Grass Fed Beef VS. Grain Fed Beef

[Grillman]

Published: Wednesday, 27 Apr 2011 | 3:13 PM ET



By: Darren Rovell
CNBC Sports Business Reporter

Photo Credit: US Wellness Meats

On a group of small farms in Monticello, Mo., John Wood is doing his part to revolutionize how meat is marketed. He's specifically pitching his US Wellness Meats, from steaks to ground beef, to athletes.
You see, Wood is part of the minority that raises his cattle on grass, instead of the grain American ranchers have been feeding them since World War II. Because grass is low in starch and high in protein its packed with more nutrients, its higher in Omega-3 fatty acids and an increased amount of CLA, which actually is believed to help reduce body fat and aid in weight management.
His better beef pitch to athletes, trainers and teams is starting to catch on.
Wood started with the body builders like Jon Andersen and Jesse Marunde, who were competing in "Strongest Man" competitions. The two were eating three pounds of beef a day from Costco.



"I got them started and they told me their elbows and knees felt better," Wood said. Then came marathon runner Deena Kastor, who Wood said started to place orders. Sal Alosi, the former head and strength conditioning coach for the New York Jets, was next. In 2009, Alosi -- who is no longer with the team due to the now infamous tripping incident -- convinced the team to try Wood's products. By 2010, the Jets were having US Wellness Meats ship strip loins and ground beef to all the team's away games.
"Some teams are still feeding their athletes bar food," Wood said. "They have these guys making millions of dollars a year. If you don't make diet changes to help effect performance, you're a fool."
Dr. Keith Pyne, a peak performance specialist who works with elite athletes, is a fan of Wood's grass-fed beef.

"Especially in the last five years, athletes have begun to understand that their diet and what they put in their bodies can have an effect on their performance," said Pyne of SportsLab NYC. "Understanding the fat ratios in what they are eating and lowering their glycemic index are now on their mind."
Pyne says he works with an elite baseball player who told him he was in so much pain at the end of the season, he had to crawl to the bathroom. Pyne made some changes, including suggesting grass-fed beef.
"He made the change and I truly think it contributed to his feeling better at the end of the season."
Once the athletes themselves become converts, the word spreads quickly, Wood said. Jason Werth started converting his Phillies teammates before signed with the Washington Nationals this past season. Wood noticed the orders starting to come in.

Although the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA), which represents ranchers and feedlots, has contended that grain-fed beef is as good as grass-fed beef, Wood says tests he has had done say the contrary. He says his grass-fed beef have more Omega-3's than salmon, a ratio he says you wouldn't find in grain-feed beef.
US Wellness Meats isn't only targeting athletes of course. Wood says his other markets are senior citizens, those facing health challenges and soccer moms looking to feed their family something better.


http://www.cnbc.com/id/42784959

[MilitantSquatter]

We had a bit of a discussion on the subject here but it didn't take off.

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh...light=wellness

I've bought from US Wellness (formerly known as Grassland Beef) as I have a friend who assisted John Wood of US Wellness with some corporate financing/banking. Good product... just a bit pricey... especially now.

Weird part about that article for me was that one of the initial athletes referenced was a strongman competitor who, died almost five years ago (at age 27 due to astronomical steroid usage... and also referenced the now infamous Jet strength coach who tripped the Patriots player... Not exactly the two most ideal people you'd want cited as part of your marketing efforts.

[boogiesnap]

Originally Posted by MilitantSquatter

We had a bit of a discussion on the subject here but it didn't take off.

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh...light=wellness

I've bought from US Wellness (formerly known as Grassland Beef) as I have a friend who assisted John Wood of US Wellness with some corporate financing/banking. Good product... just a bit pricey... especially now.

Weird part about that article for me was that one of the initial athletes referenced was a strongman competitor who, died almost five years ago (at age 27 due to astronomical steroid usage... and also referenced the now infamous Jet strength coach who tripped the Patriots player... Not exactly the two most ideal people you'd want cited as part of your marketing efforts.

agreed.

i'd go more with just the facts about the animal.
grass fed is simply better in all facets.
one may disagree, but, bear in mind, cattle are biologically supposed to eat grass, and with that, the natural amount of grain that occurs doing such. no more no less.

[Capozzoli]

We use grass fed beef as well as grain fed. The grass fed beef we get has much less fat. It has to be cooked differently. We get steaks and stuff like that and cook them hot and fast, and rare. Otherwise it is like shoe leather.

I get our milk raw right from the farm, along with beef pork and eggs. Its a lot more money but it is worth it.

For BBQ though I want to use the grain fed beef from the regular butcher. I get good stuff for a good price and it comes out of the smoker much better.Maybe there is another way I should be handling the grass fed, not sure.

