What's Your Beef?
Meat contains some amount of almost every nutrient that humans need to survive. What cattle eat directly affects these various nutrients and fats a person receives from eating the meat, as well as, the person also receives any drugs, hormones, and toxins the cattle have accumulated.
Their lifestyle and health effects your lifestyle and health.
Conventionally raised cattle live in large overcrowded, disease-ridden feedlots called Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs).
The cattle are fed a grain-based diet on feeds that are GMO base of soy and/or corn that are saturated with pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides.
Mycotoxins - biotoxins formed by mold - can be found in the feed.
There are also other dubious "sources" - whatever is the cheapest - that are given to them for food, that will fatten them up rapidly.
I have seen the conditions of some of these and the cattle continually reside in mud and manure. The owners of these feedlots push the manure into large hills.
The cattle seem to make a game out of who gets to the top first, to be king of the hill.
The stench is so horrible, that towns that are miles away get permeated by it. There's no opening windows for fresh air.
I have never experienced such a stench at any of the farms or ranches or dairies that I have visited over the years. Nor seen such horrible unsanitary living conditions.
They are routinely given drugs and hormones to grow faster, as well as, antibiotics to survive the unsanitary living conditions.
Many farmers inject hormones into the cattle by driving a steroid-loaded "implant" into the back of the animal's ear.
The growth-promoting drug slowly releases into the animal's bloodstream.
This contains natural and synthetic versions of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone.
The hormone bovine somatotropin [bST or rbST] is used in dairy cows to increase their milk production.
The synthetic hormone increases the incidence of mastitis - an infection of the udder - which causes the secretion of blood and pus into the milk.
To combat mastitis and other diseases, the animals are given regular doses of antibiotics as a preventive measure.
About 80 percent of antibiotics sold in the United States go to livestock like cows. This contributes to antibiotic resistance in humans.
The practice of “subtherapeutic” doses of antibiotics that are given to the animals to cause weight gain has been banned in the European Union and Canada, but it is legal in the United States.
I have found this attitude prevalent in the US Gov't concerning our food supply.
That is why I buy some of my food items from other countries that have higher food standards and regulations. The agenda of the FDA and USDA is very questionable.
In 2013, a Reuters investigation found that 15 cattle that had been fed a growth stimulant called Zilmax (produced by pharmaceutical giant Merck) were found mangled and barely able to walk on their way to slaughter at a Tyson Foods processing facility. Their hooves were either missing or falling apart.
That is where the sick cattle are sent when they are pumped full of antibiotics and still continue to deteriorate - to the slaughter house for human consumption.
Recent research conducted by Consumer Reports:
“One of the most significant findings of our research is that beef from conventionally raised cows was more likely to have bacteria overall, as well as, bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics, than beef from sustainably raised cows.
We found a type of antibiotic-resistant S. aureus bacteria called MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus), which kills about 11,000 people in the U.S. every year, on three conventional samples.
And 18 percent of conventional beef samples were contaminated with superbugs — the dangerous bacteria that are resistant to three or more classes of antibiotics — compared with just 9 percent of beef from samples that were sustainably produced.
We know that sustainable methods are better for the environment and more humane to animals."
Cattle are grazers - ruminant animals - and should not be given grains.
Feeding cattle grain makes their intestinal tracts acidic, and this promotes the growth of bacteria like E. Coli which can kill someone who eats undercooked beef.
Grass-fed beef benefits:
Less total fat than grain-fed beef - lower levels of dietary cholesterol.
Higher levels of heart-healthy Omega-3 fatty acids.
Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) - a powerful polyunsaturated fatty acidwe must obtain from our diets that’s been shown to reduce the risk for heart disease, help fight cancer, discourage weight gain and build muscle.
Grass fed beef and butter are the top sources of CLA.
More Carotenoids, Vitamin E and minerals like Potassium, Iron, Zinc, Phosphorus and Sodium than grain fed beef.
On Oct. 15, 2007, the USDA stated it's standard definition for the “grass-fed” claim that requires continuous access to pasture and prevents animals from being fed grain or grain-based products.
However: On January 12, 2016, the Agricultural Marketing Service withdrew the Grass (Forage) Fed Claim for Ruminant Livestock and the Meat Products Derived from Such Livestock (Grass (Forage) Fed Marketing Claim Standard)”.
AMS will no longer verify applicant’s programs to the Standard.
The American Grassfed Association (AGA) or American Food Alliance (AFA) have stricter requirements than the USDA on grass-fed labels.
Labeling: Don't buy into "natural" or "pastured-raised"
The label needs to say 100% grass fed, which means the animal has always been just grass-fed from start to finish - no grains.
If the label says just grass-fed, then the cattle could have been grass-fed, but grain - finished (fattens them up some).
And if it is not stated as organic, then the feed is more in likely, GMO feed.
There are no antibiotics or hormones given to organic, grass-fed cattle.
Note: Grass-fed does not equal organic, nor does organic equal grass-fed. It is an expensive procedure, full of "jumping through hoops" to acquire an organic certification. Some farmers simply can't afford it, but don't use synthetic fertilizers and herbicides on their fields.
But there is no guarantee that the fields are free of these, so unless the label states "organic" with the grass-fed, then you have to consider it is a possibility. Buying organic, 100% grass-fed is the best option.
This is part one of all the considerations of choosing the right meat. Stay tuned for part two that will go into the various cuts, preparation, and cooking methods.
I hope this was beneficial to you. My goal is to help provide the information that you need to make wise lifestyle choices.
Ramona