Grassfed vs. Grain/Grassfed that is the discussion.

Does Grassfed make the grade of Prime, my belief is no when you fully understand that Grassfed beef produces a lean cut of beef.  The USDA grades beef by the marbling of the rib as described here.  We are asked all the time is our beef grassfed 100%, the answer is no.  Then our customers get a sigh of relief on their face because they then share their experience with eating 100% grassfed beef from the Maryland geographical area and are very disapointed in flavor and texture.  I share with you for information purposes only how beef is USDA graded and then what makes grassfed beef lean.  You decide for yourself.  If you are looking for a lean steak then grassfed may be your choice but if you are looking for a steak with marbling then you are looking for grainfed beef.  We are a small operation that believes it takes a tremendous amount of land to produce quality grassfed beef and in a geographical area that the cattle can graze year round, not to be just given hay during the winter.  Hay looses it’s quality and is no longer getting nutritional value from the earth.

A USDA meat grader assesses the quality of a beef carcass, he or she makes an incision between the 12^th and 13^th rib, takes a good look at how much marbling there is, and assigns the meat a grade, from the highest, Prime, to Choice and Select and all the way down to Canner. That’s why a well-marbled steak, one that is abundantly flecked with little specks and streaks of white fat, costs a lot more than a steak that’s all red muscle.

Consumers have been led to believe that meat is meat is meat. In other words, no matter what an animal is fed, the nutritional value of its products remains the same. This is not true. An animal’s diet can have a profound influence on the nutrient content of its products.

The difference between grainfed and grassfed animal products is dramatic.

First of all, grassfed products tend to be much lower in total fat than grainfed products. For example, a sirloin steak from a grassfed steer has about one half to one third the amount of fat as a similar cut from a grainfed steer.

In fact, grassfed meat has about the same amount of fat as skinless chicken or wild deer or elk. When meat is this lean, it actually lowers your LDL cholesterol levels.

As you can see there is a difference in grain versus grassfed, it is similar to comparing apples to oranges.  You can’t do it.  I really think it comes down to choice for the customer.  But if you are looking for a steak that grades at Choice yield 3 or above or Prime you will have to go with grainfed.  Research has proven that grassfed is a lean meat (much less marbling).

You can not lump all grainfed cattle into the same category either.  Grainfed in a feed lot is different than a small cattle operation that the cattle are on pasture year round 7 days a week and given grain.  When making the decision to buy local and buy fresh consider the cattle farmer that is raising your beef without penning the animals up and free access to pasture along with being fed grain.

Just food for thought.

Nick’s of Calvert Prince Frederick will start selling our meat in their store as of 11-14-2011.  We are so excited about this opportunity to share with a larger number of people our quality meat.  Our animals are raised without antibiotics or hormones and are free to roam the pastures, we never pen our animals up to fatten them.  We know our animals health from beginning to end.

Nick’s will be hosting an Open House on December 3rd from 1-4pm featuring a fabulous appetizer with our beef for the holiday’s created by Hardesty Haven Catering (the only caterer that we would use or recommend).

Come out and support your local fresh grocery store and enjoy the samples.

1 Leg of goat (about 4 lbs)
3 lb Potatoes (about 5 oz each)
1 Lemon (may be doubled)
Honey
Olive oil
Butter
Rosemary, thyme & oregano

Put the leg of goat into a large roasting pan. Bruise the leaves of 2 or 3 sprigs of rosemary and sprinkle them over the meat. Add plenty of pepper and 1 tablespoon honey. Rub the mixture into the meat with your hands. Then rub half a lemon over the joint, squeezing the juice on to the meat as you do so. Do not add any salt. Leave to marinate for 4 to 24 hours.

Peel and quarter the potatoes, then arrange them in a single layer around the goat. Squeeze lemon juice over the potatoes — use at least half a lemon, or up to one and a half lemons for a strong citrus flavor. Carefully pour 1/4 pint water into a corner of the roasting pan, then sprinkle over the potatoes and goat about 2 tbs. chopped fresh rosemary, at least 1 teaspoon each fresh chopped thyme and oregano, and some salt and pepper. Drizzle on 1-1/2 teaspoons honey and 1 tablespoon olive oil, then dot with 1 oz butter.

Bake at 425 F for an additional 1 to 1-1/4 hours. The ingredients will become gilded and will burnish to a rich brown in places. Lift the meat and turn the potatoes occasionally, and if necessary, add a little boiling water to the pan to prevent drying out.

We provide Natural goat meat, no antibiotics or growth hormones.  Our goats eat the invasive vegetation for nourishment.  Goat meat is sweet in taste and does not have a bad smell in case anyone is wondering.

Here is another perfect example of why we need to take responsibility for what we eat.  Animals eating antibiotics to grow is horrible for the animal and even worse for the humans that eat the meat.

First of all we have become a society that is afraid of a little dirt on your hands so woman everywhere are carrying hand sanitizers in their purse and using it at mass volumes.  But let’s look at the other side of the coin.  If we take care of our body the proper way we won’t get sick as often.  Getting a cold is not a bad thing, it is the bodies job to rid itself of things that are no longer of use.  When you eat fresh whole foods and exercise, your body can support itself.  It is when you add the processed foods, fast foods and foods from sources that you have no idea how they were raised is when your body can get congested and therefore disease can develop.

We do not feed our animals antibiotics nor are they in overcrowded pens with each other.  They are free to roam the pastures, lounge under the trees and chase each other if they like.  Our goats have been put to work at Mellomar Golf Course eating vegetation, they love it.  Their diet consists of all the leaves, floribunda, poison ivy and honeysuckle they can eat.  They are very content and happy and the golfers love watching them from time to time while playing at the golf course.  Happy animals that are stress free are so much better for you to eat.  Demand that your local grocery store be willing to carry fresh local meat from your local farmers.  But then you have to be willing to pay a little more for all the efforts and hard work of that farmer and their family.

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Prosperity Acres was nominated for Calvert County Sustainable Meat Producer of the Year by our customers.  We are so excited about this nomination as it means to us that our efforts to raise healthy and sound animals for consumers to eat is making a difference in our community.

The new award recognizes a local meat producer whose animals are raised, transported and processed humanely as defined by the Southern Maryland Meats program standards.  Products should not be fed animal by-products or given growth implants, and are given antibiotics only when medically necessary.  The products should be sold locally and consumers should have access to clear, consistent and accurate information about how the animal was raised and fed.

From the beginning we decided to raise our animals the way we think all animals should be raised and that is cared for consciously from beginning to end.  It is not a race for us, we are stewards of our animals on a daily basis.  We know their behaviors and habits.  Each of our animals are called by their name.  We are very conscious about where are animals are butchered also.  We want to make sure that our animals are not scared in the end and that the consumer isn’t eating high levels of stress hormones in their meat.

Our animals are never given antibiotics to promote growth, we raise our animals to be healthy and keep them in an environment that promotes healthy living therefore we encounter very few illness on our farm.  We also are very excited about our goats doing what goats do best and that is be browsers.  Having our goats at Mellomar Golf Course www.mellomar.com  has made a big different for the goats as well.  They love their job at the golf course.  We are raising our goats the way nature intended them to be raised so now the meat we produce from the goats is as natural as it can be.

Thank you to our customer’s for nominating us and we look forward to the results of the contest.