5 Ethical Reasons To Add Grass-Fed Beef To Your Diet

by John Brady, Beef Expert for the Menuism Beef Blog

Some consider meat eating unethical due to its environmental impact, animal cruelty, human health issues or various other reasons. They might like to enjoy an occasional juicy, grilled beef steak, but can't quite justify it. If this includes you, here are my top five reasons why you should go ahead and enjoy real, grass-finished beef.

Grass-fed, grass-finished. That's my beef. Enjoy!

Related Links from the Menuism Beef Blog:
• Does Aging Beef Keep You Younger?
• Inside the Butcher Shop: Beef Cuts 101
• How to Choose the Best Beef

John Brady is one of a now-rare breed of farmer-ranchers who comes from an unbroken chain of family farmers going back multiple generations. He is the third generation currently farming the same land in Idaho. After earning a degree in Agronomy and a Master's degree in Agricultural Economics, borrowing money and participating in USDA farm commodity programs during the 1970s, he has finally overcome most of that to be a maverick in doing things the "new old-fashioned" way, working with nature to raise beef the way it was intended: on grass, legumes and forage. Watch John move cows at BradysBeef.com, read the Brady's Beef blog and keep up to date on all things Brady's Beef on Twitter.

 

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Comments

[baskerville]

02:04 PM on 05/30/2012

As a vegetarian---in fact, exactly the kind of vegetarian you talk about in the opening paragraph (i.e. I do like meat, but cannot justify eating it)--I had high hopes that you might actually offer at least one or two compelling ethical reasons for a vegetarian to consider eating grass-fed meat. But instead, every one of the five reasons offered is directed at people who eat conventional beef, not at vegetarians as the opening paragraph suggested. Seriously, how do you think "it's good for the animals" sounds to a vegetarian? By any sensible measure, opting for some beans is certainly "better for the animals" than feeding those animals some grass and then slaughtering and eating THEM. Moreover, beans are also healthy, good for black bean farmers, and good for water and nutrient cycles. And your final reason, "it's the right thing to do"? Please....Citing the very premise you're trying to prove as proof for your premise is illogical and lazy.
I concede that you have shown that grass-fed beef is more ethical than conventional beef, and I applaud you for advocating it for meat-eaters. But don't pretend that it is somehow MORE ethical then avoiding meat altogether.

[sabelmouse]

05:08 AM on 05/31/2012

here are two arguments for vegetarians to consider eating meat.
http://theconversation.edu.au/ordering-the-vegetarian-meal-theres-more-animal-blood-on-your-hands-4659
http://www.permaculture.co.uk/articles/meat-eating-vs-vegetarian-or-vegan-diet

[nickelpickle]

12:04 PM on 05/30/2012

i am glad to say i have a wonderful farm an hour or so from me. i buy my beef in bulk and keep it in a freezer. the quality is outstanding and the price is extremely reasonable for the everyday beef (ground and cubed). i wish everyone had that option.

[klbrz]

02:14 PM on 05/31/2012

More people have that option than they realize. Try http://eatwild.com/ and http://www.localharvest.org/ for locally soruced food options.

[SanJoaquinValleyGrower]

01:22 AM on 06/01/2012

we need more people like you!

[nickelpickle]

07:50 AM on 06/01/2012

i agree ;)

[sabelmouse]

07:18 AM on 05/30/2012

is this the huffington post i'm on ?

[HazelPethigFan]

09:44 PM on 05/29/2012

I wonder how many here are going to lecture Amish farmers for using corn silage to feed cattle?

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

[honeybear64]

12:32 AM on 05/30/2012

One's religion and one's agricultural practices are two different things. I really don't see what someone being Amish has to do with anything. If using corn silage is a bad thing, then being Amish doesn't get you a free pass; if using corn silage is a good thing, then being Amish is irrelevant.

[French Toast]

12:06 PM on 05/30/2012

The guy is just not a legitimate poster. Whatever the sensible position is, you can be assured Hazel will be posting the opposite. Look no further than her comments history.

[Steve41]

05:07 PM on 05/29/2012

As a quick note, most cattle are grass-fed(CAFOs are generally only the last few weeks of the cattles life). Grass finished would be more accurate.

[patianneb]

09:28 PM on 05/29/2012

Precisely.

[HazelPethigFan]

09:54 PM on 05/29/2012

and as another quick note, "grass fed" does not mean 100% grass. It is NOT all grass in any pasture I have ever seen. They eat nearly anything but thistles and a few others.

But ironically, 100% corn-fed technically means 100% grass-fed since corn is absolutely defined as a grass.

I always love technical irony.

[mothergrace]

01:24 AM on 05/30/2012

Corn is a grass but the ears are not. They are grain and the starch is what causes a problem. Cattle cannot be raised on corn entirely or they would get sick. That is why all beef is grass raised but some are grass finished and some are grain finished.

If you can't win by telling the truth, you aren't winning.

[sabelmouse]

05:11 AM on 05/31/2012

also clover and other wild flower but making a whole list would be cumbersome, don't you think?

[mlaiuppa]

04:12 PM on 05/29/2012

I have found an excellent source, but not so local.

Star Brand Beef - Shreve Stockton of The Daily Coyote.

Grass fed, Grass finished, humanely raised and she has found an excellent operation for the butchering so the animals remain stress free.

