Thinking of near vegetarian, looking for grass-fed beef

[midnight armadillo]

Ok, the mad cow thing has gotten me thinking.

The more I read about the US meat market and USDA regulation, the less I like what I read. I read Fast Food Nation a little while back, and almost made the switch then. The USDA is owned lock stock and barrel by the meatpackers and since our government is sold to the highest bidders I don't expect this to change any time soon.

I don't want to be 100% vegetarian. But, I think I will drop beef from my diet completely (very easy for me). Chicken meat will be harder. I'll keep seafood (mercury, yum!) in, along with eggs and organic dairy products from local producers. I'm making a resolve to eat more veggie-based protein, like beans, brown rice, tofu, and seitan to limit my consumption of the stuff in the previous sentence.

Does anyone know of sources for grass-fed, aged beef? My wife likes the stuff and I wouldn't want to shut her out of a food she likes, just re-direct her towards less-risky stuff.

[POed_Ex_Repub]

1. How about Corn Fed Beef?

You can't beat Husker beef.

[Chutaiko]

6. Nebraska beef?

I used to live in NE, My parents still do. They noticed the beef tasting funny awhile back and started to take more time selecting their bovine comestibles by reading the labels.

It seems that almost every retailer in NE has resorted to injecting water into their beef. From what they've said 10-12% is common and sometimes you can see 20%.

As a chef, I can ascertain that the only motive behind this is profit. There is no way that beef laden with water cooks better/tastes better (has anyone ever had "good" boiled beef...I didn't think so).

I'm hoping that my parents have just been shopping at the wrong places. I'd hate to think people in Omaha/Lincoln can't get good beef from their own backyards.

There are some good ranches in Oregon and (believe it or not) the NE. In Oregon there's one called Pendleton Ranch and in the NE(Vermont, I think) it's called Brae Beef. The Oregon Ranch feeds on what is in their field.....mostly grass/weeds. Brae Cows feed on (get this) Apples, Garlic and Beer (never had it but I've heard it's great beef).

If you do find some please let me know.....I'd like to find some good beef too.

[Warpy]

11. Coleman

Their cows are range fed and fattened on corn, but they're not pumped full of hormones or antibiotics used to counteract the result of overcrowding of factory farmed meat animals. Most regular supermarkets around here have a small section of range fed beef like Coleman's plus a selection of free range chicken. The rare times I crave meat, this is what I get. The chances of catching something from this stuff is greater than zero, but probably less than that commercial, factory farmed stuff. Besides, who knows what that load of hormones and antibiotics will eventually do to the people who eat them?

[Andy_Stephenson]

2. here

http://www.americangrassfedbeef.com/

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. If you are from NW AR I do

Some of our neighbors in Newton County raise grass-fed beef. It has a totally different taste than the stuff you buy at the supermarket. If you don't live around here, I'd check for information through your local natural foods co-op. They can usually direct you to someone local who is doing the right thing in raising cows.

[midnight armadillo]

4. Darn avatar

It looks like my MA state flag avatar has disappeared. Weird.

I'll try the nat foods stores. Actually, I've just remember a local organic farm/educational center that sells its own slaughtered-on-site lamb, chicken, and maybe beef. Hmm, I will have to check them out.

[maggrwaggr]

5. If you have a Whole Foods store in your area

they have various types of really good beef and other meats.

Try the buffalo if they have it. Buffalo is better than beef, better for you, and better on the environment. The American plains and the buffalo evolved together. I'd like to see buffalo take over the American beef market.

As for corn fed beef, well, feeding beef cattle corn is one of the big problems. Cattle's stomachs aren't designed to handle corn. They're ruminants and are supposed to eat grass. Corn fattens them up but also gives them a lot of gastrointestinal problems, which results in them swimming in shit in the stockyards, which results in more disease, which results in antibiotics given to them as a matter of course, which results in antibiotic-resistant strains of the bacteria .......

You see the vicious cycle there.

[david_vincent]

7. If you have Trader Joe's in your area

they carry beef products from a company that treats their cows so well, they have better lives than most of us. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the company, but I do remember that the Seattle Post-Intelligencer had an article about a year and a half ago on this. I think the company in question is based in Oregon. They have stringent quality control standards in place that cover every aspect of a cow's life - not only its diet, but also how it's treated day in and day out.

[FloridaPat]

8. Raising cattle is only half the problem. Distribution is the

rest of the problem. You have to know who butchers the cow and where the parts go. Like hamburger today - most is mixed from around the country in one big vat - (not exactly literal, but a general idea of what ConAgra is doing). There is not tracing the origin. If one oucnc is contaminated, the rest of the batch will be.

[Tinoire]

9. Hope this helps- Links for grass-fed and Halal

http://www.americangrassfedbeef.com/

Here's your google search: http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22grass+fed+beef%22


If you can at all though, find an honest farmer and have him raise it for you. There are many independent farmers who do this for their families and don't mind adding one more. The problem with this method is that you will have to buy a freezer because normally you have to buy 1/4 - 1/2 of the cow and that takes space!

Get an upright; I got a chest-style and really regret it because it's harder to organize the meat for retrieval.

Aside from the great taste, it's a real cost-saver. My beef, including processing, costs me less than $1.50/lb and it's cut and packaged EXACTLY as I tell them to.

If you do this, try to find a humane butcher who will slaughter and package himself. Your farmer should be able to tell you of a good one. It helps, at least me, to know that your cow was humanely slaughtered and not frightened to death at the time.

Another good place to get good beef is Arabic Halal stores because on top of their more humane slaughter methods, they absolutely forbid antibiotics, hormones etc in the meat, must feed it a natural diet, raise it in a natural habitat and allow it reproductive rights (in short a semi-real life!). You can read about Halal here: http://www.islam-online.net/English/Science/2001/03/article8.shtml

You can find halal stores near you here: http://www.zabihah.com/_details.php?rest_id=49

I quit buying store-bought meat 5 years ago when the disease was first noticed (just chalking one up for "conspiracy theorists here ;) because you can not trust our entire system to get this one right. People have been dying in this country from CJD for years but it has been criminally covered up to avoid a panic.

A preliminary 1989 study at the University of Pennsylvania showed that over 5% of patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's were actually dying from a human spongiform encephalopathy, meaning that as many as 200,000 people in the United States may already be dying from Mad Cow Disease each year.
http://www.islam-online.net/English/Science/2001/03/article8.shtml

I am not Islamic, I come from a medical family and have 2 parents & 5 sisters who are physicians and am not trying to push Islamic propaganda on you. You can research this further on your own. NO ONE in my family bought store-bought meat for years and switched to either Halal or getting cows raised. Neither method is really sure-fire but they're a hell of a lot less risky.

Two books to read for those who care are "Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser and "Slaughterhouse" by Gail Eisnitz.

Peace, good luck and kudos to you.

PS. If you have pets... you might want to think of them too. Peace

[BOHICA06]

10. Slice & dice your own?

The East Coast is overrun with Whitetail Deer - mighty tasty. And since you control the processing - you can ensure santitation and quality.

And there are other red meat alternatives: Lamb, Goat, and ..... Horse. All can be processed in your home .... though Trigger is an all day proposition.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

12. Just make sure your white-tailed deer

are not from an area affected by chronic wasting disease, which is believed to be related to mad cow.

For beef, check out your local organic market or farmer's market.

Question: I know that kosher meat comes from animals slaughtered in a certain way. Are there any restrictions on how the animals are raised and fed?

[Eric J in MN]

13. Visit the message boards of vegsource.com for vegetarian recipes.

Visit the message boards of vegsource.com for vegetarian recipes.
VegSource

http://vegsource.com