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from Natural Life magazine,
November/December 2008 “Grass-fed” has now become a food buzz word. A variety of claims have been voiced about grass-fed beef – the beef produced from grass-fed cattle. Advocates contrast grass-fed beef to beef produced by Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). In some ways, grass-fed is obviously greener, more humane and more healthful than CAFO beef. And the demand for it is growing. Some advocates even recommend grass-fed as an opportunity for vegetarians to start eating meat! One Vermont farmer named Bruce Hennessey, himself a former vegetarian, now produces grass-fed beef. He sees it as a small revolution: “Now we produce meat for recovering vegetarians,” he told Eating Well magazine earlier this year. But I’m not so sure. I think we need to evaluate grass-fed beef from a variety of angles and by comparing it to several different kinds of meat production, beginning with the much maligned CAFO mode of production. There is no universal definition of “grass-fed” at this time, but we can contrast CAFO beef production with the definition of grass-fed used by the American Grass-fed Association (AGA). Some of the differences between the two are striking: 1. CAFO cattle are fed mostly corn and soy during the last six months of their lives; grass-fed consume only “forage,” which usually means grass and hay. Production of corn and soy for beef cattle (instead of for humans) is a very inefficient use of resources. Grass-fed beef is less resource-costly. 2. CAFO cattle are confined in feedlots, whereas grass-fed cattle are free-range. 3. CAFO cattle are given antibiotics and hormones on a regular basis, but grass-fed cattle are not. 4. CAFO feedlots collect vast amounts of manure in a small area, causing air pollution when the wind blows and water pollution when it rains, leaching into the groundwater. Grass-fed cattle are natural manure spreaders and, if not overgrazed, distribute fertilizer throughout the pasture. 5. CAFO beef has high levels of cholesterol and saturated fat but low levels of omega fats and vitamin E. Grass-fed has less cholesterol, less saturated fat, more omega fats and more vitamin E. Grass-fed also contains conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which may be an anticarcinogen. 6. CAFO is readily available in markets and restaurants.
Grass-fed is not readily available and is more expensive. How Green is Grass-fed Beef? Consumers tend to mix and blend the terms “grass-fed” and “organic.” The perception is that grass-fed is enviro-friendly and healthful, so an assumption is made that it is also organic. Here, we enter the murky waters of certification and labeling... To read the rest of this article, subscribe to Natural Life's online edition. Gene C. Sager is Professor of Environmental Ethics at Palomar College in San Marcos, California. |
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