grass fed beef?

[Tiggerlovr9000]

We are starting a diet on tuesday, actually its for charity. Anyway my dh has been reading up on what we should eat and ran across how grass fed beef is better for you. Has anyone tried it? Does it taste different? How expensive? We are going to buy it at the Whole Food Store is this a good place to shop?? Thanks for the help in advance.

[Zippy 1]

I do not know much about the difference in grass fed beef but if you will be shopping at Whole Foods you will be paying alot!! I bought steak there last summer. Three NY strip steaks cost me $60. They were great steaks just not something I can afford all the time. Most of there prices are on the high side but the products are very good. Good Luck on your diet!!

[Mousemates]

There are all kinds of beef designations...some of which are helpful and meaningful and others which are purely hype...i.e. to say an animal is grass fed really doesn't always mean the same thing...I'm not an expert but the designation we ended up settling on was "100% all natural" which for the particular farm we buy our beef from means "no unnatural additives to what the animal eats"...my suggestion, seeing as how you live in Nebraska which has an awful lot of beef on the hoof and thus likely a lot of opportunities to buy direct from specific farmers/ranchers through small butchers shops/meat processers would be to simply check out the yellow pages, make a few calls, tell people what your looking for and when you find it do a little price comparison.

We have actually been able to get a much better quality of meat than we were buying in a grocery store for less money by buying direct.

[Georgesgirl1]

Whole Foods is a great place to shop, but quite expensive. I tend to shop at Kroger and then head over to Whole Foods to buy the unique ingredients that Kroger doesn't carry.

[Disney Doll]

I have heard that Whole Foods is pricey. We buy grass fed ground beef at Target. Grass fed is better for you. The meat has more good fats and less bad fats and is also richer in antioxidants. More importantly, it usually does not contain the antibiotics and hormones that feedlot meat does. It is more expensive, but I'd rather eat better quality meat less often.

[TinksDH]

Grass fed beef can sometimes taste a little more "gamey" than beef finished out on corn or other grains. Most of the beef cattle in the US is started on grass but eventually switched over to grain prior to slaughter in order to make it to put on more weight in a short period of time. In addition, grain-fed beef has more marble fat in its muscle, leading to a more moist and juicy (albeit fat-filled) piece of meat.

If you already eat lean beef, or bison, you may not notice the change as much as if you eat primarily 80% lean ground beef or highly-marbled steak.

As far as it not containing as much antibiotics or hormones, it's not a function of what the animals eats per se, but whether the rancher chooses to give it hormones/antibiotics or not. Ranchers raising cattle on grass can just as easily give them antibiotics and/or hormones; however, since the market for grass-fed beef tends to prefer the beef to be hormone- and antibiotic-free, the ranchers will often not use them. This, of course, reduces yield and increases the length of time it takes to feed out a cow to full weight, so ultimately the consumer will have to pay more per lb. for beef raised in this manner.

[Disney Doll]

As far as it not containing as much antibiotics or hormones, it's not a function of what the animals eats per se, but whether the rancher chooses to give it hormones/antibiotics or not. Ranchers raising cattle on grass can just as easily give them antibiotics and/or hormones; however, since the market for grass-fed beef tends to prefer the beef to be hormone- and antibiotic-free, the ranchers will often not use them. This, of course, reduces yield and increases the length of time it takes to feed out a cow to full weight, so ultimately the consumer will have to pay more per lb. for beef raised in this manner.

You are right that a rancher may choose to give grass fed beef the hormones and antibiotics, but they usually don't need to because of the way the cattle is raised. Cows in close confinment on feedlots are more suseptable to disease and are also under a great deal of stress so drugs are necessary. Free range cows don't have those same issues to combat.

[TinksDH]

You are right that a rancher may choose to give grass fed beef the hormones and antibiotics, but they usually don't need to because of the way the cattle is raised. Cows in close confinment on feedlots are more suseptable to disease and are also under a great deal of stress so drugs are necessary. Free range cows don't have those same issues to combat.

I agree with you on the minimal need for antibiotics when an animal is not in confinement (i.e. "free-range"), but as far as hormones go, they are simply used in order to reduce up the time it takes the animal to reach maturity and slaughter weight, NOT to promote their health. You can have a free-range animal on a grain diet and taking hormones; free-range is not the same as "grass-fed" or "organic". Those all mean something different, but many folks use them interchangeably (in error).

A grass-fed cow takes longer to acquire the body mass that a cow eating grain takes. Either one can be given hormones to speed up the time it takes to put on weight, but usually only cattle in feedlots on a grain diet get hormone implants, as there really isn't a market in the US for grass-fed cattle also taking antibiotics and using hormone implants. In any case, using hormone implants is not an animal health issue nor is it strictly related to confinement; rather, the industry wants to get the cow up to weight as fast as possible as time is money.

I'm not arguing for or against anti-biotics, free-range cattle, hormones, or grass-fed animals, I'm just trying to clarify the terms.

[TheVBs]

I second the suggestion to look around for a local farmer. Lots of communities now have food co-ops that investigate how the animals are raised, or veggies are grown and order in bulk for the group. For the first time this year we ordered beef from a local farm. We paid $135 for 30lbs and got several different kinds of cuts, including several of the most expensive at the grocery store. We can tell a taste difference, not a huge one, but it does taste better. Our biggest concerns were that it be free-range, antibiotic and hormone free.

[Disney Doll]

usually only cattle in feedlots on a grain diet get hormone implants, as there really isn't a market in the US for grass-fed cattle also taking antibiotics and using hormone implants.

Which was my point- sure it's possible, but not likely.