Real Food Encyclopedia | Bison

With its lean meat and light environmental footprint, the American Bison (Bison bison) is enjoying a new spotlight among health and eco-conscious eaters. But the bison —sometimes called the buffalo — has a much longer history. Foundational to Native American diets and livelihoods, the bison was nearly eradicated as European settlers pushed westwards, intentionally slaughtering the massive bison herds to force native people off their land. While conservationists recognized the value of the bison to prairie ecosystems in the 20th century and rebuilt populations, the bison population is still a shadow of its former self. In the right hands, the expansion of bison ranching could lower the environmental impact of the U.S. food system and help to give native tribes control of their lands. Choosing pasture-raised, ethically sourced bison meat is key to supporting this vision. 

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What to look for when buying bison

Bison is a lean meat and is not graded, like beef, with designations such as “prime” or “choice” to indicate the level of marbling (fat) that the muscle contains.

For the most sustainable product, look for Bison that is pasture-raised or grass-fed. If it is available, try to buy the meat locally at your local farmers’ market. If you’re ordering online, consider supporting a native-owned ranch.

Sustainability of bison

Left to their own devices, bison will migrate and graze in patterns that are not only light on the land but benefit the ecosystem they inhabit. Unlike cattle, which prefer to hover near water sources, bison move around the land more, sparing the delicate ecosystems along the banks of streams and ponds.. They also graze differently from cattle, going first for grasses and leaving patches where other plants can fill in, helping to increase biodiversity on pasture. Their hoof prints leave depressions that collect water and their dung serves as a powerful fertilizer: both assist in seedling germination and establishment.

Despite their unique adaptations to living on the plains, some ranchers have tried to raise bison industrially like cattle using confined spaces and grain-heavy diets. This negates the positive impacts bison can have on the environment. Animals that are confined build up waste stores that pastured animals do not. Unlike animals that can graze for their dinner, those that are fed a grain diet will require that grain to be grown, harvested, transported, stored and distributed. This diet is bad for the animal, eater and environment combined.

Geography

American bison, also known as “American buffalo,” are intertwined with the lives of indigenous people and the history of the U.S. When European colonists arrived, there were thirty million bison roaming the great expanses of North America. The territory of the bison ranged from Northern Canada to as far south as Northern Mexico and spanned the country from eastern Washington State to western New York. But by the early 20th century, there were only several hundred left.

Many factors contributed to their decline. There was drought, exacerbated by new populations moving into previously uninhabited or lightly inhabited areas of the country and draining natural resources by plowing up and fencing off the rich prairie. Train tracks bisected the country, isolating or bisecting herds. Disease, introduced by the influx of non-native cattle, took its toll. Sport hunting of bison became a popular pursuit with participants shooting bison through the windows of trains designated for the purpose. The demand for the animals’ fur in the states and Europe led to massive slaughter as well.

Most significantly, however, they were intentionally eliminated because of their connection to the Indigenous people who depended on them. In order to “civilize the West” and force Native people off their land, US soldiers led a bison eradication campaign. Buffalo bounty hunters killed millions of animals and disrupted the ecosystems of the high plains so much that many tribes like the Lakota Sioux had no choice but to surrender to life on reservations as a last chance to survive. The animals were bordering on extinction when American President Theodore Roosevelt led conservation efforts to restore their populations in the late 19th century.

The dramatic shrinking of the natural bison population caused a genetic bottleneck that has forever impacted the DNA pool of the species. As breeders mated the animals to increase the stock, they sometimes crossed them with cattle. As a result, most modern bison carry at least some of that bovine genetic material. The herd at Yellowstone National Park is one of the few that remains untainted by cattle genes. Bison have roamed continuously there since prehistoric times.

Only four percent of the nation’s bison populations roam freely in our National Parks and preserves. The remaining 96 percent of bison are raised commercially for meat and hides.

Current efforts to restore prairies and raise the animals sustainably are turning back to indigenous knowledge about managing the animals in their environment. Giving native people control over bison conservation not only ensures that traditional knowledge can benefit the environment, but it also gives tribes financial ownership over resources that were forcibly taken from them.

Although the animals are well adapted to the environment of the United States, they still only represent a fraction of meat sold. About 7.5 million pounds of meat from approximately 15,000 bison are sold annually in the United States. U.S. beef production in 2024 was 26 billion pounds.

Eating bison

Storing

Bison should be refrigerated after purchase and enjoyed within three to five days. It can be frozen for four to six months. Bison is often dried and eaten as jerky.

Top photo by lilechka75/Adobe Stock.