Copyright 2011 Baron Farms

Historical Perspective

A Little Skepticism is in Order

 

First... there is nothing wrong with being a skeptic. In a world where outragous claims are made everyday, doubt and uncertainty should lead to caution. Experience tells us that we shouldn't believe everything we read nor, in some cases, everything we see. Being appropriately skeptical is a healthy and necessary response.

Most 'grass-fed meat' skeptics we talk to are simply uncertain about the claims that grass-fed pastured meat is healthier compared to 'grain' fed feed-lot beef.  How can something as 'time-honored and tested' as 'grain fed' beef be inferior?  That's a fair question.

Beyond verifying the accuracy of the many research and laboratory results as to nutritional differences, I think it important that we give some historical light to the notion of something being 'time-honored and tested.'  We need to understand when farming practices changed before we decide how firmly we hang on to our biases.

Readers of classical 'cowboy' literature know well the activity of early American cowboys.  Cowboys moved cattle from one grassy range to another and sometimes 'branded' the animals, assisted in the birth of calves, and drove the critters to market.  You'll never read about how the cattle were allowed to graze someone's corn field so they might enjoy the starches and sugars from the husk of corn.  Cattle ate the grass from the prairies and that was all.

In the 1950's, getting a beef animal to weight began to change.  Due to a number of influences, some scientific and some practical (hard to get a herd of thousands of shorthorns to cross interstate highways without causing an accident), ranchers starting putting some of their cattle into feedlots (hence the name 'feeder' steer).  Railroads and paved roads made the transportation of feed to the feedlots possible and economical. The day of the 'cowboy' was coming to a close.

Corporations and academia joined forces to research ways to make beef animals grow fatter faster and how to keep them healthy long enough to get them to weight.  They discovered that feeding them a diet high in starches and sugars would allow the rancher to make more money because the value of beef animals is pretty much a function of weight.  They also discovered that about the only way to keep an animal alive long enough to reach finish weight was to place the animal on antibiotics.  Now it's important to remember that it's only been 60 years since the advent of the 'feed-lot' and beef fattened quickly on a diet high in grains.

So if you're skeptical because you don't quickly buy into all the 'new' technology and 'new' practices just because someone says it's better for you, then we actually agree.  'Grain-fed' feed-lot beef is NOT an age old time honored tradition.  It is a relatively new practice designed to benefit the rancher.... not you.  It was brought about in part by economics and technology.

Change and progress are not dirty words. Neither is economics and technology. We benefit mightily by improvements made in the production of our food and other daily requirements.  Sometimes we go too far or we take the wrong road.  We think feed-lot grain-fed beef is just such a mistake.

I am glad we are not forced to defend the practice of feeding our animals in crowded conditions and fed food which requires antibiotics to keep them alive just long enough to reach finish weight.  I hope you're glad you have a choice.