Grass/Grain fed beef? Does this sound right?

smilingjb

Does this sound right? I wanted to buy quarter of a cow and saw this website.  After watching Food Inc I wanted a grass fed cow, but saw this, WDYT? 

http://snoangusbeef.com/nutrition.aspx

NatashaMB

No, they are diffinitly corn/grain fed.  They are just trying to make corn fed sound like the better option. Plus the cows are housed indoors all year round.  I don't see any reason why you would want to buy from them over conventional, except if they are local to you.

I found a great farm at my farmers market that had all kinds of pastured meats. If you have a farmer's market near you, I would try it if you can't find anything online.  I think a lot of these small farmers just don't have a website.

LargeMargeSentMe

Agreed.  I am learning to think more in terms of wanting "pastured meats".  This means they are grass-fed, because a pasture is grass, but also that they have gotten to be true to their cowness while they were alive-- roaming around, eating the grass, etc-- happy things. 

Mrs.MauiBride24

Here's a Washington state list from Eat Wild:

http://www.eatwild.com/products/washington.html

pixieprincss

These are conventionally raised cows. In terms of EF-ness, you probably want to look for the words "grass finished" which means they were eating grass their whole lives versus "grain finished" where they bulk up with corn/grain before slaughter. In terms of flavor you are used to, grain-finished might be better in that sense. Apparently 100% grass-fed beef has a tougher (leaner), gamier taste than we are used to from the grocery store. We looked into buying a 1/4 cow then I got overwhelmed with it all.

SuperGreen

The PP all got it right, this is conventional beef where the cows are confined indoors, standing in their own poop, and force-fed grain.  Cows evolved to eat grass, not grain, so grain makes them sick which is why conventional beef like this guy uses antibiotics.  If you want to buy EF beef this isn't what you want.  Like PP said, you want grass-finished beef.  I have several vendors at my Farmer's Market that offer it.  While grass-fed beef does have a different flavor than grain-feed, I wouldn't really call it "game-y," which has a negative connotation for most people.  It tastes like beef to me, a stronger beef taste.  It doesn't taste like fat, like marbled conventional beef.  I love the taste of grass-fed beef.  I went to my in-laws this weekend and had conventional beef for the first time in a loooonnnggg time, and I really didn't like it.