supermarket
Health Department
NATURAL, GRASS-FED BEEF, MINUS ADDITIVES, GAINING POPULARITY
April 12 , 2008
Less than two months on the heels of SMGN’s report on the atrocious mistreatment and slaughtering of so-called "downer" (sick or diseased) cows at the Westland/Hallmark Meat Company in Chino, CA ("Where’s the Beef, Indeed," dtd. 2/18/08), it has been brought to our staff’s attention that there has been steady growth of a positive trend in cattle farming. Both businesses and consumers are steadily moving away from traditional and less-healthy methods of raising cattle for human consumption.
Traditional, or "factory farming" methods for decades (specifically, since the post-WWII industrialization boom) has seen cattle raised under conditions whereby the animals spent the first half of their lives in pastures, then the second half transported to distant feed lots where their diets would be supplemented with corn, growth hormones and antibiotics.
Currently, however, the trend is to move away from the factory farming model and back to the rudimentary basics of allowing cattle to be grass- and hay-fed from weaning to slaughter, skipping altogether the intermediary process of interrupting nature with corn-feeding and unnatural additives.
Besides being considered more "humane" from a production standpoint, it is also just plain healthier from a consumption standpoint. Grass-fed beef is generally lower in saturated fat than the alternative and higher in and beta carotene, vitamin E and brain-healthy omega-3 oils, among other nutrients.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that of the 28.1 billion pounds of beef consumed in the United States from the turn of this century through 2007, as much as 30 per cent of it had been grass fed between 2006-2007. That is a significant rise from the less than 2 per cent reported as having been grass-fed just a few years prior.
Much of the reason for this change in method is fueled not exclusively by consumer demand for healthier meats, but also economics. It is common knowledge that both fuel (used for transporting the animals to alternate sites) and corn costs have skyrocketed over the past couple of years. Thus, it makes sense to return to traditional, less costly farming methods.
Not only are the savings impressive in production, retailers are making a tidy profit, also, as generally, organic grass-fed beef on the grocery shelves sells for around $2.50 a pound more than conventional beef. At the highest point, grass-fed ground beef is being sold in some venues for as much as $8.49 a pound.
For more information on the subject of grass-fed beef, SMGN encourages its readers to visit www.eatwild.com.
By Lisa Carvin, Freelance Reporter