Does anyone eat this on a regular basis? If so, why? I've read all kinds of things, like it is better for you than chicken or turkey. Is that true? I've tried researching it, but I mostly find the that the information is coming from people that raise bison. Any unbiased opinions?

Yes I have tried bison and I love the meat. It is very lean and healthy.

I have recently began to include bison into my diet. Basically it is a very lean, healthy alternative to beef. So if you like beef but want to cut back on your consumption of it, bison is a great way to do so without feeling deprived

Not only is bison generally leaner than beef, but bison are more likely to be pasture-raised (grass-fed) in smaller herds (in larger spaces) than beef cattle. The fat of grass-fred animals contains a higher proportion of healthy Omega-3's than grain fed animals. So not only does bison have less fat than beef, it's usually healthier fat.

However, some bison are grain-fed which I'm thinking would decrease much of the health advantages bison has over beef. So, if you have a choice, and can afford the price difference, make sure you're choosing grass-fred bison (or beef).

I eat it -- I like to make "buffalo" loaf out of it. I don't know about elsewhere, but you can find it on a lot of restaurant's menus now (in KS). A couple of years ago, my sister and I had to order it online, but now it's in every store I shop at. It's becoming increasingly more popular so I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up being a segment on Oprah (if it already hasn't).

I believe the only kind that I can find in the store is grain fed, so I've never purchased it. The nutritional information on the package is exactly the same as the info on beef, which is what makes me think it's grain fed. The only red meat I really eat is lamb or ostrich and that's very rare.

When I lived in CO, I tried it and thought it was gross. It was also the only meat I've ever eaten that I was able to visualize the animal as I ate it which really turned it off for me. I think buffalo's are awesome creatures and really couldn't eat them. (Of course that was years before I even thought about not eating meat in general)

Sunset Magazine ran a feature article on it in their last issue that stressed how lean bison meat is supposed to be. But I looked it up on Calorieking and 1 oz of ground bison is 63 calories with 4.5g fat (2 of them saturated). That's definitely NOT leaner than the ground beef I get, which is 38 calories per ounce with just over 1g of fat (and only .4 of it saturated). The bison meat is close to twice as fatty as my ground beef, which pretty much takes bison meat off the table for me.

Just like ground beef, ground bison is going to have a tremendous variation in fat and calorie content. To an extent it's going to depend what the animal was eating, but also how the ground meat was prepared, and with what intent.

If you're selling bison as a "gourmet" meat, you might feed the bison grain and/or add extra fat to the ground meat to improve the taste (because fat adds flavor, tenderness, and mouthfeel to meats).

However, if you're selling bison as a healthier alternative to beef (at least if you're a reputable business that really means it), you're going raise grass-fed animals and trim the fat.

Just as there's a huge difference in the fat and calorie count between different cuts of beef and grades of ground beef.

There's a restaurant in our town that sells a 97% lean ground bison burger, and you can tell that it's a super lean meat. Unless you order it practically raw, it's pretty dry and tasteless.

The only bison I eat is bison jerky or buffalo jerky (same thing right?)

So good.

I get buffalo as part of my freezer coop and my opinion is it is tougher than beef...and so it needs more marinade, etc. My guess is at a restaurant by the time they are done cooking it it probably isnt a ton healthier.

I wouldnt go out of my way to get it for myself

tamaralynn, American buffalo and bison are the same animal. American "buffalo" aren't "true" buffalo they're bison, but unless you're a zoologist it's just a technicality). You'll also occasionally see "beefalo," which could be from a crossbred animal or from mixing ground beef with ground bison.