Why Health Conscious Diners Are Turning To Wild Game Meats

by Jim Hofman

Over the last few years, more and more people are adding healthier alternatives to their diets. As a society, we’re becoming much more knowledgeable about healthy choices, fat content, and artificial ingredients. There has been a growing trend away from some of the traditional high fat and high cholestorol meat choices, while seeking out healthier, easy-to-prepare alternatives. Certain types of wild game meats, previously largely unavailable in the marketplace, are turning up more and more frequently on restaurant menus and dinner tables.

As diners more frequently avoid high fat and high cholesterol meats, many are turning to a tasty and healthier alternative - wild game meats. Compared with traditional cuts of meat, wild game meats such as buffalo meat, elk meat, ostrich meat and others are much lower in fat and cholesterol. These types of wild game meats are turning up more frequently on restaurant menus and dinner tables, with good reason.

Conversely, wild game species cannot be sold, but can be harvested (hunted) for personal use. In essence, farm-raised game are specifically intended for the consumer marketplace, and are proving to be more and more popular as people discover their health benefits in comparison to traditional meats.

There is one major distinction between wild game, as most people think of it, vs. farm raised game. Farm raised game is intended for the individual consumer, while wild game can be harvested but not sold in the consumer marketplace. Also, farm raised game has much greater health benefit, and taste, as mentioned.

It’s not uncommon to see game meats like buffalo, ostrich, and elk on restaurant menus. In fact, several prominent chain restaurants feature these meats due to rising consumer demand. While these meats being served to diners are actually farm raised game, the term wild game meat is still the most widely used and accepted term when discussing non traditional cuts of meat.

Healthy Wild Game Meats Becoming More Available

One of the most notable benefits of wild game meats are their fat content vs. traditional meats. Ostrich meat is lower in fat content than chicken breast, and surprisingly, elk meat is slightly less than 1% fat. Conversely, ham is approximately 6% fat and roast beef ranges from 6-10% fat. In fact, ostrich and elk meat have less fat and cholesterol than fish.

Summary

Wild game meats are rapidly becoming part of mainstream diets and restaurant choices due to their savory taste and health benefits. Elk, buffalo, ostrich, caribou, and many more types of wild game are available and easy to prepare as roasts, steaks, burgers, and more.

About the Author:

Jim Hofman is a regular guy who enjoys the great taste and lower fat content of wild game meats , and sharing what he enjoys with his friends and readers. Check out some of Jim’s buffalo meat recipes here. Enjoy!