Grass Fed Beef Distinction
To the casual observer it would seem like grass fed beef is like saying “water drinking human”. Of course beef cows eat grass just like people drink water, but it is really not that simple. Like almost all of our food producers have realized that how something is named can make a big difference in how it sells and what they can price it, so they come up with labels that seem to convey something nebulous but answer a concern of a segment of the population. The grass fed beef label is just like that, there are some people concerned about beef that is fed a high grain diet and how it impacts human beings health. They think that corn fed beef may cause higher rates of heart disease, high blood pressure, and higher cholesterol and so they postulate that by switching to grass fed beef the meat is healthier for human consumption and will lower disease. Another group of people is just against the small area that each cow has in a feed lot that crams thousands of head of cattle into a small area and gives them lots of corn and soy beans and they are standing knee deep in manure eating until they are slaughtered. So some people say that by switching to grass fed beef we will push the farmers and beef producers to allow the cattle herds to roam on open pastures and the cows will be happier and healthier.
There is no certain science that can say with certainty that grass fed beef is better than corn fed beef, but you will find ardent supporters on either side of this argument.
Grass Fed Beef Benefits
So what are the benefits of grass fed beef. If you are raising your own beef for your families consumption, grass fed beef can reduce the cost of raising the beef and make your grocery budget smaller. In addition by allowing your grass fed beef to forage on the pasture you are reducing the use of carbon fuels to harvest corn or soybeans with tractors and combines and contributing to a better environment and doing your part to reduce dependency on foreign oil. There are benefits to grass fed beef, at this point we don’t know for certain if they include human health benefits.
