Food Inc. Documentary

[HBARleatherneck]

i dont see alot of marbeling it the meat i raise.

now, if we were in river bottom country or irrigated pasture, maybe the cow could eat that much rich, protien filled grass, but not here.

back to the color. from my experience, and from reading studies done by universities and meat raising organizations, it takes between 90-120 to turn the yellow fat in the animal to white. that is 90-120 of eating grain. the more grain the more marbeling.

so applied to us the more fast food we eat the more marbeled we are. hopefully we dont slip down the food chain, alot of us would be tasty.

[SA Friday]

The biggest difference nutritionally from what I've read is the cholesterol in the meat and how it effects the cholesterol in your body. I haven't researched it deep enough to explain it at this point.

What I have found out is bovine's digestive systems are not made to digest grains. Feeding them corn is essentially feeding them the bovine version of a bag of lolly-pops. They process the corn sugars and crap out the rest. Ya, they get fat fast. On average, it takes about 4-5 years to finish a cow fed natural grasses. It takes a cow less than a year to finish.

I prefer the taste of the grass fed...

[johngraves2]

The biggest difference nutritionally from what I've read is the cholesterol in the meat and how it effects the cholesterol in your body. I haven't researched it deep enough to explain it at this point.

What I have found out is bovine's digestive systems are not made to digest grains. Feeding them corn is essentially feeding them the bovine version of a bag of lolly-pops. They process the corn sugars and crap out the rest. Ya, they get fat fast. On average, it takes about 4-5 years to finish a cow fed natural grasses. It takes a cow less than a year to finish.

I prefer the taste of the grass fed...

Not true at all. I have many ties to the meat industry, and i work in the meat industry. I have writen many papers on the effects of grain vs. grass feeding, pasture vs feed lots, and done research of the health ccontents of the two types of animals.

to start, most cattle spend the last 120 days in a fed lot being finished.

the average slaughter age of a grain fed animal is about 16-18 months

cattle that are finished on grass have an average slaughter age of 22-24 months (not 4 years like you had said).

Let me read through everything and i will post some more comments to help set the record straid so everyone on here will be a well educated consumer and can make the choice on their own of what type of food they will purcashe and eat.

[SA Friday]

Not true at all. I have many ties to the meat industry, and i work in the meat industry. I have writen many papers on the effects of grain vs. grass feeding, pasture vs feed lots, and done research of the health ccontents of the two types of animals.

to start, most cattle spend the last 120 days in a fed lot being finished.

the average slaughter age of a grain fed animal is about 16-18 months

cattle that are finished on grass have an average slaughter age of 22-24 months (not 4 years like you had said).

Let me read through everything and i will post some more comments to help set the record straid so everyone on here will be a well educated consumer and can make the choice on their own of what type of food they will purcashe and eat.

Sweet. Make sure to add the references if you still have them too. I haven't dwelled into this info as deep as I would like to.

[johngraves2]

So, Leatherneck... I saw an episode of something on the Food Network about a year ago that had a place that sold only grass raised beef - for exorbitantly ridiculous prices.

They got a grain fed beef steak from the local grocery store and compared it to one of their steaks of the same cut. The grain fed beef had nice marbelling of white fat, but the grass fed steak had just as nice marbelling, but the fat was yellow. The claim was that the yellow fat/grass fed beef tastes so much better and is actually much healthier for you (which I do not contest).

Is this fat coloring thing something that you see as well?

bovine fat is yellow, thats what it should look like, but through the years consumers feel that white fat is more appealing, and it turns white whent he animal is fed corn. thats all it is. when an animal is fed corn there is a huge reduction in the omega 6/ omega 3 fatty acid ratio. if you belive that omega 3 is better for you. scientists say you need certain levels of both, but just how much no one really knows and it is debated a lot. an optimal level is usually consieded to be 5/1.

now to address the issue of pricing. my dad's company produces organic grass fed beef. and they do it on a large scale. they sell exclusively to whole foods in the rocky mountain stores and on the west coast store. they ground beef is typically $2 more per pound than the natural beef they have in the stroe and the same price as the natural bison they have in the store. if you go to like safeway you will find that same %lean/%fat beef in their store for maybe $2.50 less, but it contains hormones and antibiotics and all that other crap.

so is spending $2 more worth it to you so you know that yoru beef is certified organic, was rasied humanely, was out on pasture its whole life, never given any antibiotics or hormones, and was borne and rasied in the united state? I say yes. but you guys can make your own call on that one.

for everyone who is raising their own cattle good for you, but not everyone can do that, so when those people need to find good reliable beef look to this organic grass-fed.

Now with the whole topic of the movie. it was very good and i did like it. the movie did leave a lot out and did not clearly discuss all the laws which made them seem like farmers and ranchers can do anything they want. It could have explained all the steps involved in food production and the laws at all levels and it would have been a lot better.

[johngraves2]

Sweet. Make sure to add the references if you still have them too. I haven't dwelled into this info as deep as I would like to.

Im not really sure how to do it but do you knwo how i can post some of my papers online for others to read?

[SA Friday]

Im not really sure how to do it but do you knwo how i can post some of my papers online for others to read?

Try attaching it like a photo. If it's too big, pm Merlin and see if he can help out.

[SA Friday]

bovine fat is yellow, thats what it should look like, but through the years consumers feel that white fat is more appealing, and it turns white whent he animal is fed corn. thats all it is. when an animal is fed corn there is a huge reduction in the omega 6/ omega 3 fatty acid ratio. if you belive that omega 3 is better for you. scientists say you need certain levels of both, but just how much no one really knows and it is debated a lot. an optimal level is usually consieded to be 5/1.

now to address the issue of pricing. my dad's company produces organic grass fed beef. and they do it on a large scale. they sell exclusively to whole foods in the rocky mountain stores and on the west coast store. they ground beef is typically $2 more per pound than the natural beef they have in the stroe and the same price as the natural bison they have in the store. if you go to like safeway you will find that same %lean/%fat beef in their store for maybe $2.50 less, but it contains hormones and antibiotics and all that other crap.

so is spending $2 more worth it to you so you know that yoru beef is certified organic, was rasied humanely, was out on pasture its whole life, never given any antibiotics or hormones, and was borne and rasied in the united state? I say yes. but you guys can make your own call on that one.

for everyone who is raising their own cattle good for you, but not everyone can do that, so when those people need to find good reliable beef look to this organic grass-fed.

Now with the whole topic of the movie. it was very good and i did like it. the movie did leave a lot out and did not clearly discuss all the laws which made them seem like farmers and ranchers can do anything they want. It could have explained all the steps involved in food production and the laws at all levels and it would have been a lot better.

River Ranch out of Steamboat? That's what we currently have in the freezer.