What Does Grass Fed Beef Really Mean?

 

At your grocery store, grass-fed beef has become more readily available; however, there remain some misconceptions as to what this label entails.

Grass finished beef is not only healthier than its grain-finished counterpart, but also more flavorful! Read on to discover why.

Grass-Fed Animals Live Longer

Grass-fed meat may be more costly, but it offers numerous health and ethical advantages as well as improved taste. Not only is grass-fed beef leaner and lower in calories, but it also contains essential omega-3 fatty acids (which aid heart health) as well as antioxidants for greater longevity. You can click here to learn more about antioxidants.

grass-fed cattle tend to boast more favorable fatty acid profiles than grain-fed animals, including higher omega-3 linoleic acid levels and reduced levels of omega-6 linoleic acid. Furthermore, pasture-raised cows enjoy greater freedom for exercise than feedlot animals, benefiting their overall health and well being more effectively.

Due to their diets, grass-fed animals are less likely to suffer from fatty liver diseases like Hepatitis C - which can cause jaundice and severe liver abscesses - as ruminant digestive systems are designed to break down tough plants rather than grains (Abend 2010).

Market meat often advertises itself as "grass-fed," even though it was not produced this way. Some ranchers sell their beef to large companies that operate feedlots - highly industrialized operations dedicated to mass producing large volumes of beef quickly. 

"Grass-fed" on products simply indicates that all their calories came from grasses - an indicator regulated by Food Safety and Inspection Service but often not strictly enforced; purchasing grass-fed from a local rancher would be the ideal solution both in terms of health benefits and environmental considerations.

Grass-Fed Animals Are Healthy

"You are what you eat" certainly rings true when it comes to beef. Cattle fed a diet rich in grass produce meat that is lower in calories and nutritionally denser than grain-fed cows. 

Furthermore, grass-fed beef has less total fat and more heart-healthy monounsaturated fatty acids while providing significantly more omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids which have been proven to prevent heart disease and cancer while its omega-6 counterpart promotes inflammation in the body. This is why many choose to buy grass-fed beef online as a part of a healthy diet. Finding high-quality meats is important for consumers.

Grass-fed beef contains high concentrations of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that promote good health, including vitamin B12, iron and zinc as well as less well-known nutrients like creatine and carnosine (7). Furthermore, grass-fed beef boasts richer levels of carotenoid precursors to vitamin A (beta carotene and lutein), and vitamin E which protects cell membranes against oxidation.

Conventionally raised cattle are typically fed a combination of corn and grain to rapidly fatten them up before being slaughtered, which is not natural for them and leads to numerous health issues in these cows. 

Grain-fed cows have twice the rate of obesity than their grass-fed counterparts and more frequently suffer gastrointestinal disorders like diarrhea and constipation than grass-fed ones and are more prone to infections with antibiotic-resistant bacteria like Staph than their grass-fed counterparts.

Grass-Fed Animals Are More Efficient

Responsible meat eaters may have come across the "grass fed" label when shopping for red meat, with claims that grass-fed is better for the environment and better tasting meat overall. But what does that actually mean?

Cattle on a grass-fed diet are more likely to live outdoor lives, reducing environmental impacts. Their diet enriches soil with organic matter that improves biodiversity while making it more resistant to floods and droughts, plus natural, high-fiber grasses can improve health while improving flavor in their meat products. 

Furthermore, using less energy leads to reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; although grass-fed animals produce more methane than their grain-fed counterparts they also grow slower thus leading to lower total agricultural GHG emissions overall in final products produced. You can click the link: https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions to learn more about greenhouse gas emissions.

Demand for grass-fed beef far exceeds its supply in the United States due to limited land values and grazing infrastructure limitations, but nonetheless demand continues to increase and grass-fed products will become more and more popular across various markets.

Though all forms of beef should be eaten with moderation, grass-fed beef is generally considered healthier than grain-fed options due to lower levels of saturated fat and more omega-3 fatty acids which have been shown to help prevent heart disease as well as autoimmune diseases like Lupus and Rheumatoid Arthritis. Of course, grass-fed beef should still be enjoyed within limits; no miracle food exists!

Grass-Fed Animals Are More Ethical

Consumers are increasingly seeking meat raised on grass. This trend has inspired numerous small farms to provide this meat, while supermarkets have responded by stocking it. When searching for it in grocery stores it can often be confusing and hard to interpret the labels; finding sustainably raised and humanely produced options even more so.

One of the primary arguments in favor of grass-fed meat is that it's better for animals than feedlot beef, and this claim holds up. Cattle in feedlots tend to live in cramped quarters without access to fresh air or light; antibiotics may even be administered directly into their feed to ensure they remain healthy amidst filthy conditions.

Grass-fed cattle tend to spend most of their lives outdoors and consume an organic, healthy diet that's more conducive to their well-being. Grain-fed beef may lead to serious health complications while grass-fed cows could live up to twice as long.

However, it should be borne in mind that grass-fed cattle may not necessarily be more ethical than their feedlot counterparts. Although cattle raised on pasture may sequester carbon from the atmosphere into the soil, pastureland resources only support 27% of today's beef production without leading to deforestation and land degradation; and regardless of how grass-fed livestock are raised they still emit significant quantities of methane (a greenhouse gas 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide over 100 years) into the atmosphere.