Like our beef and bison, Shine Pet Food’s lamb is free range. Instead of being finished on grain and confined on feedlots, our sheep graze their whole lives on open pastures. Not surprisingly, that makes their meat a lot healthier. Compared to conventionally-raised lamb, ours contains less of the bad fats and three times more omega-3s. It’s also rich in conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which has been linked to reducing the risk of cancer, diabetes, and obesity.
The certified organic chickens we use are free range as well. They grow up outside flapping their wings, dust bathing, and fluttering about. A small study funded by a grant from the USDA showed that, compared to conventional chicken, pastured poultry meat has 21% less overall fat (30% less saturated fat) and 50% more vitamin A. The eggs are way healthier too, with a third less cholesterol and 10% less fat—plus, according to another study at Penn State, twice the omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E—than those from factory-farmed hens. Since Shine Pet Food uses both the meat and eggs in our food, it’s a double nutritional win.