News,The Cow Turns Green (gas, Omaha, impact, footprint)

[marmac]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

The best meat I've ever had was Water Buffalo. Made a fantastic chili. Second favorite is grass-fed beef from my own pasture, where I know exactly what's gone into it and have control over the impact on the environment (and a breed that will do well on our Austin chalk soil where you may have, naturally, anywhere from a quarter inch to four feet of topsoil within just a few feet of each other, and growing vegetables is NOT an option). Plus it just tastes better than corn fed. Corn fed may be more tender, but grass fed has more flavor and it doesn't take a lot to learn how to cook it right.

---" corn fed may be more tender, but grass fed has more flavor"--

Apparently most people don't agree with the " flavor" opinion cuz feedlots haven't shut down from lack of demand for corn fed beef.

Eating grass fed beef is just more --" trendy"-- for some.

If it was--" trendy"-- to eat an old shoe, some would say --" it isn't as tender, but has more flavor"--also.

[TexasHorseLady]

I discovered the better flavor in grass-fed beef long before it became trendy - in fact, it was considered undesirable because it wasn't as tender as corn fed.

A small neighborhood grocery store near my house got a tiny shipment of grass-fed beef - not sure how it happened. I accidentally bought some, thinking it was on sale - it was CHEAP because they wanted to get rid of it. Took it home, cooked it up, and it was incredibly tasty, had much more flavor than any beef I'd ever had. So I went back to get some more, and they were out, and explained to me what it was and why it was so cheap.

That was when my eldest, now 37, was two. It was decades before I could find any more, and I was looking. (Found the water buffalo before I found the grass fed beef, in fact.) Now, we simply raise our own.

So that has nothing to do with trends. Just flavor.

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

You'd probably consider our beef to be from a borderline pet, then. Basically because I insist on giving them the best possible life during their time here, so while I don't bottle feed them, I do pour beer in their feeder periodically. And they do come to me for backrubs and cookies and such, when they're not wandering around in pastures of lush grass with their herd. Figure it's the least I can do.

Well, as long as they were only beer fed and not bottle fed...

[stone-ground]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

You'd probably consider our beef to be from a borderline pet, then. Basically because I insist on giving them the best possible life during their time here, so while I don't bottle feed them, I do pour beer in their feeder periodically. And they do come to me for backrubs and cookies and such, when they're not wandering around in pastures of lush grass with their herd. Figure it's the least I can do.

Hope if I come back as a cow one day, end up in your pasture.

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by marmac

---" corn fed may be more tender, but grass fed has more flavor"--

Apparently most people don't agree with the " flavor" opinion cuz feedlots haven't shut down from lack of demand for corn fed beef.

Eating grass fed beef is just more --" trendy"-- for some.

If it was--" trendy"-- to eat an old shoe, some would say --" it isn't as tender, but has more flavor"--also.

That flavor is a part of the reason why some people don't like gamier, lean meats like elk, bison, venison, etc. I love it, but someone who is accustomed to eating the very mild meat of a couch-potato may find stronger, leaner meat distasteful. Personally, I love to taste the meat rather than the absence of "meat" flavor, but I suppose I can understand either preference.

[Omaha Rocks]

Originally Posted by jimboburnsy

That flavor is a part of the reason why some people don't like gamier, lean meats like elk, bison, venison, etc. I love it, but someone who is accustomed to eating the very mild meat of a couch-potato may find stronger, leaner meat distasteful. Personally, I love to taste the meat rather than the absence of "meat" flavor, but I suppose I can understand either preference.

See now... That's my issue. I'm really not into the wild taste. And I realize it's partly because I grew up on a dairy farm, drinking fresh whole milk and eating fresh beef, pork and chicken - and enjoying same-day eggs from chickens that not only ate grain, but scratched around the farm all day.

That was high living - and we didn't even know it! "Geez mom, do we have to have steak again?!?!?!"

[TexasHorseLady]

Oh, yes, real free range chicken and eggs, flavored by all the nummy things they scratched up/caught (yep, no such thing as a free-range vegetarian chicken ) - nothing better!

Though the same day eggs are not so good for boiled eggs - gotta age those a bit in order to be able to get the shell off without leaving a lot of egg attached to it once they're boiled.

[stone-ground]

Originally Posted by Omaha Rocks

See now... That's my issue. I'm really not into the wild taste. And I realize it's partly because I grew up on a dairy farm, drinking fresh whole milk and eating fresh beef, pork and chicken - and enjoying same-day eggs from chickens that not only ate grain, but scratched around the farm all day.

That was high living - and we didn't even know it! "Geez mom, do we have to have steak again?!?!?!"

Had to chuckle as I read this, as the same thoughts used to go through my mind as a kid heading home from school .. only ours was heavily pounded, breaded moose steak .. day in and day out. My heart would always drop, hoping for something different, like moosemeat spaghetti.

Now I'd love to taste that again! (.. maybe not the moosemeat spaghetti)

[Omaha Rocks]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Oh, yes, real free range chicken and eggs, flavored by all the nummy things they scratched up/caught (yep, no such thing as a free-range vegetarian chicken ) - nothing better!

Though the same day eggs are not so good for boiled eggs - gotta age those a bit in order to be able to get the shell off without leaving a lot of egg attached to it once they're boiled.

BINGO.

We lived on an acreage when our kids were growing up. Having grown up in a city, my wife wanted chickens. Not boring white ones, but interesting ones. So that's what we got - everything from Buff Orpington to Araucana. White eggs, brown eggs, tan eggs, blue-green eggs.

It was a lot of fun, and since we couldn't eat all the eggs produced (we generally had about 12-15 hens) we'd take the extras into town and give them to friends.

There were a couple times we kept back a rooster or two, then let a couple hens "set" and hatch & raise their own chicks. That was very cool - especially for our kids to be part of.



Now we're in the middle of Omaha and missing the chickens & fresh eggs. But we have a huge (1 acre) yard that is all fenced in. We're seriously considering getting 2-3 hens again. We'll probably get a couple, then ask permission later.

[rlchurch]

Originally Posted by vec101

If we are talking about CO2 problems with cows, etc. - how about all those raging wildfires in California?

What, no one is suggesting we make everyone move out of Cal and ban tourists to drastically reduce the chance of wildfires.....or.... just lopping the whole state off into the ocean?

Since the hills around California regrow after a wildfire, there's no net impact on CO2. {Science over ignorance}