By definition, grass-fed cattle graze in pastures, while conventional cattle are locked into feedlots and fed corn and other grains.
But the U.S. Agriculture Department has proposed a new standard for grass-fed meat that doesn't required animals to be pastured rather than crammed into feedlots, and that has a broad definition of grass which includes such materials as leftovers from harvested crops.
Critics have argued that the proposal will let conventional ranchers claim their beef is grass-fed.
Grass-fed beef is a leaner meat, and is free of the antibiotics typically used in feedlots. There is a high demand for grass-fed beef, and the number of farms raising grass fed cattle has increased from about 40 to about 1,000 in only seven years.
The is the second time that the Agriculture Department has proposed standards that have elicited protests. The Department has received over 17,000 written comments regarding the proposal.
Grass-fed beef is a much healthier choice than the grain-fed cattle who are raised largely in factory farms. If you aren't familiar with the problems surrounding factory farming, I would encourage you to review the excellent article that Michael Pollan wrote in the NY Times on How Your Beef is Really Raised.
Most cattle are given large amounts of grain, antibiotics, and hormones to maximize their weight in the last few months of their life. This is done with complete disregard for the health consequences to those that will eat the meat.
Authentic grass-fed beef is typically free of any chemicals that can harm you and higher in beneficial fats like CLA, which can even help you lose weight and defeat cancer.
But it's already tricky to determine whether or not beef truly is grass-fed, and these new proposed standards would make it even harder to find high-quality, truly grass-fed beef.
Under the new proposal, 100 percent, of a cow's diet would not need to come from grass forage, and grass forage itself would be defined to include such things as corn stalks and silage (fermented grasses and legumes)
I seek to limit my beef intake whenever possible to genuinely grass-fed sources. An important point to understand when purchasing your beef is that certified organic beef is not necessarily as healthy as grass-fed, non-factory-farmed beef.
Most of the organic beef I have seen has been fed organic corn, which still causes most of the problems that have traditionally been associated with eating beef. So the bottom line here is that you are making a major mistake if you choose organic beef rather than grass-fed.
This is nearly as bad as choosing organic milk and not paying attention if it is pasteurized or not, as raw milk is a far more important quality to have than organic milk. Ideally the milk should be both.
If you're interested in finding real grass-fed beef, and increasing numbers of Americans are, your best option is to get it from a local farmer who raised the animal. Not only does this allow you to bypass shipping costs, but you can talk to the farmer to ensure the cattle are truly grass-fed.
If you are stuck and you don't mind paying the overnight shipping, we do have the real deal grass fed beef in our store.