Feed Requirements:
- Grain: Cow feed is very energy-intensive. Since moving cows from field to factory, millions of acres of grassland have had to be converted into soy and grain crops for livestock feed. This has led to the need for massive amounts of fossil fuel-based fertilizers and pesticides. In turn, the feed has to be transported great distances.
- Grass: Sunlight and water are all that are needed to grow the grass. Pesticides and fertilizers generally aren't used.
Growing Methods:
- Grain: Cows are given grain, soy, supplements, hormones and growth-promoting additives to fatten them up more quickly for slaughter.
- Grass: Cows grow naturally on grass and take longer to raise.
Human Health:
- Grain: Not only does grain-fed beef have up to 500% more saturated fat and less nutritional value than grass-fed beef, the pesticides, fertilizers, hormones and antibiotics consumed by the cows are passed on to us through the meat. The implications of this are serious, including premature development in children and our growing immunity to antibiotics. For more information, read this by the former commissioner of the FDA.
- Grass: Compared with feedlot meat, grass-fed has less total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and calories and is higher in omega-3 fatty acids. Because pastured animals grow at a natural pace, live low-stress lives and eat grass rather than grain, they are healthier animals which negates the need for antibiotics or other drugs. Therefore we are not ingesting these either.
Climate Change:
- Grain: 99% of U.S. beef cattle are raised in concentrated animal-feeding operations (CAFOs) where liquefied manure systems and the methane released by the cows create more greenhouse-gas emissions than transportation. Fertilizer production for feed emits millions of metric tons of carbon dioxide a year. Transportation of all these components adds to the emissions.
- Grass: The trampling of grazing animals helps work manure and organic matter into the soil. In turn, the rich soil and plant's roots retain water and microbes and keep carbon dioxide underground rather than in the air. So, even though grass-fed cows release more methane, grazing makes them carbon-neutral.
Animal Welfare:
- Grain: Cows' stomachs aren't designed to digest grain so they eventually develop a painful disease called acidosis (one of the reasons why preventative antibiotics are administered). The crowded conditions that the cows are made to live in on factory farms is cruel, they are often abused by the workers, and the diseases contracted from the unsanitary conditions are painful.
- Grass: Cows live stress-free lives grazing naturally in open pastures with plenty of space and fresh air. (This also translates to better quality meat due to the lack of stress hormones.)
Fields and Forests:
- Grain: Feedlots strip the land and don't put anything back into it.
- Grass: Rotating cows between paddocks keeps the grass cut which spurs new growth and their manure produces rich soil.
Large vs. Local:
- Grain: CAFOs have squeezed out smaller-scale farms.
- Grass: Local farms build community, support the local economy and reduce the energy required for long-distance transportation.
Cost per Pound:
- Grain: Grain-fed beef is reasonably priced because more meat is produced more quickly. Grain and soy kept at artificially low prices by government subsidies and “by-product feedstuff" also help keep it cheap.
- Grass: Because it takes longer to raise grass-fed beef, it is more expensive than grain-fed.
This is just a brief overview of a very complex system. But even with just these few facts at hand, I think it's safe to say that if the price on the packages were the same everyone would choose grass-fed meat. But they aren't the same and never will be. Politics, lobbyists, the ever-increasing population and consumer demand will continue to fuel this destructive system.
The problem is that even if everyone decided to eat grass-fed beef, there wouldn't be enough land to meet the quantities currently consumed. So it isn't enough to eat pastured beef, it has to be combined with a reduction in consumption.
For many meat and potatoes people, this is out of the question. But try to remember that when you choose to eat grain-fed beef, your pocketbook benefits in the short-term but the costs will sneak up on you in the long run. In contrast, when you choose to eat grass-fed beef you are supporting small-scale farmers who make a living from the land, helping to sustain rural communities, improving the welfare of animals, helping to put an end to environmental degradation, and giving your family untainted, nutritious food.
Suddenly, grass-fed beef doesn't seem so expensive anymore.
PHOTO CREDIT: Daniel Schwen
