grass-fed
squishycow7
Posts: 820 Member
I read this article this morning: http://www.rodale.com/10-food-label-lies?page=0
Lots of interesting/frustrating points in there, but here's an excerpt about the grass-fed meat claim:
Grass-fed
The lie: See this label, and bucolic scenes of grassy fields with healthy, happy cows probably come to mind. Think again. "Grass-fed" is a term that's sort-of regulated by the USDA, who has defined it to mean that an animal ate 100 percent grass and no corn or soy and had continuous access to pasture throughout its life. But the USDA allows anyone to use that terminology, provided a meat producer submits documentation saying that's what he or she is doing; no farm inspections are required to meet the definition. Furthermore, before this rule went into place in 2006, anyone could use the term "grass-fed" on food products, and those people were grandfathered in under the new rule, whether they meet the requirements or not. A final kicker? The rule applies only to cattle and other ruminant animals, but you'll often see it on packages for pork or chicken—animals that can't survive on a grass-only diet.
To get the real thing: If you see the words "U.S. Grass-fed" accompanied by a “USDA Process Verified” shield, you're in the clear. USDA verification requires actual farm visits, and it means that someone other than a farmer has witnessed that animals are eating grass. Or look for the American Grassfed Association certification, which has even stricter standards on "grass-fed" than the USDA. A third option: Buy your meat at the farmer's market, where the farmer who raised the meat can give you a detailed rundown of what his or her animals eat every day and who will allow you to visit the farm yourself.
Lots of interesting/frustrating points in there, but here's an excerpt about the grass-fed meat claim:
Grass-fed
The lie: See this label, and bucolic scenes of grassy fields with healthy, happy cows probably come to mind. Think again. "Grass-fed" is a term that's sort-of regulated by the USDA, who has defined it to mean that an animal ate 100 percent grass and no corn or soy and had continuous access to pasture throughout its life. But the USDA allows anyone to use that terminology, provided a meat producer submits documentation saying that's what he or she is doing; no farm inspections are required to meet the definition. Furthermore, before this rule went into place in 2006, anyone could use the term "grass-fed" on food products, and those people were grandfathered in under the new rule, whether they meet the requirements or not. A final kicker? The rule applies only to cattle and other ruminant animals, but you'll often see it on packages for pork or chicken—animals that can't survive on a grass-only diet.
To get the real thing: If you see the words "U.S. Grass-fed" accompanied by a “USDA Process Verified” shield, you're in the clear. USDA verification requires actual farm visits, and it means that someone other than a farmer has witnessed that animals are eating grass. Or look for the American Grassfed Association certification, which has even stricter standards on "grass-fed" than the USDA. A third option: Buy your meat at the farmer's market, where the farmer who raised the meat can give you a detailed rundown of what his or her animals eat every day and who will allow you to visit the farm yourself.
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Thanks for the clarifications!
I hate how backhanded and sneaky all the labeling is...0 -
yep - I don't eat a whole lot of beef but I get most of mine from the farmers market from two different farms...
lots of misleading labeling...like the whole wheat thing...you can label something as whole wheat - just has to have a majority be wheat - so something like bread they label as whole wheat could be 51% wheat and 49% crappy white flour... - not that i eat bread now a days....0 -
A rancher explained to me that they can say grass fed, if 80% of their feed has been grass. They switch to grain at the end and he says even that amount of grain is enough to ruin the omega 3/6 ratios.
He is explicit to raise 100% grass till the end - so I bought a 1/4 from him.
buying from a rancher is about the only way you can be guaranteed.
My cost is $3.50 a lb where whole foods would be 15-20 for a steak and it isn't 100% grass fed.
But, even "some" grass fed is better than factory CAFO.0 -
Thanks so much for the info. I'm new to paleo/primal, hoping this change will make me healthier and hopefully lose weight at the same itme. Thnaks for clarifying with the GF labels. an't wait to check this out with my grocer.0
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To echo Mike, if possible, buy your meat direct from the farmer. It's incredibly comforting to go and see where your meat comes from and talk to the people who raise the animals. Find someone who takes a lot of pride in the care of the animals and who is selective on the slaughterhouse they use. If you go to the farm, the animals and grounds should not stink...that comes from animals that are fed grains and corn.
If you are not able to do this keep in mind that real grassfed and grass FINISHED beef is lean. You aren't getting a lot of marbling on your meat. It will cook 10-20% faster. 85/15 ground been will resemble supermarket 93/7.
Now if you want to talk more about BS labeling, the thing that kills me is cage free eggs that are fed 100% vegetarian diets. Birds are omnivores and if they are guaranteed a vegetarian diet, they aren't scratching at the earth eating bugs.0 -
Thanks NJ. Great info. I'm with you on the cage-free debacle too. From what I've read 'cage-free' can be used even if the chickens are in cages the greater part of their day., as long as they are out for a part of the day. So frustrating. I buy organic eggs, hoping that is my best shot. I'm thinking another route may be to buy from a farm, but how do you know what they are feeding them?0
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For starters, you can try locating a farm via http://eatwild.com/
(that's how I found my cow share)
There is a local nursery with farm animals near me with true free range chickens. They can't declare the eggs organic even though they are supplemented with organic feed because they haven't gone through the trouble of getting that certification. And all hens need to be supplemented with feed if they are going to lay eggs. You should ask the place what they feed the hens.
Personally I believe a pasture-raised hen w/ non-organic feed will produce a superior egg to a supermarket all vegetarian diet organic egg. Even ones that proclaim a certain amount of Omega 3s. Freshness and varied natural diet even w/conventional feed trumps in my book.
We eat a lot of eggs in my household so I've given this waaaaay too much thought!0 -
For starters, you can try locating a farm via http://eatwild.com/
(that's how I found my cow share)
There is a local nursery with farm animals near me with true free range chickens. They can't declare the eggs organic even though they are supplemented with organic feed because they haven't gone through the trouble of getting that certification. And all hens need to be supplemented with feed if they are going to lay eggs. You should ask the place what they feed the hens.
Personally I believe a pasture-raised hen w/ non-organic feed will produce a superior egg to a supermarket all vegetarian diet organic egg. Even ones that proclaim a certain amount of Omega 3s. Freshness and varied natural diet even w/conventional feed trumps in my book.
We eat a lot of eggs in my household so I've given this waaaaay too much thought!
I'm totally an egg snob too! I mean, I'm totally guilty of just picking up a carton from the supermarket as of late, but I DO love my fresh eggs. My neighbors growing up always had chickens (I could never convince my mom to get our own) so we always had the good stuff.
Also on the cage-free business- they can technically say it's cage-free even if it's just a room with chickens smushed in with no room to walk around... cause there's no cage, see?! Stupid.0 -
dude. I just looked at that http://eatwild.com/ site to look up some local farms.. looked at the contact info for the one closest to me... and it's the guy sitting in the office next to me like 10 feet away. FREAKY.0
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For eggs, best thing you can do is befriend someone who has chickens. I live right outside Philly in the suburbs but even where I live I know at least 2 people that raise chickens. If I can find this right outside a major US city, I'm pretty sure everyone across the country can find someone locally that has chickens, maybe not even on a farm. My two friends that have them got them specifically because they wanted to have chickens and the natural egg bounty was a plus.0
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