Grass fed beef? (Parker, Angus: weddings, to buy, restaurants)

[orngkat]

I know little about how cattle is raised but aren't all cows grass fed at some point? Don't they need to be grass-finished to be truly grass fed? The label on the HEB does say grass-finished.

[Trainwreck20]

The vast majority of cattle is raise in feedlots now and probably never eat a stalk of grass in their life. Not sure on exactly what 'grass finishing' means, though.

Somewhat interesting:
http://www.beefboard.org/news/files/...ished-Beef.pdf

[orngkat]

OK...I thought they all started out in the field and are then moved to feedlots before slaughter.

[TexasHorseLady]

I live surrounded by the pastures of one of the largest cattle handling companies of its kind in the country. They have a contract with McDonald's, in fact, to provide beef for them. The cattle graze on beautiful pastures (we should eat so good!), with plenty of room, water, etc. They're worked from horseback, not with ATVs. They do eventually, I believe, at least some of them, move to feedlots where they're finished with corn over a period of a few months, I believe it is. But they spend a lot of time on pasture (as they do before they get to that operation as feeder calves) - most of their lives, in fact.

Grass-fed beef just has so much more flavor than corn-fed, albeit less fat and therefore needs a different kind of cooking.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

The vast majority of cattle is raise in feedlots now and probably never eat a stalk of grass in their life. Not sure on exactly what 'grass finishing' means, though.

Somewhat interesting:
http://www.beefboard.org/news/files/...ished-Beef.pdf

Trainwreck, this statement of your above is not only inaccurate, it completely contradicts the second sentence in the page you linked to, which says:


While most cattle spend the majority of their lives in pastures eating grass before moving to a feedlot for grain-finishing, grass-finished beef cattle remain on a pasture and forage diet.

[oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots]

Well, I've never had grass fed beef so I'm exploring. Is it all hype? Sounds like the cattle farm where THL lives has grass fed but grain at the end? What is in the grain exactly? Does it differ from farm to farm?

The cost, from what I've seen so far is more but not outrageous. On ground beef it seems a bit lower at some of the places. Just wanting to try it but wish there was some place closer.

I did find out Old Thyme Gardens doesn't carry grass fed beef any longer, (they carried the Betsy Ross Beef). The Betsy Ross beef is available at some People's Pharmacy. There are no People's Pharmacy around Hutto though.

Just exploring it still. Really, after PBB what's a little grain?

[HappyTexan]

Richardson Farms (Rockdale) sells at the Barton Creek Farmer's Market on Saturdays.

I suggest you just buy a little at first if you've never had grass fed and ask how to cook it.
There's less fat and marble so it will dry out quicker if you cook it like supermarket meat.

Richardson Farms

[Austin97]

I much prefer corn fed beef. Grass fed is the latest hype. The meat is not nearly as juicy because there is so little fat.

[Roadking2003]

Central Market has grass fed beef and last time I bought some it was not much higher than corn fed beef.

[G Grasshopper]

In my (limited) experience, all cattle start out on grass, but when they are shipped off to feedlots, where they more than double their weight by eating the corn based diet. Cows' digestive systems are not adapted to this diet, so they develop a lot of digestive problems, and one "consequence" of the poor metabolism that their bodies shift into is that a lot of fat is stored in their muscles. Of course, that is what people like about grain fed beef - the marbling in the meat. It is not a sign of health (and it isn't as healthy for the eater either,) but people like it. Grass fed beef never go off to the feed lot, and are not fed on grain, but eat grasses and whatever is growing on their fields. This is the way nature intended for them to eat, and they are healthier. Their muscle doesn't develop all that marbling because it stays healthy and lean.

One consideration (for me, anyway) is that feedlots are a huge environmental problem. When you put that many cows together, you get massive amounts of waste that has to be taken care of somehow. The cows also (pardon the mention of it) release more gas because their digestive tracts are working so poorly on grain. So there is a lot of land/water and air pollution from feed lots. When cows are grass fed, the waste is spread out over the fields, and naturally degrades, and the waste products actually go back into making more grass rather than becoming pollutants. Not to mention less gas because of healthy digestion. One possible downside of grass feeding is that if there is a creek or river that the cows can access, it will get totally destroyed and no longer support fish, etc, and the cows muddy it up. But if the cows are fence off from water ways and watered at stations, this problem can be eliminated. It takes more land to raise grass fed beef, which is part of the reason it costs more. I don't know all of the economics of beef raising, however, so I can't add more than that.

My HEB only sells grass fed hamburger. I haven't seen other cuts of grass fed. But I almost never cook beef, partly for that reason.

The differences between corn fed and grass fed beef are documented and know. They are not "hype." But of course, a person can choose which they want to eat. We make a lot of choices about our diets, and about what kind of practices we want to support, and this is just one of them.