Several years ago a marketing campaign was begun to try to create a narrative that would allow “grass fed” to be sold at premium prices. In the beginning, the term “grass fed” was to be used only on beef that not been finished in a feedlot. In other words, on beef that had been grown in a pasture (grass) but not fed high energy rations like grains like corn and barley to fatten them prior to harvesting. A great deal of marketing dollars was invested into the idea that grass fed beef would be “healthier” for humans to consume. The campaign was very successful, and a demand for “grass fed” beef was created.
However, the market for grass fed beef has never gained a significant market share because:
- As a result of the lack of marbling in grass fed beef, it usually lacks tenderness and flavor. Beef without marbling simply doesn’t taste good. Therefore, people greatly prefer the flavor of grain finished beef over the flavor of grass fed beef.
- There’s never been any scientific evidence that suggests that grass fed beef is healthier than grain fed beef.
The marketing exercise supporting “grass fed” beef caused many people to try grass fed beef, but after the first taste they quickly went back to grain finished beef. In other words, because of the poor flavor and lack of tenderness of grass fed beef, it became the norm for people to stop ordering grass fed beef once they had tasted it.
To overcome the objection to the flavor of grass fed beef, marketers have come up with a concept of several alternative feeds (other than grains) that “grass fed” programs are allowed to use to fatten cattle and produce marbling. When one looks at these “allowed” feeds it becomes clear that “grass fed” beef does not at all mean what people believe it means. The problem with these feeds is that:
- They are not natural feeds that cattle normally eat.
- They are very expensive.
- There is simply no logical advantage to using these feeds other than a marketing ploy.
- Once people become educated on what is going on here, they soon lose interest in grass fed beef and seek out quality “pasture raised/grain finished” programs that produce much more favorable beef that has the same health benefits as “grass fed” beef.
Below is a list of allowed feeds that one of the four suppliers of beef in the nation suggests that it’s suppliers use to fatten cattle and still qualify to label their beef as “grass fed”:
The Fallacy of Grass-fed Beef
Most people believe that grass-fed/grass-finished means that the cattle grazed on grass their entire life. But most often, that is not the case, and for good reason: eating such beef is usually not a pleasant eating experience! That’s because Grass-finished beef is usually seriously lacking in both flavor and tenderness.
Here’s the problem: cattle need more nutrition than just grass. Beef raised strictly on grass will not have marbling. Beef without marbling will lack both flavor and tenderness. That is why, after the grass-fed industry somehow got people to believe that grass-fed is healthier for humans (which is not true), they had to change the rules in order to produce a product that people would eat. In fact, several years ago, the grass-fed industry changed all the rules, and those rules are entirely different than what the general public now believes.
Grass-fed and Grass-finished Rules
You can legally advertise your cattle as being grass-fed/grass-finished even if they spent the last six months of their lives in a confined area or large feedlot and were fed a ration high in carbohydrates containing such things as corn syrup, molasses, corn gluten, and various grains, including corn, barley, oats, wheat, and almost every other type of grain. That’s right! Grass-finished programs can still feed the cattle grains—such as barley, wheat, or corn—and still be “verified” as “grass-finished.” The unbelievable caveat is that to qualify as “grass-finished,” these grains simply need to be harvested in the “milk” stage. That means that the plant has not yet matured and produced a dry kernel. (A grain kernel goes through three stages: 1. boot, 2. milk, and 3. dough. The biggest difference between the three stages is simply the amount of moisture in the kernel.)
With profits as the goal, corporations first spent a lot of energy and resources coming up with the narrative that somehow grass-fed beef was healthier for humans than grain-fed beef. But after creating a market for grass-fed beef, they learned that the public would only try it one time! Because it had no marbling, the grass-fed product tasted so bad that consumers would quickly abandon grass-fed beef.
In order to produce a palatable product, the grass-fed industry had to somehow create a product that contained marbling. That meant adding carbohydrates to the cows’ diet. But in order to continue their concocted narrative and product differentiation, they decided to come up with rules to suggest that grass-fed meant that they could use other forms of carbohydrates in the feed—but no grain! When that didn’t work, they decided to allow grain but to change it just enough to make it look like it was different.
To prove our point, below are the official rules for producing beef that can be marketed as “grass-fed/grass-finished.”
It is important to note that “grass -fed/grass-finished” protocols can turn contain extremely high levels of carbohydrates such as sugar, corn syrup, molasses, corn cannery waste, brewery byproduct, sugar beet pulp, etc. That’s why, in our opinion, the “grass-finished” label claim is a misleading claim designed to appease naïve consumers who have been enticed to believe that “grass-finished” means actually finished on grass and that it is somehow healthier than other beef. Neither is the case.
Supporting Small Farmers and Ranches
Regardless of the above information about the grass-fed/grass-finished industry, if people want to try grass fed beef to gain first-hand experience for themselves, there are hundreds of small farmers who make an honest living raising their cattle totally on grass and who market them as grass-fed. We advocate supporting those operations. To the degree that you know those farmers personally, and you can verify their programs, we advocate that you support them. They deserve your support!
We suggest, however, that you should verify that they do not use hormones or antibiotic feed. And if they feed grain as a finishing ration, there is nothing wrong with that! In fact, that that beef would be a far better product than simply grass-finished. The meat will be just as healthy for you and it will have much better quality, tenderness, and flavor. We also suggest that you check out the facility where their beef is being harvested and processed. For your safety, it should be a USDA-inspected facility.