01-09-2019, 12:42 PM
Most USA consumers have a tough time eating grass-fed beef that wasn't finished on grain, citing "gamey" flavor, tougher meat, and lack of marbling.
The USDA opted out of defining or certifying what "grass fed" meant in 2016. The original idea that a cow would be pastured it's whole life might work in Hawaii but it works few other places in the USA. The mainland has winters, and grass doesn't grow in the winter. Cows don't forage in the snow, and they have to feed them something. This presented a problem in defining what "grass fed" means. Clover is not a grass, but it's healthy for cows to forage. Corn is a grass, but it can also be a grain. Corn kernels are not a grass, but sprouted corn is considered a grass.
So there is no definition of what a "grass fed" cow even is, other than industry self-certification programs. If the label doesn't specify "grass fed and finished", it was probably fed grain at some point in it's life. And even that doesn't necessarily specify it wasn't fed a massive amount of sprouted grain.
The USDA opted out of defining or certifying what "grass fed" meant in 2016. The original idea that a cow would be pastured it's whole life might work in Hawaii but it works few other places in the USA. The mainland has winters, and grass doesn't grow in the winter. Cows don't forage in the snow, and they have to feed them something. This presented a problem in defining what "grass fed" means. Clover is not a grass, but it's healthy for cows to forage. Corn is a grass, but it can also be a grain. Corn kernels are not a grass, but sprouted corn is considered a grass.
So there is no definition of what a "grass fed" cow even is, other than industry self-certification programs. If the label doesn't specify "grass fed and finished", it was probably fed grain at some point in it's life. And even that doesn't necessarily specify it wasn't fed a massive amount of sprouted grain.