Comments on: What About Grass-fed Beef?

By: purchase myspace views

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By: SoLuna

SoLuna — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 02:58:13 +0000

How can I deal with Food Policy Councils nationwide that are promoting grass-fed beef and using the council’s as a vehicle to establish the acceptance of a grass-fed beef culture? It is still beef and it will kill you!

By: john

john — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 13:42:37 +0000

I live in PA. The beef that I buy from a local farmer avoids many of the problems the article associates with grass fed beef. I’m trying a new farmer this time around (my fourth quarter cow in 2 years). The cows have a large pasture and are not crowded at all. Much of the land used would just lay fallow or be used for growing corn and some of the land is hilly which is not the best land to grow crops on but fine for cows. I think the cows are better for the land than big fields of feed corn sprayed with herbicides and pesticides. The cows, if moved around and not too crowded, seem to improve the land and probably increase biodiversity, not too many predators here endangering cows. You sometimes see deer sharing the pasture with the cows.
As to the cost: When buying grain fed beef at the supermarket I only buy expensive cuts (flank steak, strip steaks, pot roasts, etc.). I avoid ground beef since most of the dangers of grain fed beef are worse in ground meat. So my cost is high per pound. Now that I buy grass fed beef I am getting a lot of ground beef. But all my ground beef is from one cow, not 100 cows like when you buy grain fed. So now I eat all different cuts including a bunch of ground beef. So, in my case, the price per pound is probably the same when you average it out.
The farmer tells me that they use an organic natural processing plant. Of course I’m just taking their word and don’t really know the details of the slaughtering. But taking the word of a local farmer committed to raising natural grass fed beef is easier than taking the word of a large beef producer or industry spokesman.
The taste is different. With less fat steaks must be cooked rare or they will get dry. With less fat and marbling the taste is not as rich and the meat is not as tender as we are used to after a lifetime of eating corn fed beef. But I’m getting used to it and will continue. Since the cows are much smaller than traditional beef the steaks are smaller and we end up eating less beef that is healthier and better for the environment. Eating less beef means we eat more fruits and vegetables, many of which I grow in my backyard garden. My backyard garden uses no oil to produce loads of food, fed with some organic fertilizer but mostly compost that I make myself mostly from the weeds which I seem to be very good at growing. In 25 years I’ve turned clay soil into rich dark black loamy soil that is a foot thick and I can dig with my hands. When I pick up my latest quarter next week I won’t buy any grain fed beef for 6 months. I estimate that I am paying about $7 pound, expensive for ground beef but cheaper than filet mignon at the supermarket. The downside for me is that I only get to eat 2 flank steaks a year rather than one a week. I’m getting used to it and rediscovering the many uses for ground beef.
Maybe grass fed beef can’t completely replace grain fed beef worldwide but it has for me. And there are theories that the more of your food that comes from your locality the healthier for you and the environment.
To paraphrase Michael Pollin: You can vote for better agriculture policies, 3 times a day. And, you are what you eat eats.

By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 07:12:07 +0000

Re: the “world hunger” comment: if 20 (or 40) years ago, people advocated for FREE BIRTH CONTROL instead of cheap food, there would be no world hunger. The planet was never intended to sustain 7B+ people. If you really truly want to save the world, DO NOT HAVE CHILDREN. Tell everyone you know NOT TO HAVE CHILDREN. Offer to pay for birth control/abortions for anyone that wants one.

Changing your diet, using fewer plastic bags, and whatever other stupid things people advocate as being “good for the environment” is nothing compared to agreeing not to procreate.

By: Katrina

Katrina — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 20:31:26 +0000

Look up rendering plant and spend some time looking through the photos you get. This alone should make you want to eat only locally grown meat so that you know what it has eaten and what you’re about to eat. I dont’ know about you all, but I don’t like the thought of taking in anything that been fed another mashed up animal that may have been sitting around for a while.

By: Jan at Wassi's Meat Market

Jan at Wassi's Meat Market — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 01:46:26 +0000

Seriously, those of us that LOVE a good steak would NEVER consider eating a piece of grass fed beef. Granted it is lower in fat and price, but it is also lower in quality and tendernesss.

By: Usiku

Usiku — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 16:39:00 +0000

The entirety of the American and global problem is capitalism that exceeds balance. Without addressing this moral, spiritual and philosophical deficit, the issues will be unending leaving us without enough fingers and toes to plug the holes.

Secondly, the solution is not to turn range land into solar and wind facilities, it’d be much better to decentralize energy production back into the hands of the individual. For starters, it should be standard for all homes and buildings to be at least 50% energy sustainable. We should make it advantageous instead of illegal to grow food in our front yards. There are so many beneficial steps we could take but overall we should learn to use less energy just as we should learn to eat less meat.

By: Jim

Jim — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 00:02:37 +0000

There are so many untruths written here that I don’t even know where to start.
-Cattle were not slaughtered at 3 to 5 years old in history
-Not all cattle are given growth hormones
-Antibiotics are used only when needed
-Feed lots are typically sanitary
-The animals typically are treated humanly
-Grass feed beef does not taste nearly as good, perhaps the fat is a problem for our bloated population but that is not the industries fault.

Try writing about something you know about!

By: Alan

Alan — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 23:55:39 +0000

Your comment about cholesterol unfortunately shows a complete lack of knowledge about it, or having done the research which is in over-abundance on the internet. And a personal “opinion” is generally one-sided and therefore slanted or prejudiced, making it biased and not truly weighing both side of the issue.

You are not alone, as many of those who have responded fall into the same category. Some have even been so narrow-minded as to focus on the misspelling of a word, as though somehow that places them in some sort of a superior intelligence that by some stroke of magic makes their comment nullify an entire article as to it’s value.

There is clearly a problem with our food, and our government only pretends to care, all the while bowing to the demands of the almighty power of money and greed. It’s not new…it’s just finally gotten completely out of hand and we, the general public, pay the price.

Feedlot s are inhumane and produce something that passes for food that slowly kills us. It could be chickens, turkeys, pigs, it doesn’t matter. As for the slaughterhouses and their methods, I’m sorry but they are animals. They are not humans and trying to make a human out of an animal is just nuts. According to the book I read we are to subdue and rule. We are to kill and eat.

But as our culture is today, it has gotten so that everyone has to have a cause to feel important. It makes no difference whether it’s a cow or a football team! Personally I think that people are more important, and that the health of a nation is more important, than whether a word is misspelled or how an animal is prepared for market.

This is not about being right or wrong, and it makes no difference whatsoever if someone likes this verbiage or not. There’re just my thoughts and in reality, only important to me. If wisdom can be extracted then so be it. One thing is blatantly clear. There is a problem, and there is a solution. Let action speak louder than words.

By: david

david — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 02:41:42 +0000

the article states:

“Cattle raised on pasture actually produce more methane than feedlot animals, on a per-cow basis.”

can you cite a source for this information? thanks.