Grilled or Fried?

Beef has been an important factor in my life, in fact raising beef cattle is what my family has done for generations. With that in mind, I advocate for beef more than other agricultural products. My desire to advocate for beef is not completely based on my background in the industry. Often, when people have a background in the products in which they represent, they seem as though a biased opinion may dictate their actions. I want to promote all agriculture as a whole and help people understand more about the subject.

Pictured above: Chicken being fried in oil.

Within the agricultural world however, there are many common misconceptions. The popular trend of health is a good idea, when aimed in the right direction with the right information.
A common misconception is that beef, a red meat, is bad for your health. Meat lovers do not want to give up meat entirely, so they often turn to chicken as an alternative. Chicken, and other white meats, are indeed healthy. The factor that corresponds meat and our health, is the process in which the meat is prepared.


A statistic from the National Chicken Council indicates that 1.25 billion chicken wings were eaten during the 2015 Super Bowl. Kentucky Fried Chicken has a gross income of 6.47 billion dollars so far in 2015. That is a lot of fried chicken. 
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Nutrient Database, a chicken breast with skin fried in batter has 590 calories per 226 grams, or 1/2 pound, as well as 29 grams of fat and 20 grams of carbohydrates. The same size portion of chicken breast with skin grilled on a rotisserie has 417 calories, 18 grams of fat and 0 grams of carbohydrates. Grilling also retains more protein in the chicken than frying.
The problem is that people lean towards chicken because of its "healthy" reputation. In the name of health, we too often use fried chicken as an excuse to please our taste buds. 

Pictured above: A "Big Mac" hamburger
from Mcdonalds, a popular chain restaurant.

I am not condemning chicken, if fact I eat it very often. Health is important to me, therefore I take the preparation of my food into careful consideration. In fact, I seldom eat any sort of fried chicken; it is primaraly baked or grilled. I encourage everyone to improve their health by taking food preparation into consideration. 
When you think of a burger, often times the image of a greasy, round piece of meat in-between two buns comes to mind. Unfortunately, this is the image people have in their minds they think about the beef industry. As of September 2014, McDonald’s sold about 6,480,000 hamburgers in a day worldwide. This works out to 75 hamburgers every second. A popular item on the Mcdonalds menu is the "Big Mac." This burger has 550 calories.

Pictured above: A grilled eye round steak with high amounts of
protein and low amounts of fat. 

With that as America's image for beef, no wonder why people are questioning whether or not beef is healthy. When we consider health benefits of cuts of beef that are grilled or roasted, it will change perspectives dramatically.
Eye round roast and steak has 4 grams of fat per serving and 1.4 grams of saturated fat. The next leanest cuts include sirloin tip side steak, top round roast and steak, bottom round roast and steak, and top sirloin steak.
Before we exclude any type of meat, we should first consider the benefits that come when properly prepared.