All young beef cattle are grass fed. Most, however, end their days crammed into vast feedlots gorging on an unnatural diet of corn. A fortunate few remain out on pasture fattening up slowly, the way cows were designed to.
But until last week, the United States Department of Agriculture drew no official distinction between the two groups. Unlike the term "organic," which can only be applied to agricultural products produced according to USDA standards, any meat could be called "grass fed."
Now the agency is tightening up—a little bit. It has unveiled a marketing standard or grass-fed beef that will take effect November 15. In part, the document states "Diet shall be derived solely from forage and animals cannot be fed grain or grain by-products and must have continuous access to pasture during the growing season."
Sounds good, but the American Grassfed Association, a trade group representing farmers who raise their animals on pasture, was quick to condemn (read the .pdf here) the standard as too weak. It cited the following flaws:
- Participation is voluntary, hence the term grass fed can still appear on any hunk of beef.
- Artificial hormones can still be used.
- Antibiotics can still be administered to promote rapid growth.
So it appears that the USDA still has a long way to go. At best this was a very small step. At least it was in the right direction.
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