Wichita Food Co-op local growers of organic produce and livestock

Growing popularity of natural beef good for animals and humans

Hutchinson News, Editorials
12/27/2008

Beef connoisseurs will argue the relative good taste of feedlot-finished versus grass-fed beef. But for many consumers, the more natural beef production methods are far more pleasant regardless of taste nuances.

Organic and grass-fed beef is growing in popularity. As featured in a story in Thursday's News, nearby producers focus on a different, more traditional method of beef production, including Norm Oeding, who manages the Janzen family farm near Newton, and Reno County rancher Jim French.

Some producers strive to be organic. But the standard for this is high, requiring not only animals that aren't given antibiotics or hormones but feed without pesticides. Some producers simply say they raise cattle on grass.

The latter is the more important distinction. It means that cattle are raised as they used to be - grazing in pasture and not fed corn, antibiotics and hormones in the confines of a feedlot.

Although the gold standard in beef has become the marbled cuts that corn-fed cattle produce, grass-fed beef aficionados claim their beef is not only tastier but healthier. It is leaner and richer in omega-3 fatty acids, which are good for the heart.

For many people, however, an aversion to most supermarket beef develops when they see how it is produced in the feedlot setting. It isn't pleasant. Besides the conditions, raising beef in the feedlot requires using hormones to stimulate growth and antibiotics to ward off the various ailments cows face when fed a grain-intensive diet.

There is an appeal to beef grown in a more humane, natural environment. Knowing how it was produced - and where - is important.

Grass-fed beef can be purchased through mass market channels, but it seems to do especially well in personal relationships between producers and consumers, and in local channels such as farmers' markets and local food outlets.

It is a more traditional agriculture model. And the same formula works for organic and locally grown vegetables and foodstuffs. Oeding also produces bread and flour from his own organic wheat.

Modern, commercial agriculture is best at producing food in quantity, not necessarily what is best for animals or humans.

Natural and organic beef products are growing by more than 30 percent a year, according to the Beef Checkoff.

That is good news and to the credit of trailblazers such as Oeding and French.

On the net

Local outlets for grass-fed beef and other locally produced food are proliferating, and many producers deal directly with consumers. Some Web sites that list such outlets and producers include www.eatwild.com and www.localharvest.org.

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