The Illusion of Grass-Fed Beef
Grass-fed beef is the biggest scam on the planet. It’s a complete lie. What I’m going to share with you is going to piss you off. Less than 1% of beef sold in the US is truly grass-fed. This whole idea of grass-fed is just filled with loopholes all over the place. In 2016, the USDA dropped the official definition of grass-fed. All of the cows are grass-fed. It’s the last 3 to 6 months where they’re fed other things like grains and some other ingredients that I had no idea.
The Deception of Labels
Over 99% of all the beef that people are buying is not fully grass-fed, despite what it says on the label. There is a tremendous amount of beef sold to America from other countries. And with a little bit of processing, like packaging the beef, it now becomes a product of the US. In other words, this country of origin labeling rule was repealed, which means revoked for both beef and pork.
The Troubling Truth Behind Beef Production
Here’s just another example of a lack of transparency where, you know, well, at least if it’s from America, it’s probably healthier when it’s actually not even coming from America. And by the way, as a side note, did you know that when you eat a burger from a fast-food place, the number of cows that that hamburger comes from literally can be over a hundred different sources because they have this entire processing plant where they’re getting meat from all over the place.
The Disturbing Diet of Cows
What people need to realize is what we’re talking about is a cow that’s very sedentary, that is fatty, and the reason why it’s tender is because it has barely any collagen. Without collagen, it’s very tender. People like marbled meat that’s tender. But what they don’t want to know about is how that animal is raised. Because what I’m going to tell you now is literally going to make you fall off your chair.
From Ethanol Waste to Cattle Feed
It’s what these animals actually eat. You might think, “Wow, grains. Well, it’s probably a bucket of whole grains, pretty healthy.” No, they actually feed these animals in the feedlot something called DDGS, and that stands for dried distillers grain with solubles, aka the waste product from making ethanol. They take dent corn, which is field corn. It’s inedible. You can’t eat it.
The Economics of Exploitation
What are they going to do with this GMO waste product filled with glyphosate? It’s basically the toxic byproduct from making ethanol. What I found out is because of the subsidies taxpayers contribute to this, the cost for one metric ton of this waste material that is fed to the animals is roughly $150. Now, do you see why they can make so much profit on this? Because what they’re trying to do is put on about 600 lb of extra weight on that cow. And the only way they can do it is with something so cheap. $150 per metric ton. Crazy.
The Secret Additives
So that’s the base. And then they add a little fiber. They add limestone, some synthetic vitamins and minerals. And then they add something else called monensin. It’s an antibiotic. Antibiotics are used on a regular basis in feedlots in the US. The reason why they use these antibiotics is that it increases weight gain. Even your grass-fed beef has been given antibiotics unless it says on the label, no antibiotics. But that’s not all. They also add in the US something called beta agonist.
The Unseen Consequences
This is a medication that enhances muscle growth to increase another 30 lbs of muscle, and it’s something that mimics adrenaline. Some studies show that that can actually increase anxiety in humans if you consume that food. So, there’s two types of feedlots. You have one that’s closed like indoor, and they have another one that’s open. Let’s talk about the one that’s closed first. That animal, which is 1,500 lbs, only gets a space that is 24 square feet.
A Life of Confinement
If I were to ask you how much that is, you might have to measure it out. But let me just tell you, a parking space that you drive your car into is 128 square ft. So, let’s compare that. 20 to 24 ft to 128 square ft. So, basically, it’s 1/6th of a parking place, not a parking lot, a parking space. So basically, you can fit six cows into one parking space. That’s what they live in for 3 to 6 months.
The Reality of Open Feedlots
They have to make them sedentary and add all this cheap food to gain massive weight. So that way, you can make the meat marbled and have it very tender, aka a very sick animal. That’s what you’re eating. Now the open space in the feedlot doesn’t get that much more space. They get roughly about 150 square feet, which is about the same size is a little bit more than that parking space that I just talked about, but again, not much space.
The Path to Authentic Grass-Fed Beef
So, how do you find truly grass-fed beef? You need to look for this 100% grass-fed. Because if it just says grass-fed, it doesn’t mean anything. I highly recommend you spend a little bit more for this higher quality of meat because that way you support the small farmer that seems to be squeezed out of this marketplace. Thanks for watching and I will see you in the next video.
