Grain Fed Rant

[cassie]

What was the name of the book that, came out in the 30's I think, it was about meat processing ?

Could you be talking about The Jungle? It was written by Upton Sinclair and published in 1906 or so. It graphically described the deplorable conditions in the meat packing and processing plants of the time. This book was one of the major reasons the pure food and drug laws were enacted.

 

[hemet dennis]

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Yep that's the one. Has anyone here read it ?

 

[cassie]

I read it many moons ago. It was assigned reading in one of my college English classes. I have no desire to read it again. Once was enough.

 

[darkside1]

I don't know about beef but our wild deer that eat the soybeans and corn from the fields here in ne ohio taste much better than the deer that eat grass and pine cones that my sis' boyfriend brings around from the mountains in PA.

 

[jnntefend]

As many who have lived on a farm and planted and maintained pasture know, a proper grazing system includes very little actual grass. For our sheep,we have a field planted to grasses hardy in Texas, as well as soybeans, alfalfa, clover, milo, and many other things that are grain plants. In the winter, or the summer, if the pasture gets parched enough, we feed supplemental alfalfa (grain), and, during lambing, we supplement with oats and even corn. Pastured "grass fed" cows, properly managed, are fed in much the same way. But how much energy goes into all this? Very little. We planted and maintain our own pasture, so we passed over it once with the tractor, and, occasionally, very rarely, we need to mow a bit, or throw down some seed in a bare patch, which we do by hand. The hay is a bit more intensive, as another farmer planted and baled it for us with his equipment.


Compare that to the constant operation of a feed lot, the manure piles so high the cows lay on them for some comfort (my sheep lay on a thick carpet of relatively manure and mud-free grass, as do properly pastured cows). Manure lagoons that span acres, cows being fed such things as chicken scraps, other cows, until that was outlawed, and even gummy bears. Yes! Google it! Gummy bears! Including a rich cocktail of Heaven only knows what drugs and horomones, and going to slaughter so sick they can barely stand.

My husband and I have had several talks with neighbors who raise cows, and given serious financial consideration to adding cows to our operation, and have found that cows actually require slightly less management than the sheep do on an open pasture, a simple change in our pasture grass cocktail to reduce forbs, and we are there, so the management practices are not that different.

A grass fed cow is not a cow that has been turned loose on the native terrain of their local area. It is a cow that has lived in a lovely, well-thought-out, properly maintained,fenced, rotated pasture, full to bursting with delicious grains and grasses. But no, no, as my original post said, these restaurants and businesses want to pass these cows over for the other. That's fine, you are welcome to it.

And for the poster who wanted some outside references, try looking up The Stockman Grass Farmer, The Omnivore's Dilemma, or, better yet, ask your local pastured beef farmer.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

Aye, to you and me, grass-fed means "pasture raised", and "pasture raised" means something very specific to us in turn. Lobbying and advertising mean that on a commercial level, the grass-fed label will probably become as worthless and meaningless as labels like 'cage free' are in terms of chicken eggs. For example, there has been lobby pressure to change the definition of grass-fed to include corn-fed. While botanically speaking, corn is a type of grass, corn kernels are a grain. Some of the issues with open definitions are touched upon here.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/26/dining/26grass.html?ref=dining

I have to sadly shake my head every time I walk past an aisle of eggs. Many boast pictures of quaint little happy farms and robust, crowing roosters. If the store is a larger chain, I've noticed there will often be a farm mural over the eggs/milk section. Many people do not picture the actual conditions and environment their eggs or meat were grown in, if they even make the leap from the packaged goods to the animals at all. I have run into many people who think that labels like "cage-free" mean things like antibiotic free and birds out on pasture, and this confusion is very deliberate on the part of those selling said eggs.

Issues such as that highlight to me why buying from a local source that can be viewed by the buyer is a better choice for those who are concerned with where their food comes from and how it was raised in terms of knowing what you are getting. Raising your own is even better. As mentioned earlier though, neither of these options are realistic right now for many, though I'm glad to see work being done to change that.

 

[jarodw45]

I dont care if the beef is grain-fed or grass-fed but like the OP i get tired of companies advertising in huge lettering something that is not untrue but will trick folks into thinking they are getting something better for themselves. I saw some microwave popcorn and on the bag it says "wholegrain" now i dont know about anyone else but just how do you get non-whole grain pop-corn? Popcorn is corn that grows on a cob just like regular corn only it is much smaller and more rounded but it is all wholegrain. This was put on the box just so that folks not paying attention would buy it thinking they were getting something more healthy! Makes me angry!

