.
✅ More Omega-3s and Antioxidants (esp. beef, lamb, and pasture-raised pork)
✅ Higher-quality protein
✅ Fewer inflammatory fats
✅ No added hormones or antibiotic residues
✅ No pesticide-laden grain feed
[Sources: Nutrition Journal, 2010; British Journal of Nutrition, 2013; Centre for a Livable Future – Johns Hopkins University]
🌏 Why It’s Better for the Planet
Whether it’s beef, lamb, pork or poultry - how it’s farmed matters. Industrial meat farming pollutes water, depletes soil, and emits massive greenhouse gases.
Sustainable, pasture-based systems can:
🌿 Regenerate soil
💧 Reduce runoff and pollution
🐞 Increase biodiversity
🐄 Improve animal welfare
🌱 Sequester carbon through rotational grazing
😋 And Yes — It Tastes SO Much Better
Once you taste properly raised meat, there’s no going back. Whether it’s a juicy chicken thigh, a rich lamb roast, or a tender pork chop, the difference is clear:
🌟 More flavour, less fat
🌟 Cleaner aftertaste
🌟 Better texture
🌟 Satisfying, not greasy
Customers often tell us they didn’t realise meat could taste this delicious until they tried ours. And we believe that’s how meat should be - real food, raised right.
🛒 How to Shop for Truly Sustainable Meat
Here’s your go-to guide:
✔️ Choose grass-fed & grass-finished for beef and lamb
✔️ Prioritise pasture-raised or free-range chicken and pork from trusted farms
✔️ Ask questions - or better yet, shop from people who already have
✔️ Support regenerative farmers doing right by the land
✔️ Check out our range of trust-worthy meat suppliers like Echo Valley Farm, Eastwell Farm, 9Dorf Farm, Belvedere Farm, Sherwood Road Organic Meats, Macintyre Brook Lamb and more.
When you buy from Spray-Free Farmacy, you’re getting just that - meat with a conscience, full of flavour and free of the junk.
🐓 🐖 🐑 🐄
You deserve to know where your food comes from and what went into producing it. Choosing good quality meat rather than conventionally farmed is much better for you, and it is a vote for a better food system.
Less stress for animals. Less chemicals in your body. Less damage to the planet.
And honestly? Real meat grown the right way is tasty as hell.
We’re so excited to see that many more farmers are choosing to go down the regen route and we’re selling more and more of their meat on our website. Check out our range of quality, locally farmed meat 👉 here.
Or, you can go ahead and order one of our Regen Meat Boxes today.
