Thousands of years ago, large herds of cattle roamed free on the fields of what would later become North America. After that, in the early days of agriculture, farmers rotated their herds between pastures to give the land and the grass a chance to recuperate in the off-season. As the population of America grew and 20th-century industrialists and politicians searched for ways to use our massive excess of American corn, they started using it as grain feed, and the demand for meat grew and our society transitioned from eating meat as an occasional treat to eating meat as a daily staple.
This created a fierce cycle: farmers raised more cattle by adding in grain supplements and altering best practices to keep up the demand, but that surplus of meat led to more demand, which led to more grain feed and other industrial beef practices being normalized. The problem with prioritizing quantity over quality is that industrial meat and supplemental grains and feed mean the animals get fewer nutrients, which mean they get sicker, which means they need antibiotics to keep them alive, and thus a race toward the bottom of quality and sustainability is created without a second thought to what that meat does to our bodies, our world, and the taste and texture of the product itself.
These days, there are several unique ways of feeding and raising cattle. If you are looking for the best nutritional beef products, it is essential to start by looking at the labels. Grass-finished means that the cows ate grass, plants, and shrubs their entire lives. Grass-fed means that cows began by eating grass but could have been fed grain feed at some point in their lives. The nutritional value, taste, and quality of beef all depend on what type of diet the cattle are fed.
Grass-fed beef is a loose term that can be placed on any cow that was fed grass at some point during its life. In feeding lots, they receive a supplemental diet of grain byproducts, corn, protein supplements, soy, and sometimes even beef tallow from neighboring slaughterhouses which is essentially mass cattle cannibalization to help them quickly gain weight and produce more meat.
As we said earlier, there are no strict rules regarding grass-fed labeling. And, just because a product is labeled grass-fed does not mean it was also pasture-raised. The cost is lower, and grain adds weight much faster than grass-feeding. This allows farmers to get their animals to market much faster.
It also gives the beef a type of fat marbling that North Americans have grown accustomed to. In recent years, there has been some dietary discussion about beef being unhealthy to eat. The reality of what makes beef potentially unhealthy has a lot to do with the artificial fattening of cows. Not only do grain finished cattle eat food that has not been a traditional part of their diet, but feedlot cows also have more antibiotics and added growth hormones than those that grazed on grass and forage for their entire lives.
Studies have discovered that grain-fed or grain finished beef does not have the same nutritional profile as grass-fed beef. Studies show that cattle fed grain lack as many good omega-3 fatty acids and CLA conjugated linoleic acid as grass-fed beef. Both of these essential fatty acids have some excellent health benefits. With resources limited, they must focus on making their cattle operations as efficient as possible. However it should be made clear that not all grass-fed beef is necessarily equal.
There can be plenty of differences. For instance, dairy cows are typically grass-fed and finished, but the beef from dairy cows leaves much to be desired in terms of flavour and tenderness.
Also, the type of grass, soils and climate conditions all can play a part in the resulting meat quality that comes from grass-fed beef cattle. This pains our soul at Meridian where we believe we sell some of the tastiest, most consistently tender grass-fed beef on the planet!
When it comes to our products, we promise transparency with no confusion and quality without surprises. POM Pomegranates are in season and now available at all of our Nov 7. POM Pomegranates are in season and now available at all of our farm markets. While this term is still not tightly regulated, it is much harder for unscrupulous purveyors to develop workarounds for this label. To summarize, meat sourced from grass-finished cows is far more nutritious, beneficial, and safe than meat sourced from grain-fed cattle, which has skewed nutrient profiles and contains harmful chemical by-products from the industrial cattle-rearing process.
Grain-fed cows produce meat that is both dramatically higher in inflammatory omega-6 fats and deficient in healthful omega-3s. This is doubly harmful considering the ratio , or relative amount, of these compounds may be more important than their absolute levels in the blood. One study, published in the Journal Antibiotics in , demonstrated just how readily remnants of the antibiotics used in industrial farming can be found in the food we eat.
The study analyzed samples of raw meat purchased from supermarkets in South Africa and found elevated levels of four common antibiotics—ciprofloxacin, streptomycin, tetracycline, and sulphanilamide—in a significant portion of them. This transfer of antibiotics from the industrial farming process to our dinner plates has wide-ranging implications on global and individual health. When one considers that antibiotics are primarily used to shield livestock from diseases that are directly caused by their enclosure in industrial feedlots, it becomes readily apparent why grass-finished cattle that roam freely until the end of their lives produce higher quality beef.
Shopping for grass-finished beef will help you ensure your meat is truly from cows that only consumed grass. Hopefully, this article has empowered you to be a more conscious consumer when it comes to shopping for grass-fed beef, so you can truly enjoy its benefits! As farmers and consumers we are frustrated by how hard it is to get to the truth on how our food is produced so we can make informed choices at the checkout.
This is what we produce and sell at the Ethical Farmers. In Australia, grain fed cattle have a diet that consists of grass plus grain.
The cattle have eaten grass but have also been fed grain.
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