Grass-Fed Beef

Believe it or not, there exists an organization called the American Grassfed Association. Interestingly, they don't like the USDA's guidelines for grass-fed beef because it "leaves loopholes for cattle to spend time in confined feeding areas and to be fed [corn] silage" (Angus Beef Bulletin, Feb 2010). This is another example of why it pays to not put all of your trust in a certain label, and more importantly, to know your farmer.

The AGA has its own qualifications for grass-fed beef:

• total forage diet (excluding mother's milk)
  
• no confinement
• no non-therapeutic antibiotics
• no added hormones
  

A forage diet consists of annual and perennial grass, forbs (legumes, brassica), browse (tips of woody shrubs and trees), and cereal grain crops in the pre-grain state. While Chuck did eat his fair share of corn, he also ate literally tons of legume/grass hay.

Confinement means keeping an animal in an area where forages and crops are not grown during the growing season. Chuck did spend a lot of his life in such a described area, though it is maintained well: he was never up to his belly in mud or crowded by other animals. It wouldn't take much to open the gate to allow Chuck access to pasture year-round, but after the grass is dormant or covered by snow, we suspect he'd spend most of his time in the confinement area anyway, seeking shelter from inclement weather.

So, Chuck met one of those standards in its entirety (no hormones), and sort of met the no confinement standard. Were we to do this process again, we would think seriously about not giving Chuck any vaccinations unless absolutely needed. We would probably also omit feeding decox.

We are certainly not trying to label Chuck "grass-fed," but the fact that our club met 1.5 of these standards--and would probably have no problem meeting three of the four--again makes the case for common sense guiding us to healthy food. Common treatments between all labels and standards also begin to emerge, the big three being no confinement, antibiotics, or hormones.

Location of Different Cuts of Beef

If you are wondering which part of Chuck your rib eye, chuck roast, or sirloin came from, check out Certified Angus Beef's (CAB) website. The "Beef Cuts" section features an interactive beef cuts chart along with some helpful cooking tips. This link also resides under the "quick links" section of this blog.