Grassfed vs. Grainfed: How do they differ?

Modern-Day Meat Production

When we think of meat production, many people picture the cattle they've seen happily grazing out in the pasture, eating just what they were born to eat.  But realistically, the majority of the meat raised in the US is not raised in the blissful pastoral setting we all imagine, and most meat is raised in a confinement operation, fed a diet that optimizes weight gain, operational efficiency, and cost.  The environmental, economic, and ethical differences between pasture-raised vs. feedlot-raised meat are profound, and will be discussed in an ongoing way in these newsletters.

Flavor Profiles

As a backdrop to the ethical questions mentioned above, is the flavor of the product, as flavor is a fundamental driver of how people choose to spend their food dollars.  So what, exactly, is the difference in flavor between grain-fed meat, versus the pasture-raised, grass fed meat we raise at Turning Leaf Ranch?  The video below gives a great primer on how grain-fed beef compares to grass fed beef.  The story is similar for lamb and goat fed concentrates vs. 100% grass/pasture.



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