American Grass Fed Beef Newsletter
January, 2003

Welcome to the latest issue of the American Grass Fed Beef Newsletter. In this issue, you will find the following:

* Next Grass Fed Beef Drawing
* Cattle Ranches on the History Channel
* The Grass Fed Beef Hoax
* Why The Price Difference When Grass is Free?
* Mushroom Lovers Beef Burgers
* A Compounding Pharmacist Shares About Our Beef

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NEXT GRASS FED BEEF DRAWING 
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The next American Grass Fed Beef drawing will be 1/31/03. If you are subscribed to this newsletter, you are automatically entered into our next drawing. 

If you received this e-mail from a friend, sign up for our newsletter and enter our drawing at the following web page:

http://www.americangrassfedbeef.com/drawing

Good luck to all ! ! !

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CATTLE RANCHES ON THE HISTORY CHANNEL
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This past week the History Channel aired a piece on cattle ranching with their Modern Marvels series. Many of you may have had an opportunity to watch this presentation as did our family. 

If you didn't, you may want to watch for repeats of the program or buy their video.  Watching this show reminded us why we are glad to be grass farmers and not just cattle producers. 

There was an interesting segment on the modern invention of feedlots which began in the 50's and 60's due to an over abundance of corn in the United States.  It truly is a marvel how the beef industry has evolved into huge feedlots confining 400,000 or more animals in one feedlot at one time and moving well over a million animals through feedlot gates in a year. 

Their pictures of the animals in the lots were not in too bad of condition.  However,  I have personally witnessed cattle in less dry times and have been saddened to look upon any animal raised in those pens as the manure and mud accumulates. 

It is ironic that what I have personally seen as horrible was spoken of by the feedlots as, "uncomfortable for the animal and interfered with the weight gain."  They even spoke of the accumulation of manure as a plus. "It can be stacked into one small area of the pen and since this area dries faster it can let the animals get out of the wet by climbing up on it." (my paraphrase).

I, also, found the comments on the cattle's diet interesting. Looking for the "least cost ration" (a very educated and scientific term involving lots of computer programming) sounds fine until you begin to look at what cattle are actually being fed as "least cost". 

My opinion on optimal cattle nutrition is too long to go into at this time. However, I did enjoy the stat that half the sodium bicarb produced in this country is consumed by cattle in the feedlot who are in a state of chronic indigestion. 

Also, of interest was the amount of research going into finding just the right combination and protocol of hormones and antibiotics to produce the fastest gain possible. 

Do you realize that American supermarket beef can't be exported to Europe and other places due to these pharmaceuticals?  At least Europeans recognize the risk to their families.

My family and I have a great deal of respect for the cattle we raise. I have no problem whatsoever with producing them for harvest and consuming the beef. 

However, we strongly feel that it is intended for cattle to live life on open pasture, in the sunshine, and eating grass their entire lives. From the day a cow is born on our grass farm to the day the animal is loaded and transported to the processing plant . . . we respect that animal's quality of life.  We are able to feel good about the way we produce beef. 

In addition, we strongly believe that raising cattle the way God intended produces a better product. On grass is better for the animal, better for the land, and healthier for those of us who consume the beef.

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THE GRASS FED BEEF HOAX
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Today we got a call from a customer who noticed a well known organic free range beef supplier is now claiming to sell grass fed beef with some minor grain feeding. This “grass fed beef” was being featured in a large health food grocery store chain. 

Curious to learn what practices they had changed for this new offering of “grass fed beef”, we decided to take a visit to their website. It was an eye opening experience in marketing double talk.

First we learned that this company has two corporate entities . . . one for a “natural beef” and one “certified organic.” They started out a totally organic company and the public perceives them as an organic company . . . now they have two different products which are easily confused especially in a fresh meat counter.

How do you recognize their certified organic beef vs. their “natural” beef? A slight change in color of their standard label and the words “certified organic” on the label.  A huge distinction which goes unnoticed by the average consumer.

