Burning question: Grass-fed beef

Lately I've been seeing grass-fed beef on restaurant menus and at the meat counter. What is it?

I was asked this question at a recent speaking engagement at the Bryant Library in Roslyn. All beef starts out being grass fed; that's what cows are eating when you see them grazing. But most beef cattle (as opposed to dairy cattle) spend the last few months of their lives in feedlots where they are fed grain. Grain (usually corn or soybeans) makes them grow fatter, quicker. In fact, a diet of grass just cannot produce the kind of fat cattle that Americans prize. The beef that commands the highest price, "prime," has lots of fat not only surrounding the muscles, but marbled throughout it.

But feeding cattle grain has a number of disadvantages. Growing grain for animal feed uses a great deal of natural resources -- fertilizers and pesticides, fuel for transportation -- whereas grass is easy and cheap to maintain. And since it is not the grass diet they are designed to eat, grain can cause digestive ailments in cattle that can render the animal too sick to eat, or in need of antibiotic treatment. Finally, many feedlots do a poor job when it comes to the humane treatment of animals.

All of these factors have resulted in a movement toward grass-fed beef. Look closely at labels, however. You want to look for beef that only has been grass fed. Often, this beef is identified as "grass finished."