I'll get my first order in August. She'll only ship once a year. This year it's the west. Next year the east. So I'll have to wait two years before I can get more. But I'll make it last as long as I can. And I'll be saving up to buy a larger order the next time.

This is the only type of beef I intend to eat for as long as she'll offer it.

Now I'm looking for a local equivalent for pork and poultry. Already have my fish guy.

Eggs and Dairy have been taken care of for a while.

Farmer's Market and my own garden for fruits and veggies.

[Steve41]

05:02 PM on 05/29/2012

Try local harvest.org . Loads of local/smaller farmers list on there and most are more than willing to tell you about how the animal is raised. Quarter to half cow is the way to go to keep your costs reasonable... even if you split it with a friend... but make sure you have the freezer space. If you are in a more urban area you might also check a couple local butcher shops, many times they will work as middle men for local farmers.

[Climate Lurker]

04:02 PM on 05/29/2012

I suspect a lot of people who don't know what wild game tastes like will be surprised by the taste of grass fed beef. Because the meat you buy at the grocery store has become almost like cardboard, the robust flavor of NATURAL beef will seem strange. Isn't that sad? I think it is...

Good article!

[plantbasedpunk]

01:32 PM on 05/29/2012

-While grass fed beef may be better than it's grain fed cousins, I doubt it could be called "healthy". Beef is high in saturated fat and cholesterol. Both of which is linked to heart disease, one of the leading causes of death in the US.

-While grass-fed cows likely experience a higher quality of life than cows raised in CAFOs, I doubt any cows - or any individual - would consider having their skulls crushed, necks slashed and bowels removed as being "good" for them.

I won't argue that eating grass-better beef is better for you or better for the cows, but I wouldn't go as far as to say that it is "humane" or "healthy".

[hazyjane]

05:50 PM on 05/29/2012

Saturated fat and cholesterol are not the cause of heart disease. This myth started with the poorly designed science of Ancel Keys' lipid hypothesis in the 60's, which has been proven false.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8WA5wcaHp4

Remember, we evolved eating saturated fat and cholesterol, yet it's only recently (in the last century that heart disease has become a leading killer.
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/242516-Heart-Surgeon-Speaks-Out-On-What-Really-Causes-Heart-Disease

[French Toast]

10:58 PM on 05/29/2012

Don't bother bringing up evolution for lazy self-serving inaccurate reasons, thanks.

[I-US]

11:09 AM on 05/30/2012

No to point one and no to point two.

[la maqina]

02:12 PM on 05/30/2012

You are wrong, it depends on the raiser. My cattle are treated like pets. I also raise a rare breed of cattle called british Whites. They contain only extreme low levels of cholesterol and by commercial standars are virtualy fat free. Mine also retain very few omega 6's but actually store omega 3's! The health aspects of my British Whites raised on nartural forage is more like a deer. They used to be killed in the wild like deer, but I pamper mine. When we slaughter, it is quick and is as painless as we can make it!!! Know the farmer raising your beef! I have a beef quality assurance certification to help ensure this process is followed!

[Karl Wilder]

12:58 PM on 05/29/2012

In addition grass fed beef has such an incredibly superior flavor.

[klbrz]

01:55 PM on 05/30/2012

The thing I've been surprised about is how much the flavor can vary from one breed, or mix, to another and from one farm to another. All within the same general area.

[watch out world]

12:09 PM on 05/29/2012

So refreshing to see something positive about beef. I've been enjoying grass-fed now for a few years and will never go back to CAFO meat. It's a shame that more people don't know about the benefits of grass-fed. Hopefully articles like this will enlighten them, but even then it is tough to convince some people because we've been so brain-washed against beef period.

[NYFarmer]

11:28 AM on 05/29/2012

I would also like to add something on the importance of grass-based milksheds. Here in NY, we have millions of acres of well-watered grasslands that serve as the basis for our NY milkshed. This is the area surrounding NYC that supplies milk into the City. We are using the natural resources we have (grass) to turn grass into milk for the Northeast Corridor. Farms here often serve as the last bastions against large lot subdivision and sprawl. Audubon NY has also summarized the need to maintain large tracts of open grasslands to help the grassland birds survive. As NY's dairy arms are driven from the land, we've lot large swaths of land to abandonment and/or large lot subdivision, resulting in a plummeting population of grassland birds. At this point, some 3,000,000 acres of NY farmland stand abandoned and/or underutlized as the farmers have gone out of business. See Cornell's report called "Green Grass, Green Jobs' that details the extent of grassland farms abandonment here in NY. NYC, you need to know more about the natural resources of the farms nearest to you! I am glad that there is a growing group of food interested people in NYC. Hoping the knowledge of NY's grassland resources will spread to our urban farm lovers.

[mothergrace]

02:38 PM on 05/29/2012

And this, in a nutshell, is why the smaller farms and the farmers who run them are so important.

Only they know how to relate to the land in a way large agribusiness refuses to do, keeping all aspects of the land in balance.

[HazelPethigFan]

07:13 PM on 05/29/2012

when you going to put your lectures into practice, ma ? start your farm.

do......it

[la maqina]

02:15 PM on 05/30/2012

Thank you! You are right!

[seumasog]

07:03 PM on 05/30/2012

Are you familiar with CADE http://www.cadefarms.org/indexC.php. Right up your alley.