With the outbreak of the BSE crisis in 2000, the trend towards organic livestock farming, especially cattle farming, has increased significantly. Getting good meat today is no longer a problem, because the nearly 21,000 (as of 2009) German organic farms are almost all organized in one of the recognized organic associations. In addition, many slaughterhouses and supermarkets offer quality meat with quality seals. Meat from species-appropriate animal husbandry or organic rearing is more expensive, but the taste makes up for the loss in the wallet.
What does species-appropriate actually mean?
- Calves must be fed milk for at least 3 months.
- The animals are fed according to their needs and their stage of development. The roughage portion of the feed (mainly grass and hay) must be at least 60% for cattle, since they are ruminants.
- In species-appropriate animal husbandry, the animals gain weight more slowly and must be fattened longer. This benefits the taste, because the species-appropriate feeding and muscle activity of the animals increase the amount of intramuscular fat, which makes the meat tender and juicy.
- The animals are kept in bright airy barns, they have enough exercise and exercise.
- The feed comes from their own farm or from the region.
- Antibiotics, fattening aids, performance enhancers, carcass or bone meal or genetically modified imported feed are prohibited.
- Short transport routes to the slaughterhouse spare the animals stress, so that the stress hormone adrenaline can not pass into the meat. The limit on transport times specified in the Animal Welfare Transport Regulation (by road, water and rail within the EU: 8 hours) is taken even stricter in organic animal husbandry (max. distance: 200 km, transport time: 4 hours; only in exceptional cases more).
Incidentally, organic farmers keep mainly animal breeds that provide a particularly tasty meat and are well suited to organic farming. These animals are also less susceptible to disease.
The processing
When processing into sausage, organic butchers get by with few adjuvants. Butchers and processors who are affiliated with one of the organic farming associations must work according to their regulations. This means:
- Lactic acid is approved for the processing of natural casings and citric acid as a cutter aid in the fine comminution (the chitter) by some associations.
- Phosphate, used in conventional sausage processing for binding, is generally not used.
- Nitrite curing salt is allowed by some cultivation associations as a colorant and preservative with restrictions, but is hardly used in practice. Organic sausages or Kasseler therefore often look a little grayer than cured meat. For preservation, organic butchers therefore resort to germ-inhibiting spices such as savory and pepper, ham is salted, sausages smoked.
By the way, in organic sausages are only organic quality ingredients. Spices, herbs, onions or vegetables must also be from organic production.
Where to take from?
Who would have thought it: all common meat and sausage products are also available as organic products, even specialties such as Munich white sausages or Nuremberg bratwursts. The only limited choices are lamb, goose and duck, and highly processed products. Direct from farmers: The best and cheapest meat is still to buy directly from organic farmers. However, larger quantities must be purchased here, which is why this purchase is suitable for stockpiling – or you can team up with like-minded people. Organic butcher: The entire selection of meat and sausage is available at the organic butcher. Usually the meat comes from the region, and many organic butchers do their own slaughtering. Organic stores and supermarkets: Organic meat counters are rare here. Mostly, the meat is offered refrigerated and packaged. The assortment is not as large as in organic butcher shops, but includes the most important meat and sausage products. Ground beef can be found in the freezer. Organic meat private label grocery stores include:
- Rewe Bio (Rewe Market)
- Organic value food (Edeka, Neukauf, Marktkauf)
- Real,- Bio (Real market, Metro)
- Tegut…bio (Tegut markets)
- Naturkind (Tengelmann, Kaiser’s)
- Alnatura (Alnatura natural food stores, DM drugstore).
By the way, vacuum-packed meat parts keep longer than fresh meat. When opening the package can be an intense smell of meat, but this is not a sign of poor quality, but a sign that the “locked” and compressed smell unfolds again. The meat should be patted dry before preparation, but not washed off. The fat on organic beef is slightly yellowish. This is from the carotene and shows that the animal has been grazing for the past few months.
Organic beef is considered safe
It has been proven that organic beef offers good protection against BSE, as only small amounts of feed are purchased on organic farms and no meat-and-bone meal is fed. Nevertheless, cattle from organic farms have also contracted BSE in some EU countries. In response, the German organic farming associations Bioland, Demeter and Naturland have tightened their guidelines even further.