 

[SD Bird Lady]

Are mega feedlots like this one unethical, immoral, cruel?

As BSartist rightly points out, we're all entitled to opinions. However, we're not entitled to our own facts. If these cattle are here for 6 months, as other posters pointed out, then, at the very least, where is their opportunity for shelter? And what about the waste they're standing in? If you care for your food only as a commodity, as a product, fine. But I think there are other factors to weigh, as the 'proud to serve...' sign reflects. Isn't caring for what goes in the animal only one part of their care?

I know that there is a compelling cost argument here, but why does cost trump other considerations? Shouldn't we expect more? Don't we have that right?

That, in my opinion, was a beautifully maintained feedlot. It is huge - but I have seen much worse. You have the right to expect more and can buy yourself an acreage raise your own beef, dairy, eggs & make all the products that come from them. The problem is that caring for yourself/family is then a full time job for 2 people. No more movie nights out or weekend vacations. No going to be early or sleeping in late. Where will you make your money?? Sell it?? But will people buy ecspecially at a price that allows you to survive?? If you have a cow go through a fence and break it's leg or calf that is still born.... then what?You have the right to get your food anywhere or anyway you choose for the most part. That is the beauty of America and some other countries as well. The problem is people want to have the best of all worlds and it isn't possible. I have been raised in South Dakota my whole life and while feedlots and hog confinements aren't always the most appetizing they aren't the horrific places they have been painted to be. The real problem is over population and waste. If the demand dissapears the supply will decline as well. But until people stop reproducing like rabbits and stop taking one bite and throwing food away or letting it rot away in thr fridge because it wasn't what we thought or we forgot about it. The demand is there so the means to fill that demand is there. WE MADE OUR BED NOW WE MUST SLEEP IN IT!

ETA: It isn't just reproduction....no one dies anymore. It sounds harsh but babies with problems just didnt make it before, kids who got pneumonia a lot of times perished and you didnt live to be 105.

 

[SD Bird Lady]

I don't know about beef but our wild deer that eat the soybeans and corn from the fields here in ne ohio taste much better than the deer that eat grass and pine cones that my sis' boyfriend brings around from the mountains in PA.

I was about to make this same point. If you are from SD you will know about east river & west river. Basically the Missouri River runs down the middle and you get the rest. Well west river is cowboy country more or less. It has the Black Hills, the Badlands and it takes about 3 times the pasture to raise the same number of cattle and farming is less common. While east river is farm country with more lush pasture and better soils for farming. ( well except last year b/c of the drought it was all desert) Now to get to my story....the first time I ate deer was a west river doe (Rapid City area) that was slow roasted, prepared like pot roast and I thought it was terrible. So when I got married and my husband tried to get me to eat deer steak from a doe in the river hills I was more than sceptical. But it was delicious with nothing more than a little bit of garlic salt. I have heard from many hunters that they come here for just the reason. So animals will naturally eat grain if it is available. Kind of like if we could eat lettuce or snickers most will go for snickers I mean honestly if science hadn't told us that certain things kill you sooner we would all eat what tasted good right?

 

[jnntefend]

Aye, to you and me, grass-fed means "pasture raised", and "pasture raised" means something very specific to us in turn. Lobbying and advertising mean that on a commercial level, the grass-fed label will probably become as worthless and meaningless as labels like 'cage free' are in terms of chicken eggs. For example, there has been lobby pressure to change the definition of grass-fed to include corn-fed. While botanically speaking, corn is a type of grass, corn kernels are a grain. Some of the issues with open definitions are touched upon here.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/26/dining/26grass.html?ref=dining

I have to sadly shake my head every time I walk past an aisle of eggs. Many boast pictures of quaint little happy farms and robust, crowing roosters. If the store is a larger chain, I've noticed there will often be a farm mural over the eggs/milk section. Many people do not picture the actual conditions and environment their eggs or meat were grown in, if they even make the leap from the packaged goods to the animals at all. I have run into many people who think that labels like "cage-free" mean things like antibiotic free and birds out on pasture, and this confusion is very deliberate on the part of those selling said eggs.

Issues such as that highlight to me why buying from a local source that can be viewed by the buyer is a better choice for those who are concerned with where their food comes from and how it was raised in terms of knowing what you are getting. Raising your own is even better. As mentioned earlier though, neither of these options are realistic right now for many, though I'm glad to see work being done to change that.

Good point on the grass-fed label. I had never thought of it that way before