Grass-fed beef is becoming a more recognizable term when shopping for meat. But there’s some confusion between the definitions grass-fed and grass-finished. if grass-fed describes beef from cattle that ate grass, what does the term “grass-finished” mean? Don’t they both mean the same thing? Not quite.
Simply put, grass-finished beef comes from cattle that ate nothing but grass and forage for their entire lives. Grass-fed, on the other hand, may be used to label meat from cattle that were started on a grass diet but eventually converted to a grain-based one during the last few months of their lives to help them quickly gain weight before going to slaughter. Some farmers will put grains in their paddocks to supplement the grass.
Cattle are not required to have a full grass-fed diet in order to get the grass-fed label on your beef’s packaging. All of Verde Farms’ beef is derived from grass-finished cattle. There are several reasons why we want all of our beef products to be from grass-finished livestock. Grass-finished beef is 20% lower in calories than grain-finished beef and has higher levels of Omega-3 fatty acids, CLA's (Conjugated Linoleic Acid — an essential fatty acid that fights cancer and inhibits body fat), and Vitamins A and E. It is also healthier for the environment and the animals, since grass-finished cattle are not subjected to life in a feedlot which results in a waste management problem.
So if consuming grass-finished beef is important to you, it’s good to know the distinction between these two terms when shopping for it. Grass-finished beef may be marketed as grass-fed beef, but not vice versa.
You can recognize grass-finished meat when you look at its intramuscular fat. When the fat has a yellowish tinge, this is a good sign that the animal has been entirely grass-finished. When you choose to eat cattle that have been grass-fed in its entirety, you’re getting all the nutritional benefits of premium beef. It tastes great– and is good for you!
I'm sorry, but your definitions are incorrect. According to USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, the agency that approves label claims, in order to carry a grassfed or 100% grassfed label, the animals must have been fed nothing but grass/forage from weaning to harvest. If they've ever been fed grain, that percentage amount must appear on the label. In other words, 50 percent grassfed, 50 percent grain fed. Grass finished, on the other hand, has no legal definition and can mean whatever the person putting the label on the package wants it to mean. There's no reason to look for grass finished on the table, because it's essentially meaningless. You want grassfed or 100 percent grassfed.
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