Want Grass-Fed Meat to Replace Factory Farming? There's One Important Thing You Need to Do

By Ari LeVaux
Alternet, July 20, 2010
Straight to the Source

Arapaho Ranch produces the kind of beef your inner cowboy wants to eat. With 595,000 acres sprawling across Wyoming's wild and rugged Owl Mountains, the ranch is home to native grasses, wolves, mountain lions, and grizzlies. The cattle are herded by Indian cowboys, each with his own fleet of seven horses -- one for each day of the week.

It's the largest certified organic cattle operation in the U.S., which isn't saying much given what's permitted under today's organic standards, which regulate an animal's diet more than its lifestyle. While organic cattle can be confined for up to eight months a year without losing their certification, the cattle at Arapaho Ranch spend their entire lives grazing outside. They follow the melting snow up the mountain in springtime and retreat to lower ground in fall. The cattle breed naturally, without the help of artificial insemination, as do the ranch horses. The word "organic," while applicable to the beef produced on Arapaho Ranch, doesn't do it justice.  

When the Arapaho Ranch, which is owned by the Northern Arapaho Tribe, made a deal to market its beef at Whole Foods, it was a dream come true: an economically feasible way for the tribe to steward its land in an ecologically responsible way. It created a revenue stream that stands in stark contrast with gas drilling and casino gambling.  

Whole Foods celebrated the agreement with great fanfare, featuring eagle feather headdresses and traditional Arapaho prairie chicken dances in the parking lot of a Denver store. "

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