WHAT'S IN YOUR BEEF

 

 

Growing up, I never remember my folks buying meat from the store. All of the kids and grandkids would meet at my grandparents and at least three hogs would be butchered and the meat divided up. Fun times, we kids got to play (some of us lucky ones got to help Uncle Harold in the smoker!) and the adults would cut, clean and wrap.

Chickens were the same. My grandparents always raised enough for all the kids and we would all pluck feathers, pin feathers and help cut up…this was not my favorite job! As for beef, we never did our own but we knew a farmer who did and we would always get our beef from him.

Then, because of time and convenience, we gradually got to buying our meat from the store, like most people do. How things change!

Dissatisfied with not knowing where meat is raised these days and how it is raised, I recently purchased a quarter of a beef from Martin and Clint Burdick’s Sycamore Valley Grass Fed-Beef, a local farm whose family has raised Polled Herefords continuously since 1987.

I was a little leery at first because these have always been 100 percent grass-fed. I had always heard the rumors that it would have no flavor, that I wouldn’t like it, etc. Well, to say the least, I was so overwhelmingly surprised! The meat is full of flavor, tender with just the right amount of marbling, better beef than I have had in a long time.

 

RUMORS ABOUT GRASS-FED

 

So, where are all those rumors coming from? Part of the confusion is whether the cattle have been grain-fed all the way or if it is just in the beginning. Naturally, all cattle start out the same; calves are born in early spring and are raised first on their mothers’ milk. Then, they roam free and eat grass and other edibles in the field.

 

It’s later in the game that usually changes. It used to be that all cattle roamed free and foraged their whole lives. When the demand for more beef in less time became an issue, things changed. Many times, cattle are now moved to large feed lots and fattened up on grain-based feeds to put more weight on quicker so they can go to market sooner.

The cow breed and how they are fed definitely affects how the meat tastes and its nutritional value. Most folks are used to grain-fed meat since that is what you buy in supermarkets most of the time. Grain feeding beef changes the composition and flavor of the meat. However, when beef is grass-fed all the way, it has a more complex and earthy flavor.

 

NUTRITIONAL VALUE

In spite of getting a bad rap in recent years, beef is a source of high-quality protein and is loaded with vitamins B12, B3, B6 as well as bioavailable iron, selenium and zinc and lesser known nutrients like creatine and carnosine. Not just beef, but meat itself, contains almost every nutrient needed for man to survive.

The saying, “you are what you eat” goes for cows too. Grass-fed usually contains less total fat than grain-fed, thus it has fewer calories and that is another reason why it is touted as being healthier. Also, the composition of fatty acids is different in the two kinds of beef. Grass-fed contains much less monosaturated fat than grain-fed. Both contain similar amounts of omega-6 fatty acids but grass-fed has up to five times more omega-3 fatty acids, which are the ones that most of us don’t get enough of. Grass-fed also has twice as much CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) which also has health benefits. Fat composition is also affected by cow breed and type of cuts of meats. Vitamins A and E are also more prevalent in grass-fed beef.

 

STRESS AFFECTS BEEF QUALITY

Not only how beef is fed, but how they are raised plays an important role in its flavor and tenderness. Cattle that are not stressed, free to roam and raised in a calm atmosphere produces more flavorful and tender meat. Beef from cattle that are stressed tends to be tough and flavorless. Stress causes muscle fibers to tense up and triggers a cascade of changes in the body chemistry of the beef animal. Tense muscles and nervousness are not a good recipe for tender beef.

Adrenaline changes the pH (acidity) of beef. Stress causes chemical responses that are designed to prepare muscles for action. Just like humans, the chemicals don’t disappear when the threat goes away. The body has to break down those chemicals and expel them from the body through vital organs like the kidneys.

Short term stress causes temporary changes in meat, resulting in it being tough and flavorless. If the stress is long term, the changes are even worse and the persistent high acidity will start breaking down the meat like the body does when it is being digested, making it dark, soft, mushy and sticky.

Lots of things cause stress in animals such as fear, physical discomfort, cold, heat, injury, lack of consistent schedules and how they are handled. So, if you want a good quality beef, look at how they are raised and handled as well as how they are fed.

According to Consumer Reports, grass-fed beef costs between $2.50 to $3.00 more per pound than conventional supermarket beef. The fact that it typically takes a year longer to fatten the grass-fed to slaughter weight and that these cattle are usually smaller translates to less meat but more feed and labor costs and that is what drives the price up. It is with beef, like anything else, you get what you pay for.

The grass-fed movement isn’t only for beef. Although pigs cannot survive solely on foraging like cattle, it is estimated that pasture can replace up to 50 percent of the diet in gestating sows and up to 30 percent of a finishing diet in hogs. Hogs raised like this, as well as cage-free chickens have healthier meat than those raised en masse in cages.

If you want to be sure you are getting grass-fed beef and don’t know the farmer, the next best option is to look for beef labeled and endorsed by the American Grass-fed Association. These labels ensure that all animals are raised in open grass pasture and that they are free to graze and not confined in lots, they are antibiotic and growth hormone free and all are born and raised on family farms in the United States.

Grass-fed beef is not for everyone simply because most of us are used to the flavor of grain-finished beef that we buy in supermarkets. You never know until you try it. I, for one, am so glad that I stepped outside my comfort zone and challenged all the rumors about grass-fed beef. It is a good feeling knowing that it is healthier but also knowing that it was raised in a gentle, family farm atmosphere makes it an all-around good choice…and the flavor and tenderness guarantees that I won’t go back to store-bought in the future.