Switch to grass-fed beef? November 7, 2009
Posted by atharkhan in : Personal , trackbackOver the last several months, Denise and I have been attempting to reduce our consumption of processed foods. We define “processing” as any kind of alteration from the original, “whole” nature of the food. Wherever possible, we try to either perform that same (processing) step ourselves, or avoid it entirely. As an example, rather than buying ground beef, we prefer to buy a (contiguous) piece of meat and grind it ourselves.
We’ve also been attempting to reduce in general, our consumption of meat and get our proteins from other vegetable sources. Whatever meat we do consume, comes from a store that sells kosher/zabiha meat sourced from a local cattle farm in Illinois.
Now, I am wondering whether to switch to grass-fed meat. The only issue I have is the cost. Do you believe that grass-fed beef is worth the premium price tag? Are there any places in Chicago that you recommend?
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Grass-fed is worth the price to me. Watch the documentary "King Corn" and you will find out why. I don't know any places in Chicago.
On average, what do you pay for a pound of grass-fed beef? How much more is it compared to corn-fed beef?
Did not really look at the price. Will get the difference next time we go shopping.
Okay. The place where we get our meat, the average price of (grain-fed) beef is $2.49 to $3.49 per pound. One of the places close to me is selling their grass-fed beef for $6.99/lb. So, it is at least double the cost.
Just curious, price and processing aside, do you notice a difference in taste? I thought the corn led to more 'marbling' of the meat, is the grass fed beef stringier?
Grass fed beef has a much better taste and is not as tough. Rent the movie "King Corn" and watch it. You will not want corn feed beef anymore.
Grass-fed Beef: I've had it twice. I did find it to be different but not bad. I chalked the "different" feeling to the fact that this was probably the first time I was having grass-fed beef. One other issue (which prevents me from making an absolute statement) was that one of the times I had it, it was supposedly "grass-finished" as opposed to "grass-fed." I plan on trying it out again once I can find a decent store that carries it here in Chicago. I've been to a couple places (Green Grocer, and Gepperth's) and left without buying anything because there weren't enough people buying meat in the store. (I don't like to buy groceries from places with low turnover.)"King Corn": It is definitely an interesting movie. Another one is "Food, Inc." Both movies caution against corn-fed beef and highlight how many products have corn in them. I knew a fair amount of what Food, Inc. had to say. So King Corn, although less engaging than Food, Inc., was more educational for me. The next one on my list to watch is "The Real Dirt on Farmer John."
Interesting. I will definitely watch Food, Inc and see about the real dirt on farmer john. That ones sounds really interesting.