What's Your Beef?

Research the difference between grass-fed beef and that which is corporately raised.  www.eatwild.com

Unsurprisingly, grass-fed beef has a lower fat percentage which means you get more protein and nutrients with less total calories.  This switch is the caloric equivalent of not having to exercise off 5 extra pounds of fat per year if you were eating a typical amount of beef (2.9oz/day).  Grass beef also has more omega-3's, conjugated linoleic acid, and higher vitamin and mineral content (E, beta carotene, B complex, calcium, magnesium, potassium).  

The challenge with grass fed has more to do with confusing labeling.  "Organic" designation does not guarantee the animal was fed grass.  "Pasture-raised" means the animal spent the last 120 days of its life on grass.  "Grass-fed" is the ideal of cattle who spent their life eating grass.  

Read MaryJane's take on the importance of organic beef at www.maryjanesfarm.org/ieatmeat.asp

Wow, did MJF write this at least 8 years ago?  This post has aged pretty well and it seems public awareness is at a point where this argument isn't that controversial anymore.  I skimmed the Blood Type book cited a few years back and concluded it was more fad than fact, but the fact that we can tell from DNA who is more likely to be able to metabolize dairy, get diabetes more frequently, be heavier than average or dislike cilantro does hint that there may be genetically linked differences in what diets work best for people.  

Write down what you learned and how, if at all, it has changed your mind about the meat you eat.  

I wish there was more discussion about the quantity of meat consumed.  To throw another fad diet into the debate, the high-longevity Blue Zones diets claim their adherents average about 10 oz of meat per month, which is about a tenth of what Jo Robinson believes the average intake of beef is these days.  If we are all largely in agreement that grass-fed is best, would we be willing to cut back our consumption of beef to just the quantity of quality beef our budget could support?  

Within our household, we differ on this point.  I will pre-emptively buy the grass-fed items.  In an effort to not let them spoil, I store them in the freezer, requiring a defrost.  My husband, far more carnivorous, can emerge from his office ravenous often prefers to go to the grocery store over his lunch hour and buy the commercially raised loss leader before considering defrost options.  Now we have leftover mystery meat languishing in our fridge, which out of a mix of guilt and convenience, I find myself eating so as not to waste it.  There is lots of room for improvement in this cycle, don't you think?      

Publicly, I am vegetarian.  My rationale is largely to avoid mystery meats, decrease my ecofootprint and because it is harder to overindulge in less energy dense plant-based entrees.  This started 6 years ago when Covid exposed slaughterhouse supply chain shortages.  I made a game for myself to watch a video about commercial meat production for every meaty meal I ate.  Pretty soon, I was salting my plate with tears and prefering to go without.  I have not done this exercise for dairy and suspect much of my meat consumption was offset by increased cheese consumption.  

Privately, it is more complicated.  I am struggling with body composition in perimenopause.  I've come around to entertaining the idea that increased protein intake (ideally above 100 g/day) will help maintain and build muscle that my excessive cardio was otherwise metabolizing preferentially to body fat.  More protein also seems to help with satiation and avoiding unplanned binges on high carb and processed food that would lay down even more intractable body fat.  I still try to source protein from whole food plant sources (i.e. beans, tofu) first, but supplement with vegetarian protein powders to avoid GI distress when experiencing cravings or too busy to meal prep.  That said, I consider a protein powder and fake meats processed food and am now incorporating carefully sourced meat dishes which have the potential to be less processed.  

For instance, we toured a local cattle ranch that grazes cows in the southern California foothills for fire and flood mitigation.  We have been working through 15 or so pounds of cuts sourced from them.  I converted some of the ground beef into a meat loaf (with home grown celery greens, onions and garlic) we smoked for Father's day yesterday that was surprisingly good.  However, I still prefer to think of ethically sourced meat as a garnish/treat rather than a staple on my plate.