stevez wrote:Can someone explain to me why grass fed beef is suddenly all the rage? When I lived on the West Coast, where grass fed beef is de riguer, people went crazy for midwestern corn fed beef, citing it's superior flavor and tenderness. Is this simpley a case of "the grass is greener" (so to speak).
Cynthia wrote:Both Whole Foods and Sunset Foods sell at least one brand of grass-fed beef (Tallgrass). Fox & Obel does, too.
David Hammond wrote:stevez wrote:Can someone explain to me why grass fed beef is suddenly all the rage? When I lived on the West Coast, where grass fed beef is de riguer, people went crazy for midwestern corn fed beef, citing it's superior flavor and tenderness. Is this simpley a case of "the grass is greener" (so to speak).
There are probably a number of reasons for the interest in this meat, but speaking strictly for myself, Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma got me interested in sampling what beef might have tasted like before the "military-industrial-food chain" starting mass producing cheap corn, which made its way into beef and something like a third of the other items on our grocery store shelves.
Corn fed beef is fatter and marbling is a key component of the meat grading system. I'm not sure you could even produce a Prime cut on grass. My guess is that we are now so accustomed to the taste of corn fed beef that there's no way from an aesthetic (not to mention an economic) standpoint that grass fed beef could make a comeback. So it remains a speciality item...and like all specialty items, it carries some cache.
Hammond
stevez wrote:I'm still confused. Everything in this posting (better marbling, more fat) confirms that corn fed should (all other things being equal) taste better and be more tender. Is it strictly the quest for the "flavor of the month" that is creating the buzz about grass fed beef? Is there an anti-corn lobby out there?
stevez wrote:I'm still confused. Everything in this posting (better marbling, more fat) confirms that corn fed should (all other things being equal) taste better and be more tender. Is it strictly the quest for the "flavor of the month" that is creating the buzz about grass fed beef?
Geo wrote:I tend to think in terms of the (probably false) analogy:
grass-fed beef is to free-range chicken
corn-finished beef is to battery chicken.
Morally, the differences are mostly in what you can get away with claiming. : )
nsxtasy wrote:I'm not saying their beef is, or isn't, better. I like what tastes good!
eatchicago wrote:Beyond an argument of humaneness or health aspects of antibiotics, there is a taste argument that an animal under less physical stress will yield better food.
David Hammond wrote: Same applies to humans, in the sense that adversity develops character.
Cynthia wrote:
There are certainly people who worry about the amount of corn in our diet, but I think this is more part of the "back to nature" movement. And, as I noted above, it is said to be more wholesome, and it definitely has good flavor. I quite enjoyed it and would recommend trying one and finding out what you think. Of course, the price will somewhat limit how many grass-fed steaks I eat, but that's another issue.
stevez wrote:I'm not sure about the validity of not eating corn to get "back to nature",
Cynthia wrote:stevez wrote:I'm not sure about the validity of not eating corn to get "back to nature",
Sorry I didn't state it more clearly. You had asked if there was an anti-corn group, and I was trying to affirm that yes, there is something of an anti-corn group, because it's not great nutritionally. Then the "but" in my sentence was meant to say that the grass-fed beef was something else, the back to nature thing. The two are not unrelated, but I didn't make it clear that I was contrasting them.
I, too, have eaten tough, bad steak, both out West and in the Southwest. This stuff from the prairies is much better. It may not convert you to grass-fed, but it certainly won't drive you to vegetarianism.
stevez wrote:Can someone explain to me why grass fed beef is suddenly all the rage? When I lived on the West Coast, where grass fed beef is de riguer, people went crazy for midwestern corn fed beef, citing it's superior flavor and tenderness. Is this simply a case of "the grass is greener" (so to speak).
jlawrence01 wrote:we always requested that the young steer's diet be supplemented with grain in order to ensure proper marbling. Of course, this was in addition to the normal grazing in the local fields. And the meat turned out quite well.
David Hammond wrote:jlawrence01 wrote:we always requested that the young steer's diet be supplemented with grain in order to ensure proper marbling. Of course, this was in addition to the normal grazing in the local fields. And the meat turned out quite well.
Beef vendors I spoke with at Farmers Markets in Oak Park and Lincoln Park said they used some corn feed during final "fattening up" periods. This seems like a reasonable compromise to me: let the critters eat grass in open fields for most of their lives, then during their twilight years -- roughly months 14-18 -- let them gorge on corn to make themselves more tasty for our tables.
Hammond
gleam wrote:David Hammond wrote:jlawrence01 wrote:we always requested that the young steer's diet be supplemented with grain in order to ensure proper marbling. Of course, this was in addition to the normal grazing in the local fields. And the meat turned out quite well.
Beef vendors I spoke with at Farmers Markets in Oak Park and Lincoln Park said they used some corn feed during final "fattening up" periods. This seems like a reasonable compromise to me: let the critters eat grass in open fields for most of their lives, then during their twilight years -- roughly months 14-18 -- let them gorge on corn to make themselves more tasty for our tables.
Hammond
...but isn't that how virtually all cattle is raised? Most steers are raised on grass until they're sent to feedlots, where they get pumped full of antibiotics and corn.