Is Grass-Fed Beef Really Healthier?

This Blog was set up to provide information that is not readily available via the mainstream media. It is NOT a debate club. So, if you have rancor and vitriol to spread, please direct it to the original author and/or source.

Meantime, keep in mind that, although the outlandish claims of the Grass-Fed crowd may not be supported by science, “diversity” of choice is a mark of the free market. — jtl, 419

by Amanda Radke in BEEF Daily

As a rebuttal to an article and documentary that slams conventionally raised beef, here are the facts on beef and the environment and nutrition.

Bashing conventionally raised beef in lieu of organic or grass-fed beef isn’t new. I have nothing against any of the production methods that are out there. I’ve long said what makes America great is the abundance of food choices we have when we walk into a grocery store.

I do get frustrated, however, when one segment of the beef industry slams another in order to sell its product. I believe each steak can stand on its own merit, no matter how it was raised. This statement might raise a few eyebrows from some of you, but that is my stance as I preface the article I’m about to comment on today.

A documentary entitled, “American Meat — An Inside Look At Sustainable Farming In America,” was recently released, and Joseph Mercola, an osteopathic physician, best-selling author and alternative medicine proponent, is promoting the documentary on his website. Mercola is respected in many circles, particularly by the paleo crowd, for his commonsense nutrition advice. He stands firmly behind animal fats and proteins as a solid basis of any healthy diet regimen, which I appreciate and agree with wholeheartedly. However, his protein recommendations come with one caveat — it must be grass-fed beef.

Mercola writes, “If you put good old-fashioned organically raised, pasture-fed and finished meat in a nutrition analyzer, you’d find it’s one of the most nutritious foods you can eat. However, many are still in the dark about the vast differences between Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) and organically raised, grass-fed meats, in terms of nutrient content and contamination with veterinary drugs, antibiotics, genetically modified organisms, and disease-causing pathogens. Differences in the animals’ diets and living conditions create vastly different end products. For example, most CAFO cows are fed grains (oftentimes genetically engineered grains, which make matters even worse), when their natural diet consists of plain grass.

“If you’re under the age of 40 or so, and have never spent time on a real farm, chances are you have a rather dim concept of just how different today’s food production is from traditional, time-tested farming practices. These differences have monumental ramifications for our environment, for the health and wellbeing of the animals being raised, and for your own health.”

This fear-mongering comes without any substantial evidence of the claims, and for those of us who have seen beef raised in pastures and in a feedlot, I don’t see the dark and treacherous dangers he describes in his article.

My rebuttal to Mercola and this “American Meat” documentary is two-fold.

First, let me address the nutrition side:

According to Meat Myth Crushers, “Grass-fed beef has slightly lower levels of saturated fat than corn-fed beef. While grass-fed beef does have slightly higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids than cattle finished on corn and grain, neither type of beef is a rich source of omega 3s compared to fish. Salmon, for example, contains 35 times more omega 3s than beef. Whether these differences translate to a truly meaningful health benefit in the context of a varied diet has not been established. “Interestingly, new research from Texas A&M University found that men who consumed corn-fed beef improved their cholesterol levels, while men who consumed grass-fed beef experienced no change.”

Second, my thoughts on the environmental impact Mercola describes:

According to Jude Capper, if the entire U.S. beef industry was converted to grass-finished beef, we would need an additional 131 million acres of land, and 468 billion gals. of water to produce 26.1 billion lbs. of beef, which would generate an additional 135 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions. Think of the extra resources that such a production scheme would entail to feed the estimated 9 billion people projected as the world population for the year 2050.

Additionally, all beef is grass-fed, but some is grain-finished. Yet, cattle still spend the majority of their lives on grass.

Here is a video from explorebeef.org to learn more about the grass-to-grain beef production process.

What do you think about Mercola’s statements? Do you think it’s positive for the beef industry to be divided based on production methods? Share your thoughts in the comments section at Beef Daily.

About Land & Livestock Interntional, Inc.

Land and Livestock International, Inc. is a leading agribusiness management firm providing a complete line of services to the range livestock industry. We believe that private property is the foundation of America. Private property and free markets go hand in hand—without property there is no freedom. We also believe that free markets, not government intervention, hold the key to natural resource conservation and environmental preservation. No government bureaucrat can (or will) understand and treat the land with as much respect as its owner. The bureaucrat simply does not have the same motives as does the owner of a capital interest in the property. Our specialty is the working livestock ranch simply because there are so many very good reasons for owning such a property. We provide educational, management and consulting services with a focus on ecologically and financially sustainable land management that will enhance natural processes (water and mineral cycles, energy flow and community dynamics) while enhancing profits and steadily building wealth.

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2 Responses to Is Grass-Fed Beef Really Healthier?

Brian White says:

December 4, 2013 at 3:26 PM

Just when I thought I knew something about food. But the good news is grain finished meat especially NY cuts generally taste better than grass fed. I take plenty of Omega 3 supplements anyway.

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Paul D. Butler says:

December 5, 2013 at 10:42 AM

ALL beef is medicine……..more health giving than any
other single food you can eat.

Some folks believe that certain types of beef are
healthier than other types.

Pretty much irrelevant whether this is true or not
unless or until you are consuming almost all your
nutrients via beef. This is because each bite of beef
(any type) displaces a less nutritionally beneficial bite
of something else with the very best combination of
nutrients needed for your good health.

For those that don’t understand this……and are
susceptible to marketing messages……or for those
that are consuming almost all their nutrients via
beef……

http://rxbeef.com

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