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Originally Posted by timj219
I'm not sure what standards have to be met to put "organic" on the label. But IMO eating meat with no hormones and minimal antibiotics is just common sense. I have to respectfully disagree on the taste. Grass fed and grain fed taste different and it may not be for everyone but I like the grass fed flavor just as much as the grain fed. And I think the evidence shows that it's healthier with more omega-3 and beta carotene and CLA and less saturated fat.
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The last I knew, there were no standards for "organic" beef.
Unless you test for it, you'll never know if the animal had antibiotics at a "therapeutic" level in the feed or injections (to save a $1,300-$1,400 investment.)
I say, if you like grass fed beef, that's what you should eat. Some folks will supplement their range beef with cracked corn to put a little "finish" on them. Of course, when corn is around $6.40/bushel, you'll certainly be paying for it. (I think the highest corn prices got when I was feeding were around $3.75/bu. Possibly, if you adjust for inflation, I suppose that figure would be close to $6-7.00/bushel, though).
Most folks eat grass fed beef on a regular basis. It's called "hamburger" and is made mostly out of cows (that's a female bovine who's had a calf) who have outlived their usefulness (either dairy cows or range cows used for beef production). The beef is ground up and mixed with fat trimmed from finished beef.
I ate grass feed beef a few times when, over the years, we had a couple of yearling steers on grass break their legs. I shot them and loaded them into a trailer and hauled the carcass to an employee's house and he helped me butcher and wrap the meat. (I hate that work and would gladly have paid our local butcher to process the animal but animals must pass over their threshold under their own power and I wouldn't harass an animal in pain by loading them into a trailer and hauling them to town.)
As far as the health benefits of grass fed over finished, I'm hoping my 40 years of chewing Skoal, 20 years of cigars, several years of pipe smoking and Scotch & beer drinking will offset the negative aspects of eating corn fed beef
WyoBob