Bison is a lot like beef. It’s a red meat with many of the same nutrients, although it is considerably leaner. Most of us living a Paleo lifestyle prefer to load up on the saturated and monounsaturated fat that red meat has to offer, but if you find you feel better on a slightly lower-fat diet, then bison might be for you.
Supply and Demand
Bison is not in very high demand, compared to beef. This means it can usually be acquired for a lower price than quality beef, and bison is almost always grass-fed. Since the demand for grass-fed beef has gone up considerably, the prices have gone up along with it. There has also been a growing demand for bison, but not nearly as much as beef, which means bison farmers can still raise grass-fed animals and get a good price for their meat.
Grass-Fed v. Grain-Fed
Grass-fed is generally preferable to grain-fed for a number of reasons. Like us, cattle were not meant to eat grains, and doing so tends to make them fat and sick. This is great for cattle farmers trying to up the weight of their animals, but it also means they have to use antibiotics to help ward of disease. I don’t know about you, but personally, I feel better eating meat that has not been injected with chemicals.
To make up your own mind about how important grass-fed meat is to you, Mark Sisson has an excellent post on the differences between grain-fed, grass-fed, and pastured meat.
