Anyone who starts following cooking shows will, inevitably, start experimenting with new flavors in the kitchen. Often, one of the first upgrades to the home kitchen starts with a simple online search for "the best butter near me".
There are a lot of choices available when you are buying butter. We break down the most popular options and help you understand the differences. Butter is a staple in millions of households around the world, and for good reason as it also happens to be one of the healthiest foods you can buy — as long as you buy the right kind, of course.
Butter's fall from grace
Prior to The Great Depression and World War II, Americans had a great love for their butter. Those tumultuous times brought shortages and rationing to a lot of society's commodities, and butter consumption fell off rapidly.. With tough times and financial hardships plaguing society, margarine, a cheaper option (made with vegetable oil and food coloring), was born. To make matters worse, In the 1970s and 1980s, dieticians and the USDA began promoting a low-fat diet and butter's popularity fell even further.
Butter's recent breakthrough
Finally, in 2005, amidst a flood of research and studies that reversed popular opinion, butter broke free from its nutritional banishment, reclaimed its crown, and dethroned margarine as America's spread of choice.
In recent years, butter sales have been spurred even more by health trends like the Paleo Diet and Bulletproof Coffee, which centers around blending grass-fed butter with coffee for a nourishing and stimulating morning drink. Knowing that the American grocery store can be riddled with unhealthy options, these dietary protocols are very particular about the type of butter allowed.
Buying better butter:
We know the choices can be, at best, confusing. We are here to help clear up that confusion with more detail to help guide your choices.
Grass-Fed- your best best (with one caveat)
By now, you've likely tried Kerrygold Irish butter (it is the second-best selling butter in the U.S.) and you’ve probably noticed a huge difference in flavor and "creaminess" between it and the so-called "natural" stuff packaged by other national brands.
Grass-fed butter is much higher in healthy Omega-3 fatty acids and Vitamin K2 than butter from industrialized cows eating grain-based diets.
This is why we offer a GRASS-FED BUTTER upgrade when you order custom schmears.
One caveat: the term “grass-fed” is still not well regulated at all.
Because grass-fed could be loosely translated due to legal loopholes, it is best to know your supplier or farmer if you want 100% grass-fed butter.
The category of "best" comes with layers:
Grass-fed, pastured, from a local farm
Grass-fed, pastured
Grass-fed, imported
Imported? Why?
Because regulations overseas tend to be more strict than in the USA, if you want healthy butter and you’re awash with options, look for European butter or other imported brands. Many are naturally sourced from both grass-fed and fully pastured animals.
Always make sure you check the label for more info.
Organic is a good 2nd choice
First off, you may be surprised, with all of the health benefits you have heard about organic foods, why we didn't mark it as the "best choice". There are actually two primary reasons for this:
When it comes to a product we get from livestock, "organic" refers to the feed given to the animals, not the animals, themselves.
The USDA (regulating body for organics) has been chronically understaffed for many years, leading to a vast decrease in enforced regulation and verification of organic practices.
Choosing organic is a great choice if you want to make sure your butter comes from cows that haven’t been fed GMOs or a Roundup-laced diet. Organic butter is often found under store name brands, and is often well worth the price.
Organic, grass-fed, local together would be the perfect trio.
Additives- The food industry's dirty secret
Food companies are solely profit-driven. They use sneaky tactics to decrease costs and they know how to get people to buy an inferior product by creatively painting it as “healthy” or by hiding additives in the fine print.
If your butter doesn't fall into one of the categories discussed above and has canola oil, corn oil, or soy oil in it (all three are highly likely to come from GMO-derived sources), you should avoid it at all costs. Non-organic and non-grass fed butter could also come from cows that have been fed high amounts of GMO grains, the health consequences are still a highly debated topic.
Buying better butter bottom line
The choices are nearly endless, however, with a little knowledge and experimentation, you will quickly find the right brand for you. Whether your focus is flavor or health benefits, there is a better butter for you.
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