When thinking of topics to cover next, I realized that I hadn't done anything on grass-fed beef. This method of rearing animals is one of the cornerstones of the sustainable food movement . It's also one of the most highly contentious issues.
I myself am constantly in debate about whether meat should play a part in the future of eating at all. What I do know is that when reared properly, a cow can actually give back to the earth rather than take away from it. This method often takes more land and is currently more expensive, but the era of cheap meat at every meal needs to end. I will stop with my opinions and let Tod Churchill, owner and founder of Thousand Hills Cattle Company, explain the intrecacies of raising cows on grass.
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The question then becomes: Why bother with CAFOs at all? The simplified answer is that by confining animals to small areas and giving them no option but to eat the food the CAFO owner provides them (often "juiced" with antibiotics that can increase growth rate), the CAFO owner can assure fast growing and extra-fat animals for slaughter. And hence, profits.
The dirty side of CAFO business is that by confining super-sized animals in such small areas, disease, often caused by the inevitable accidental manure ingestion and ill-suited feed (grains), spreads rapidly requiring additional antibiotics. And with the need and purposeful overuse of antibiotics, new strains of antibiotic resistant bacteria are showing up and surviving through to store distribution (to your table).
Raising animals for human consumption should not be a matter of a profit/loss sum game. It should be done with respect for the animal. And the land will take care of itself.
But, I feel bad, because when cows are raised right, they are actually cute!
Not all overly fat, good fur, I feel like I should go back to being a good little vegan!
SHi........................p me to someone
else.
Uh, the lack of mad cow?
By the way, has anyone ever been to a pasture? It obviously isn't all grass the cattle eat. So how can marketers claim "grass fed"? Technically speaking, when cattle are 100% corn fed that's actually 100% grass fed because corn (maize) is a friggin grass! Look it up if you don't believe me..
And, yes, animals in pasture eat forage plants other than grasses, like forbs and legumes, but again, so what? "Grass fed" and more particularly "grass finished" are just shorthand ways of describing animals that aren't grain finished in feed lots. Capice?
By the way I can get 100% grass finished hamburger and even fancier cuts for WAY less than $10/lb, and I'm not a wealthy, neurotic urbanite, no poor people are laughing at me, and I'm not laughing at anybody else ... except YOU. You sound like you could use a little more fiber in your diet. Try some Metmucil or a couple of dried prunes. Maybe some grass.
http://www.grist.org/food/2011-04-14-ranchers-struggle-against-giant-meatpackers-economic-troubles
By the way...corn is a grass. LOL!
You did not address ANYTHING about the health benefits of grass fed beef! this was about a farmer doing "God's" work. I'm sorry, but having studied the subject to some extent, this falls very shot of any kind of informative journalism, and you have missed an opportunity to move this important cause forward on a scientific level. You can be religious about this or not, it's irrelevant, because it has nothing to do with the reason why grass fed beef is better for you.
Many comments on this page have really been critical of your post regarding the removal of all meat from our diets. Besides the 7 billion people and counting in this world, and the costs/resources that would be associated with providing a meat diet to all of these people (impossible to say the least), what other benefits do you see from cutting meat out of the diet of future populations?
My sincere gratitude to 1000 Hill Cattle Company and all who give of their life and labor to provide me with such nutritious food.
I believe God is good and wise in what he provided for us....food is medicine and medicine is food.
- For who? You or for all of us? Because I do not plan on banishing meat from my diet ever! I will however stick to grass fed meat and organically raised meats.
You'll know CAFOs by their stench, not to mention the obvious feedlot versus field.
I've been to plenty of pastured farms, and most smell pretty fresh, unless you step right into a newly-minted patty.
You'll learn more about your food with your eyes and ears being attuned to the farm and what the farmer tells you than any package label bragging about "natural" this or "healthy" that.