Grass Fed Beef

[Stanley]

I have read some good things about grass fed beef, but being a bit of a skeptic, what I really want to see is a study of it by scientists using established scientific methods to test the nutritional qualities of the beef along with the negative factors of beef.

Does anybody know of such a study?

I have found a lot of claims about grass fed beef including one that compares it favorable to poultry such as ordinary commercial chicken. But, nowhere are these claims backed up. Given the price difference, I want some justification for spending more on grass fed beef.

 

[Original Wally]

Do the cattle get the munchies after eating all that grass?

 

[grasshopper]

 

[Midpack]

It's easy to find sources using Google/Bing, so I'm not clear what you're looking for, but I'd be happy to provide some links. While grass fed beef is healthier based on sources I read/trust, humane treatment is another reason some ranchers go grass fed. The video/movie Fast Food Nation or others like it might/not influence your POV too...

 

[timo2]

To me grass fed beef tastes better, so that's the survey I use. I can't afford and/or find it all the time, however.

 

[braumeister]

Grass fed beef has better flavor, as timo2 said, which is the main reason (I think) that most people prefer it. There are other, less well documented (as you know) reasons why it may be healthier for you, but the kind of science that could tease that out of the data would not be very relevant to our everyday buying habits.

I'll just share a personal anecdote. When I lived in Brazil back in the 1980s, all the beef locally available was grass fed. Also, unlike the USA, it was not aged. When you went to the butcher shop in the afternoon to buy some beef, it was likely from a cow that had met its maker that morning. The taste was utterly wonderful, and nothing at all like the flavor of typical USA beef (sadly). It was one of the major disappointments for me when I came back to the land of round doorknobs.

Argentina, on my occasional visits, was the same, and Argentines eat even more beef per capita than Brazilians (who eat several times as much as Americans).

So if you want to really appreciate the difference between what you get in your local supermarket or butcher shop, I highly recommend a vacation in South America.

 

[brewer12345]

I don't eat the beef we get here in the US, by and large. If I run across grass fed it is wonderful and I happily eat it. Bison seems to be different and must be largely grass-fed. It has a great flavor and does not have the bland, fatty taste of feedlot cattle. As such, in the absence of game meat (which is a whole nother ballgame) I buy bison despite the cost.

 

[MichaelB]

So if you want to really appreciate the difference between what you get in your local supermarket or butcher shop, I highly recommend a vacation in South America.

+1

I don't eat the beef we get here in the US, by and large. If I run across grass fed it is wonderful and I happily eat it. Bison seems to be different and must be largely grass-fed. It has a great flavor and does not have the bland, fatty taste of feedlot cattle. As such, in the absence of game meat (which is a whole nother ballgame) I buy bison despite the cost.

We also prefer bison, and only buy beef a couple of times a year.

 

[frank]

I prefer corn fed beef. I don't know if I have really had a chance to try grass fed. I have eaten at a lot of the local steakhouse's and from many local supermarkets, but the best beef I have tasted was from a local locker and I know it was corn fed.

 

[obgyn65]

Have you checked the FDA's website ? I would start there.

I have read some good things about grass fed beef, but being a bit of a skeptic, what I really want to see is a study of it by scientists using established scientific methods to test the nutritional qualities of the beef along with the negative factors of beef.

Does anybody know of such a study?

I have found a lot of claims about grass fed beef including one that compares it favorable to poultry such as ordinary commercial chicken. But, nowhere are these claims backed up. Given the price difference, I want some justification for spending more on grass fed beef.

 

[Tadpole]

Grass fed beef has a strong flavor that I don't like. Since I live in WA state where it is impossible to get much else, I eat other meats now. I really hate, hate, hate the flavor of the beef here.

 

[Finder]

+1

We also prefer bison, and only buy beef a couple of times a year.

+1 on bison burger

 

[Stanley]

Thanks for the various thoughts. I have read some of the more academic reports and there seems to a general agreement that grass fed is better, but how much better remains to be seen.

I will try out the bison meet. I think the local markets carry it from time to time.

 

[zedd]

Counterpoint to the gubmint references.

Let me google that for you

Full disclosure: We raise for our own consumption, grass fed (and finished) beef.

Zedd

 

[audreyh1]

Thanks for the various thoughts. I have read some of the more academic reports and there seems to a general agreement that grass fed is better, but how much better remains to be seen.

I will try out the bison meet. I think the local markets carry it from time to time.

Corn/grain feed beef is high in Omega 6s as compared to more naturally pasture-raised grass-fed beef, and higher omega 6s are considered bad for you - contributing to inflammation and heart-disease. Also, cows aren't designed to eat a high grain diet, so feedlot cows have to be dosed with penicillin to counteract illnesses from the cornfed diet. The high use of antibiotics by agriculture is contributing to the drug-resistant bacteria that are becoming more prevelant in developed countries.