All You Need To Know About Grass-Fed Beef

1. All You Need To Know About Grass-Fed Beef

2. You probably already know that grass-fed beef costs a couple of dollars more per pound than conventional beef. But do you know why? And besides, do you know if you're just paying for fancy language and a pretty picture of a farm on the label? • When you grow up on a farm like me, you have a pretty good understanding of the give and take we have with the animals we raise for slaughter. Some of my earliest memories are of going to the slaughterhouse with my mom to wrap our own meat.

3. I sat down at the table with a giant roll of freezer tape and a purple stamp pad. While my mom was wrapping the steak, burger, and roast pieces, I taped them shut and then used a rubber stamp to label each package before taking it home and putting it in our chest freezer. • It wasn't until I left home that I realized that most people have never eaten an animal that they raised and cared for since it was a baby. While the meats I grew up eating were wrapped in white butcher paper, everyone else seemed pretty comfortable eating meats that came in colorful boxes and were pressed into shapes like playdough.

4. At first I was enthusiastic about conventional meats, so delicious and cheap! But as I began to pay attention to food recalls and nutrition labels, I became wary of a factory farm system that methodically destroys the planet, people and animals while making us fat and unhealthy. • I devoured books like Fast Food Nation and documentaries like Food Inc., which convinced me that giving up meat was the only food option I could live with. • I spent the next twelve years getting my protein from fake meat products like veggie burgers, tofu dogs, and rubbery pink plant-based luncheon meats. • Last summer, a product called the Impossible Burger became popular. His claim to fame is that he bleeds like real meat. This is true in that it oozes a fake blood type substance before charring on the outside and leaving behind a sticky pink interior that has the consistency of raw cookie dough. • At the same time, my dad had started raising grass-fed beef.

5. When I visited him at the farm, I stood my ground and ate a fake burger, made in a lab through a series of chemical reactions and dyed to make it look appetizing. Meanwhile, everyone else ate hamburgers from a cow that had been born, lived, and died within a 5-mile radius. • The sun made the grass grow and the cow ate the grass. She turned grass into food that my family enjoyed with ketchup and mustard. The cow's carbon footprint was as big as the ten-minute trailer ride to the slaughterhouse and the electricity needed to keep it cold in the freezer. • Meanwhile, my "healthiest" burger was made from a long list of hydrolyzed ingredients that had traveled thousands of miles to reach my plate. • You probably guessed it: after a long hiatus, I returned to the world of carnivores. I ate a hamburger. And it was great • One thing is for sure though, I have learned a lot about grass-fed beef. And I've also learned that most people have no idea why grass-fed beef is a better choice.

6. Grass-fed cows are healthy cows • You may have heard that cows have four stomachs. The reason for this is that they can digest foods that are really hard to digest, mainly grass. • In addition to that, they have wide, flat teeth that are adapted to grinding up blades of grass to make them easier to chew. They even burp the half-digested grass and chew it again so they can release more nutrients from it. • Most modern cows cannot afford to eat grass. Instead, they are fed a high-grain diet that makes them gain weight quickly, but also makes them sick. Grain is like junk food for cows. And the goal of modern agriculture is to feed cows a lot of grain so they get fatter and fatter, but then slaughter them before they get so sick they die. • Cows that eat the food they evolved to digest are healthier animals. • They have a better quality of life and have less need for veterinary care. They have a better quality of life that requires fewer antibiotics and reduces stress on the animal.

7. Grass-fed cows use less gasoline • Cows that graze on pasture use much less oil than cows that eat grain. Most grains come from corn or soybeans, which must be planted, fertilized, harvested, processed, and transported to animals. • Instead of outsourcing all of this feed preparation to gas-guzzling tractors, grass-fed cows simply munch, grass in their mouths. Their poop also returns valuable artisan nutrients to the soil, reducing the need for petroleum-based fertilizers. There's a reason this cycle of eating and pooping has evolved over millions of years on planet earth: it works.

8. Grass-fed cows are better for the environment • A little cow poop is great for the soil. But when you take cows off pasture and put them in a CAFO, which stands for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation, they make tons of poop and there's nowhere to put it. • CAFOs are concrete jungles where thousands of cows huddle together and feed on grain. Its purpose is to fatten cows in the shortest time possible for the least amount of money. • Manure runoff from CAFOs can enter waterways and affect drinking water as well as lakes and ponds. When manure enters a waterway, it is eaten by bacteria, which quickly flourish and then die. Dead bacteria decompose underwater, drawing oxygen from the water and creating hypoxic conditions that can lead to massive fish kills. • Cows living on pasture are not as crowded as cows in CAFOs. The soil they graze on is permeable, which prevents massive and toxic runoff. Cow pastures provide a habitat for birds, insects, and many plant species. And plant-filled organic grasses absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere instead of simply reflecting heat, which is what concrete does.

9. Grass-fed beef is healthier for you • In a nutshell, it's nice to care about the animals and the land, but the big problem with grass-fed beef is that it's simply better for you. • Since grass-fed cows eat a healthier diet, they are generally healthier animals. When you eat them, they pass on those benefits to you. Grass-fed beef is lower in fat overall, which means it has fewer calories. • But the real benefit is in the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids. These are the "good fats" that our bodies need to stay healthy. But most of us don't get enough omega-3s. Bold cows that only eat grass produce high levels of omega-3s. As soon as they take their first bite of grain, the cows will switch over and start producing omega-6 instead. • That's why you want to check your labels to see if your meat is "grass-fed, grain-finished" or "grass-fed, grass-finished." The former is better, although both clearly outperform conventionally bred cows.

10. Grass Fed Beef Tastes Great • After eating thousands of fake meat products across dozens of brands, I feel like I have some credibility when I tell them that grass fed beef tastes delicious. • I thought it would be strange to live the life of the flesh again, but that is not the case. I'd rather thaw a package of grass-fed burgers than open the dismal cellophane bags that contain shabby-looking veggie burgers.

11. About Us • Jerky Me Off is selling 100% Angus Beef, Meat Snacks, Grass Fed Protein, American made Merchandise & Clothing at affordable prices. We are not some giant corporate cow factory, we are just a local Dallas lifestyle & snack start up founded by three legends on a mission to encourage other legends to snack boldly, and live bolder. • For more info visit - https://jerkymeoff.com/