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The
Other Red Meat
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Male bison can stand 5 to 6 feet
at the shoulder and weigh up to one ton. |
Native
Americans are not the only ones profiting from bison. Many
ranchers are turning away from beef cattle to raise this lower
maintenance herd.
"Bison
have proven to care for themselves whereas beef cattle will
work your tail off," claims Connie Frobenius of the Tatanka
Buffalo Ranch in Missouri.
Unlike
beef cattle, bison are not domesticated animals. They graze
on wild grasses- not feed- which makes their meat more flavorful,
lower in fat and calories and free from the antibiotics and
hormones often fed to domestic beef cattle. According to the
National Bison Association (NBA), a serving of beef has 211
calories and more than 9 grams of fat, while the same amount
of bison meat has just 143 calories and less than 3 grams
of fat. All these attributes mean bison meat sells for gourmet
prices
Bison may be the rare wild animals whose salvation
lies in being eaten by humans.
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According
to the NBA, the number of bison in the U.S has jumped from
80,000 to nearly 300,000 animals in the last ten years. Sam
Albrecht, executive director of the NBA, estimates raising
bison is a $700 million industry. The association hopes that
strategically marketing the animal as "alternative livestock"
will make bison meat a mainstream menu item.
Bison
may be the rare wild animals whose salvation lies in being
eaten by humans. But the mission of the ITBC, to restore pride
to Native American communities, reminds us that salvation
can be a two-way street. In saving one species, we also save
ourselves. 
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