Grass Versus Grain Fed Beef

Beef choices and also the environment - grain or grass fed?

It is a bit difficult writing about the topic of meat as it can be an extremely polarizing concern. Thus to begin with, I'd just like to say that reducing beef intake is actually a great way to lessen the environmental effect of one's lifestyle - and when you choose following a vegan or vegetarian diet, even more power to you.

Having that crucial factor made; let's push on. The majority of us are not going to give up eating beef any time soon, but we can make some more educated choices regarding our meat purchases. Being familiar with the issues can also be a prompt for reducing or slowing meat intake now, or providing the best way in producing that choice in the future.

Back when beef showcased very, very heavily in my diet plan (I am still an omnivore, carnivore, whatsoever you would like to refer to it); the mention of grain fed meat would have me drooling and imagining fat succulent meats sizzling over a charcoal barbecue grill.

These days, the term brings up all sorts of conflict within me and I tend to eat very little from it. Exactly what are the reasons?

Cattle were not designed to take in grain

It makes sense but it never occurred to me until somebody pointed it. The digestive system of livestock was made to manage grass, definitely not grain - and unfortunately the majority of the meat we buy nowadays is grain fed.

While grain helps fatten the animals up very quickly, it seems that it's actually, really bad for livestock and could cause painful disorders just like feedlot bloat as the outcome of a diet containing too much starchy foods and too minimal fiber. Unattended, feedlot bloat can suffocate cattle.

Acidosis is another side effect that may also be a painful or life threatening condition. According to Michael Pollan, writer of publications including "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and "Food Guidelines", acidosis could lead to bloat, looseness of the bowels, stomach problems, liver health problems and a total deterioration of the body's defense mechanisms, meaning the animals are susceptible to bacterial attacks and a variety of other illnesses.

Grain fed beef usually has to be treated more intensely with supplements and antibiotics to make up for the things they are lacking from the actual diet plan that was intended for all of them. After that there is the matter of some other items being introduced to their feed such as (depending on local restrictions) ammonium sulfate, blood meal, bone meal, dried cattle manure, defluorinated phosphate, fat from poultry, meat meal, poultry litter and also dried poultry manure - once again, to comprise for what they lose out on by getting grain fed.

Must we torture our food? I hate to think of the collective struggling going on right this minute due to some manufacturer farming methods.

Large swathes of rainforest and other timbered areas have been wiped out to grow corn and soy beans to feed to cattle. While soy beans are not regarded a grain (they're a legume), they could have a similar effect as corn on the animals.