Quality of Meat: Grass-fed vs Corn-fed Beef
Grass-fed Beef
As it says in the title Grass-fed beef is cattle that have been raised on and solely fed grass. The reason most food companies choose to use this is due to the price tag. It is more expensive. Grass fed beef is the more sustainable option for farmers as it does not require importing of foreign corn; but it is more expensive as the cows live more organic, longer lives.
Nutrition - Grass-fed beef contains a higher amount of key nutrients. These include vitamins and antioxidants as well as double the amount of omega-3 fatty acids as in standard corn fed beef.
Flavour - The leaner grass-fed beef has a meatier taste. This is due to the fact that it has less intramuscular fat, as well as grass fed beef being a lot ‘cleaner’ than corn-fed beef with less excess unhealthy fats running throughout the cuts of meat. Why not cook both and see if you can taste the difference?
Corn-fed Beef
Most farmers choose to feed their cattle grains or corn. This is because grains and corn are higher in calories and fat than grass. This quickly bulks up the cows - problem is; this increases the fat to muscle ratio in a negative way.
Nutrition: When cows are fed a majority corn diet, they may suffer from a number of health problems including obesity, bloating, inflammation, ulcers, polio and paralysis. These health problems can lead to meat that is much lower in nutritional value. Do you know the true quality of the meat from the cow you’re eating, if it was fed a corn diet?
By switching the cows to this diet it adds a lot of flavour to the steak; but it comes at a cost - feeding cattle this way is equivalent to feeding cows junk food. Just like humans need to eat their greens, so do cows! Cows being fed junk food can usually result in the cows becoming sick - therefore needing to give them antibiotics to recover. Did you know that your steak has antibiotics in it?
Flavour - Most people are big fans of the sweet flavour and tender texture of corn fed beef. It is also much easier to get hold of and accessible as every major supermarket supplies corn-fed beef products. Watch out for excess fats that may come out of any beef in your pan!
When it comes to meat - quality matters. Free- range or factory farmed? Grass fed or corn fed. Organic or processed - the list goes on.
One of the key pillars of Benno Box is that quality of meat matters! We only use high grade meat that is grass-fed and promise to always stick by this.
Book a meal plan now at www.BennoBox.co.uk