Buffalo or Beef: What is the Better Meat?

Bison or Buffalo are residents of the Great Plains of central North America. Once numbered in the millions, only a few domestic herds are kept today. Their number has increased within the last few decades taking them off the endangered spieces list. During the 1990s the buffalo was seen as an alternative meat source instead of the American diet of beef, pork, and fish. As the buffalo repopulated the plains, they are again becoming essential participants in the ecosystem. They are easier on their range than cattle because they do not eat in one place. They tend to walk and eat at one time which eliminates the destruction of an entire pasture. The grass is allowed to grow after a short grazing time instead of being eaten and there is nothing left but bare earth.

Bison cannot be raised in a feed lot like cattle. Instead the rancher has to be flexible and mimic feeding patterns by changing fence lines around the animals. The native grasses of the Great Plains can rejuvenate after being cropped by the bison, but cattle will eat the grass to the root destroying the entire plant. Another benefit of buffalo is that cattle tend to eat only lush and abundant vegetation that grows around rivers and streams, while buffalo tend to eat anything and prefer the high ground of hills and ridgelines. If our ancestors took to what was given to them instead of slaughtering the buffalo and moving in cattle, the plains would have maintained their natural beauty and the dust bowl of the 1930s probably would not have happened.

Bison is also a great alternative to beef and pork. You receive more nutrients than beef with less fat and more protein. Buffalo has a greater amount of iron than the other meat choices. Eating five ounces of buffalo two or three times a week can lower most peoples LDL cholesterol around fifty percent over a six months period. Bison meat can be used for substitution in most recipes and makes great burgers, steaks, and stew meat.