Monday, May 14, 2012

Grass v. Grain: Why It Matters

Since starting this blog, I have learned so many things that I never even thought about before. For example, I always knew that there was grass fed beef and grain fed beef at the grocery store. The grass fed is typically from Mexico and has so little fat that it requires marinating to tenderize it. Therefore, I stayed away from it and bought the more expensive beef, especially when it came to steaks. Of course, I used to be totally unaware that I could get local beef, poultry, and pork. But even if you buy local, you should know what practices the farmer uses. Are the animals pastured, grazing at will on grass, or are they kept in stalls and fed a grain diet? Believe it or not, it matters! 


Now this topic is way too big for me to cover in a single post, but my reading has led me to be much more aware and I wanted to share with you, in a nutshell, why grass versus grain should make a difference in our buying decisions. I will try to summarize some of what I have learned. 
  • Most grain fed meat comes from huge corporate confinement meat growers, like Smithfield. These are the places you see on documentaries and PETA commercials. The animals are crammed into stalls with hundreds or thousands of other animals and fed grain from bins because it makes them grow fatter and faster. They stand in their own feces and barely have room to turn around. Conditions are disgusting, so they are given high doses of antibiotics. If they get sick anyway, a bulldozer moves the animal (even if it's still alive) to be slaughtered. Yes, they still feed it to you. 



  • If all cows were pastured, more grass would be grown on farmland. Land that is currently being tilled, could be used for pasture. That would be great news because grass collects carbon, just like trees do. 
  • Cows cut grass without using petroleum based products like gas and oil. They don't leave grass clippings like your lawn mower does, and they eliminate the need for fertilizer because they fertilize the area themselves. Grain, on the other hand, requires one to till the grass under, fertilize the crop, sow and reap using machinery that requires gas and oil, and eventually destroys the land it's grown upon, which means more chemical fertilizer next year. 
  • Chickens, cows, and pigs were not designed to eat grain. They were designed to forage. Cows should eat grass, pigs should forage for roots, chickens for bugs, larvae, and kitchen scraps. Did you know chickens are omnivores? Why feed them genetically modified grain? So they will grow fatter and faster, even so fast sometimes that their bones and organs cannot support them and they fall over and die. 
versus


  • The current grain feeding model is not sustainable. It cannot last forever. New pathogens keep emerging, followed by new antibiotics. The fields become more and more eroded and sterile, requiring more and more chemicals. Quantities require more and more gasoline powered machinery. Petroleum is a limited resource. Why wait till this nasty system collapses of its own volition? Grass feeding and rotating pastures is a sustainable, economical, humane practice that builds land instead of eroding it, and it requires very little human labor and no gas powered machinery. 
  • Grain feeding requires transportation of the grain from the field to the feed lot, which means carbon emissions and using gasoline powered vehicles. Grass feeding requires moving the herd ocassionally to the next pasture. Again, this method is more ecological because it doesn't require petroleum products and machinery to get from one place to another. 
  • Grain fed meat is much higher in fat than grass fed, making it a healthier choice. In fact, grass fed beef is lower in fat than grain fed chicken!
In conclusion, if you are going to eat meat, the most eco-friendly choice is to buy locally pastured meat and dairy products. If you aren't sure where to find local meat, try asking around at the farmer's market. You can also look online at localharvest.org for organic, sustainable farmers nearby. Each listing on the website includes the items you can buy from that farm and you may be surprised at what you can find just down the road. 


14 comments:

  1. We have a great local source for beef, but nothing for poultry or pork. :-( I just don't buy pork, but have had to just compromise on the poultry. It scares me to think what's going to happen when the food bubble bursts and the REAL price of food finally emerges!

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    1. I am able to get poultry, pork and beef at our local market so I am very happy about that! And I agree! When the current system breaks down, it's going to be very interesting. I hope by then our family will be more self-sufficient and will not need to depend on outside sources as much for food. It's a goal of ours, but we still have a very long way to go.

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  2. It's insane what's going on in the "meat" industry. I am a vegetarian. I do not want any animals killed for meat, and I am against of raising animals under inhumane conditions. These industries have been proved to be unsustainable and harmful to our environment in addition to being barbaric to animals.

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  3. Do you remember 15 or 20 years ago when beef was cheap and chicken was expensive? This messed up concentration camp style grain feeding system is the cause.

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  4. Awesome post! My family doesn't really eat meat anymore! I choose not to cook it in my house and we will occasionally eat it when we are out at restaurants!

    Check out the documentary FOOD INC. You will never be the same!

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    1. Saw it! And a few others! That's why when we eat meat, I want to know exactly from whence it came!

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  5. Thanks for this post. We eat local grass fed/pastured animal products. I can tell the difference when I do not eat it.

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  6. Thank you thank you for this post! I needed to know this :)

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  7. Thanks for this post, we don't eat a lot of beef, but I'm going to check into all of local, grass-fed options!

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  8. Im glad that there are more people trying to live green. To much stuff in our meats we dont even know about. Things to make them grow bigger etc. none of it is good for us or the animals really. We need to be more aware of these what we eat and whats behind the products

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  9. This is a great post! My family loves grass fed beef and milk from grass fed cows.

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  10. Borrowed one of your pictures for a blog post on antibiotics in our livestock, hope you don't mind, if you do, contact me. Seems like at least for this topic, our blogs are targeting like goals ;)

    Keep up the writing Momma!

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    1. Not at all! Send me the link so I can read it when you finish it!

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