Guess who certifies their organically certified beef? Their own “natural beef” company. How convenient when one corporation they own says they are certified by a completely separate corporate entity. 

What are the standards for their certified organic beef? Their website states that they have grown so large that they have to buy beef from hundreds of other ranches. They try their best to find certified organic suppliers but their demand can’t always be supplied from certified organic sources so they have a standard protocol for raising beef. Maybe we are being too skeptical but we find it hard to believe that these hundreds of ranches are totally honest about their practices when large sums of money are involved.

So these cattle that are roaming “free range” and “grass fed” at one time in their life are according to their website finished in feedlots. In feedlots their certified organic cows are fed ONLY certified organic feeds “subject to availability.” What does “subject to availability” mean . . . 1%, 5%, 20% or 99.9% of the time? The answer is left up to our imagination. 

No wonder the USDA is trying to establish true organic certification standards. With corporations certifying their own beef and allowing even their own standards to be broken at their convenience . . . their organic standard doesn’t mean much.

As far as their “grass fed beef”, it is our contention that beef fed grain in a feedlot is not grass fed beef by any stretch of the imagination. Grain feeding in feedlots quickly destroys the health benefits of grass fed beef but quickly brings cattle to market weight . . . that is the very reason feedlots are used.

Proper finishing is one of the most important elements of bringing healthy grass fed beef to market. Finishing in a feedlot turns any "grass fed" cow OR "free range" cow into a feedlot cow.  Well over 90% of the beef in the United States is feedlot beef and almost 100% of our nations' cows were raised on the range or in pastures at some point in their life.

We feel so strongly about finishing our cows properly that at American Grass Fed Beef, we even go to the extreme of providing special lush finishing pastures to bring our cattle to their peak health and consistent quality.  This extra step in finishing sets us apart from the majority of grass farms and miles apart from feedlot finished cows.

As “grass fed beef” gains popularity, you will see more large corporations jumping on the bandwagon and playing these word games. This company is not the first nor the last to claim that they sell “grass fed beef.”  One blade of grass fed to a cow would qualify as "grass fed beef" to some corporations. 

This company's website reminds us of the commercial where two scientists study a credit card agreement under their microscope and are appalled by the charges. In the beef industry, beware . . . the fine print can be hazardous to your health.


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WHY THE PRICE DIFFERENCE WHEN GRASS IS FREE?
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We are frequently asked this legitimate question so we felt our customers would appreciate knowing more about our grass fed beef as opposed to grocery store beef.  There are major differences in philosophy, time, care and skill which results in a healthier beef for you and our environment: 

http://www.americangrassfedbeef.com/comparison.asp

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MUSHROOM LOVERS BEEF BURGERS
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2 #   Grass Fed Ground Beef
1 t    Celtic Sea Salt
1/2 t  Coarse Ground Pepper
1#     Sliced Mushrooms
1 lg.   Onion, thinly sliced
Organic Swiss Cheese slices (optional)

Combine ground beef with salt and pepper, form into round or oblong patties depending on the bun to be used. Brown in skillet with small amount of olive oil. Remove and place in covered pan. 

Sauté mushrooms and onions in olive oil then place over burgers. Cover and cook in a 275 degree oven. Place meat covered with mushrooms and onions on buns . 

Optionally cover with Swiss cheese and broil until toasted. 

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A COMPOUNDING PHARMACIST SHARES ABOUT OUR BEEF
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With a grass fed beef site, we have been privileged to meet many new friends with a passion for health. Larry Frieders, a popular internet compounding pharmacist, is one new friend who discovered our grass fed beef and loved it. He enthusiastically wrote a great review of our grass fed beef on his website which you can read at:

http://www.thecompounder.com/html/grass_fed_beef.html

Many of our readers have never heard about compound prescriptions which is Larry Frieders' specialty. Getting a compounded formula is the difference between getting a mass produced prescription and one that is customized for your needs. 

Visit Larry's website to read his articles on health and his review of our grass fed beef.



Patricia Whisnant, DVM
Grass Farmer and Veterinarian
AmericanGrassFedBeef.com


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