If the thought of reducing your meat consumption makes your skin crawl just a little, there are at least some greener alternatives that allow you to have your steak and eat it too.

Rideau Farming produces and sells beef that is 100 per cent farm raised in a natural, traditional style. Their cows are grass-fed, then corn finished and free from hormones, antibiotics and steroids. Beef is dry aged for two to three weeks, fresh frozen and wrapped in environmentally safe butcher paper. The farm currently has special BBQ packages available for the summer season which include seven to 10 thick steaks in a variety of tender cuts, a couple of roasts weighing between two to three pounds each, 2- quarter-pound beef patties, six one-pound packages of ground beef and shish kabob-ready cubed meat in one pound packages.

Rideau Farming also does their best to maintain healthy environmental practices by participating in initiatives such as the Rural Clean Water Program and an Environmental Farm Plan through the Ontario government.

Learn more about their earth-conscious farming practices or place an order after the jump.

» Rideau Farming (Official Site)

It's evident that the news surrounding the beef industry as of late has been less than favorable, both from environmental and health perspectives. It's always a breath of fresh air to hear about a beef producers like La Cense, who are trying to change the perception of red meat by offering an organic product that doesn't contain the hormones and other additives you'll find in the typical grocery store selection.

La Cense takes a natural approach to ranching, meaning their animals are 100 per cent grass-fed, and because they also take care of the entire process themselves - from the ranching to the packing and selling of the meat - they can guarantee high quality. They even use a sustainable methods in their beef production!

La Cense cattle are raised in a healthy, more humane way, free from pesticides and antibiotics and are left to graze in open pastures on a huge Montana farm. And, because they are grass-fed, they are a lot healthier. As you know, we live in a country that is concerned with weight and as such, La Cense beef has fewer calories (for example, a 6 oz. steak has 100 fewer calories) and is high in omega 3 fatty acids, which enhances heart health and reduces the risk of obesity. La Cense is ideal for foodies who are concerned about the planet but don't want to give up flavor.

Hit the jump to learn more about La Cense beef (filet mignon and prime rib and steak burgers oh my!) and to place an order online.

» La Cense Beef (Official Site)

A couple of weeks ago we introduced you to La Cense organic beef. Just to refresh your memory, La Cense beef is pesticide-free and comes from cows that graze on grass as opposed to being grain-fed. This makes it organic, lean and also healthier than your average store-bought meat.

Now La Cense is giving you the chance to win big - literally. The company is holding an ad slogan- writing contest and the grand prize winner will walk away with (or lift with a crane) a grass-fed cow. No, you won't have to find a spot in your backyard to raise a new pet. However, you will need to clear some room in your home for your new freezer, stuffed full with approximately 50 pounds of meat.

That's a whole lot of beef. Just think, you could have your family - heck, the entire neighborhood - and Ecollo staff (FYI, Pinky Bean likes her meat cooked medium-rare) over for a week-long, meat-fueled celebration. Or you know, you could just store it and enjoy it over the course of barbecue season.

Whatever you choose to do with it is up to you, but you will have to hit the jump to visit the official contest website to learn how to enter, and read all of the rules. While you're there, don't forget to vote for your favorite slogans!

» WinAGrassFedCow.com (La Cense)

While PETA may have taken things too far by labeling meat consumption "child abuse," the U.S. Department of Agriculture allowing meat from sick cows to make their way into the food supply seems cruel and unusual. In February, the Humane Society of the United States filed a lawsuit against the department, alleging they created a loophole that encouraged meat producers to allow product from sick cattle onto shelves and into the mouths of hungry Americans.

Now a spokesperson for the department says the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer refuses to take a position for or against a proposed ban that would prevent these "downer" cattle from making it to slaughterhouses for processing. However the representative did say Ed is "serious about addressing the issue." Apparently he won't address it until an investigation into the matter is completed later this year.

Downer cows, by the way, could potentially carry mad cow disease which is why they were originally banned from the food supply in 2004. The aforementioned loophole allows sick cows to be slaughtered for food if they are first checked out by a veterinarian and given clearance. Earlier this year, 143 million pounds of beef were recalled due to video evidence that tainted meat may have been released to the public by a California plant.

Well if Tuesday's news that the Bush administration is controlling which chemicals the EPA can assess for potential toxicity didn't make you completely paranoid suspicious of the government's motives, Ed Schafer's reluctance to actually take a stance on this ought to do it. Ed will take action "later this year." Could somebody from the Department of Agriculture please clarify exactly how many millions of pounds of tainted meat that is the equivalent to because some brains just can't calculate that kind of math.

» United Press International

If the idea of eating meat that comes from the offspring of clones isn't unappealing enough, consider that the U.S. Agriculture Department may be allowing sick cows into the food supply as well. So says a lawsuit filed against the department by the Humane Society of the United States anyway. Double yum!

The federal suit alleges the department has created a "loophole" that provides a financial incentive to the industry that may cause potentially sick cattle to be sent to slaughter. to back up their claim, the Humane Society used a video of employees at a meat company in California abusing cows by using forklifts and electric prods to force cows to get up and walk. The videotape spawned the largest-ever beef recall (143 million pounds), some of which had already been sent to federal nutrition programs including school lunches.

The situation between the department and the society has been tense since the tape was released last month. The department claims the Humane Society should have given the tap to them as soon as it was shot and that the tabe showed an isolated incident; the society counters that  they approached local prosecutors in December because of the documented animal abuse.

Just for the record, cows that can't stand up and walk - also called downer cows - were banned from the food supply in 2004 by the department, due to the risk of mad cow disease. The Humane Society maintains the Agriculture Department isn't properly enforcing the ban and downer cows are still being slaughtered and entering the food supply.

Between this and news that cloned offspring is likely making its way into the food supply are almost (almost) enough to convince me to kick my meat habit.

» The New York Times

Cheeseburgers: we love 'em.  In the United States we've been packin' in the beef at a rate 2-3 times greater than the rest of the planet.  But that's starting to change rapidly.

In 1961 the world's total "meat supply" was 71 millions tons.  Last year it was 284 millions tons and in the next 20 years it is expected to double again.  Holy moly!  I guess this is good news if you own a hamburger bun factory, but what does it mean for our planet?

Here's some quick facts:

• • Nearly one-third of all the usable land on Earth is used for livestock production.
• • One-fifth of all greenhouse gas emissions comes from livestock (from their butts! gross!)
• • If Americans reduced their meat consumption by 20% it would be the greenhouse gas equivalent to everyone switching to a Prius.
• • Three-quarters of all water quality problems in America's rivers and streams are attributed to livestock production.

Around the planet children die everyday from starvation and malnutrition.  In the United States meat consumption has doubled over the past 50 years and you don't have to look much further than the menu of a local fast food restaurant to see that we've been raising the bar.

This isn't a 'vegetarian' issue or a weight loss issue; it's an environmental one.  Our food choices have a direct impact on our land, our water and our air.  Of course, if we don't want to cut back on our meat consumption scientists are already working on alternatives to feed our need for meat:

"Longer term, it no longer seems lunacy to believe in the possibility of “meat without feet” — meat produced in vitro, by growing animal cells in a super-rich nutrient environment before being further manipulated into burgers and steaks."

I guess that would technically get around the whole animal cruelty thing, but it certainly doesn't sound very appetizing!

» The New York Times