Our two year old started getting swollen mammary glands. The doctor said it was the hormones in 'regular' milk, told us to switch to organic milk. We did and the swelling went down in a matter of weeks. Scary.

[aztecnology]

I've found some pretty good info on eat wild, including ranches around the country that procure grass fed beef and will ship to your door...

http://www.eatwild.com/products/farmsthatship.html

[SmokeOCD]

I'm with Cap - grass fed as much as you can for health, but "regular" for the smoker.

[ODU Dad]

Whatever is in the meat section at Costco. Too many other things to worry about to figure out details such as this.

Last weekend I saw a sign for "free range chicken eggs" !?! I am SO glad that those little buggers had a chance to get out of their nests before they were put into Styrofoam containers!

[SmokeOCD]

Originally Posted by ODU Dad

Last weekend I saw a sign for "free range chicken eggs" !?! I am SO glad that those little buggers had a chance to get out of their nests before they were put into Styrofoam containers!

You should try em once. The taste is a little different (better) and the yolks are closer to orange than the pale yellow you get from the 99cent eggs. There's more vitamins blah blah blah.....

[JimmyBeam]

I'd like to try grass fed, but our farmers market is selling it for 9 bucks a pound. So needless to say I wont be trying it any time soon

[Soybomb]

wellness meats? Boy there's a name picked for marketing.

cattle are biologically supposed to eat grass

Geese aren't supposed to be force fed until they have a fatty liver, but it makes foie gras no less delicious.

[ODU Dad]

Originally Posted by SmokeOCD

You should try em once. The taste is a little different (better) and the yolks are closer to orange than the pale yellow you get from the 99cent eggs. There's more vitamins blah blah blah.....

EGGS? Thanks, but if they are served to me, I would definitely try to notice a difference. This reminds me of several episodes of Iron Chef, where either eggs or truffles are the ingredient. The so called experts say that the traditional matching of truffles is in egg dishes. Let me see, I scramble a couple of eggs for breakfast and I shave about $20 worth of seasoning into them because the experts like it that way. RRRIIIIIghT!

[caseydog]

I prefer grass fed beef because cattle that eat what they were designed to eat, out on a wide-open ranch, don't need to be pumped full of antibiotics to keep them from dying. Cattle fed on feed lots, with feeds they weren't designed to eat, while walking around in their own chit packed in with a bunch of other cattle eating corn and walking around in cow chit, need to be pumped full of antibiotics, which ends up in the meat we eat.

I have to wonder, if farm subsidies were cut off for corn, would grass fed beef be able to compete on a level playing field? That "cheaper" feed lot beef is cheaper at the store, but we all pay for that low price with our taxes. If you think about it, even vegetarian tax payers are buying cheap beef.

CD

[ODU Dad]

Back on track to the OP. My opinion, corn fed beef was designed to add marbling that would not ordinarily be found in the meat. Yes, it is not "natural" according to the what happens in the wild, but we like the taste (do NOT learn how foie gras is made). Grass fed beef to me is trying to get "back to nature", whether we like the taste better or not.

Remember, pork used to be rich in marbling until we decided to make it "the other white meat". Now artisan pork, like the way it used to be, is what is catching on. So what is it, taste or "the way nature intended"?

[1_T_Scot]

Does it tast much different? I've had Beef in other countries that seems to taste different (if it was beef) China, Phillipines, Mexico it also seemed less fatty. Chickens in these places are way smaller also and they don't really taste like chicken LOL.

I'll have to try some if I can find it.

Don't Kobe beef drink beer? Are they grass fed and supplimented with beer? That sounds more natural to me Happy Cows give...

[cowgirl]

My cattle are raised on pasture grass. When I want to butcher one, I bring it up to the farm and keep in it a 3 acre grass pen.. feed it grain for marbling. It also has access to grass while graining.
I prefer my beef this way... no antibiotics, no hormones...nothing but natural grass and grains. Straight grass fed is to lean for my taste.

Same with my pigs and chickens... no medication.
My chickens roam the farm yard.. they are great at keeping grass hoppers and bugs to a minimum. The egg yolks are a bright yellow/orange.

One of the things that turns people off to Feed lot finishing is the way the grass fed beef are brought off the pasture, packed pretty tight into feed lot pens for minimum movement... then fed a mixture designed to add weight at a fast rate. I'm not sure what mixture most feed lots use these days.. they have gotten bad publicity about adding hormones and supplements..they might have changed their ways.

I give mine more space and a good life. I like happy cattle, pigs and chickens.


All cattle are raised on grass. They eat grass their whole lives...then you have the choice to butcher them as grass fed only beef or you have the option to grain them for the last few weeks to add marbling.
Even milk cows are pastured on grass and only fed grain when they come into be milked (usually twice a day). Then they are back out in the pastures grazing all day.