DS Family Farm
Worried about what you are "really" eating? Have peace of mind with pasture grazed meats.
Prairie Gains – Guest Post
We are really excited about the post below. I recently had the opportunity to meet Daniel and Allyson of Lovegrass Beef. Daniel has a passion for prairies! Enjoy Daniel’s guest post:
Prairie Gains
By Daniel Frank – Lovegrass Beef
With spring finally here, and plants just beginning to green up, it’s time to get geared up for prescribed burning season. March 19th to 27th was the seventh annual Training Exchange (TREX) at the Niobrara Valley Preserve, near Johnstown, Nebraska. This is a chance for people around the United States and beyond to knock the rust off, and get back in the burning game. People come to learn, to teach, to get more experience, and also just to help the Preserve burn the acres they have planned.
Maybe I should start by talking about the benefits of prescribed burning. Controlled burns help suppress unwanted woody plants, such as eastern red cedar. They help reduce excess plant buildup in areas that weren’t grazed or hayed, allowing new growth to catch sunlight and flourish. If timed correctly, prescribed fire can also help suppress exotic species like Kentucky bluegrass and Smooth brome. Prairie ecosystems around the world evolved with the presence of fire, and with responsible prescribed burning we can maintain healthy ecosystems that can support a wide variety of life.
This was my second time attending TREX, and like the first year, I had a blast. I learned from the people around me, and I was able to use the knowledge I’d gained from the first year.
I am a big proponent of prescribed burning. I’ve seen first-hand the benefits of putting controlled fire on the ground. My major goal is to maintain a healthy, native, diverse prairie ecosystem. Fire is not the only major force that acts to shape our grassland ecosystems. There are three main forces that shape prairies: fire, grazing, and drought. We have little control over the moisture we receive year to year, so we can focus our management on the other two forces.
The Great Plains evolved with the presence of bison. They would move around the country grazing grasses and some forbs, being pushed by the weather, the quantity of forages, and the time of year. Though bison are not a dominant presence anymore, cattle are a pretty good substitute. With proper management, they are an excellent tool to manage the land. Without grazing, pastures can become overgrown, and some species can be choked out. When cattle graze some areas more than others, plant species respond and their composition changes. This is how rangeland becomes a mosaic of plant communities.
This brings me to raising cattle on grass. I sell grassfed beef because I believe that ruminant animals which evolved to eat grasses and forbs, should be able to eat that diet exclusively. I am trying to reduce the inputs required to raise market animals. At the same time, the cattle raised on grass are leaner, and are healthier for people to consume. As I already mentioned, grazing is necessary to maintain a healthy prairie. Using cattle as management tools while simultaneously producing a healthy, delicious type of meat is a win-win.
My partner, Allyson Dather, and I started selling grassfed beef under the name Lovegrass Beef in 2015. Sometimes we laugh about how cheesy the name sounds, but it was picked for a couple reasons. Here in the Sandhills we have a lot of Sand Lovegrass (Eragrostis trichodes), and Purple Lovegrass (Eragrostis spectabilis). These are native warm season grasses with showy seedheads, and the presence of Sand Lovegrass can be indicative of good range management. The other reason we picked the name is because since our cattle are grassfed, they sure ought to love grass!
Here at our ranch, we are starting to move our operation to becoming more environmentally aware. We have applied for cost-share programs to plant cropland back to rangeland. Hopefully in a few years we can sell the center-pivot irrigation systems after the native plants have a solid foothold. We will be using these pastures to graze cattle during the summer mostly. I’m hoping to be able to create a burn plan for our ranch, where we can defer grazing of certain pastures, and use fire to hold back any invasive plants. We have a 70 acre burn planned for this spring, where we will be putting fire on our land for the first time in probably 100 years. I’m excited to watch the burn in action, and very excited to see the results.
Thanks Daniel! “Lovegrass Beef”, I laughed also the first time I saw that name, awesome! If you would like to comment or connect with Daniel and Allyson, please visit their Facebook page!
Grass Type Cattle
This month we started a farm email newsletter to keep our customers up to date. Feel free to subscribe by using the form on our Contact page.
Among other items in this past email newsletter we asked the question, can cows live on grass alone?
Most cattle can live on grass alone, but the challenge is to raise healthy cattle that get to a level of “finish” (fat enough) to harvest and provide a quality eating experience. Ultimately it is about YOU, providing YOU our customer, with a healthy product. Many cattle today are no longer able to do this on grass alone.
Over the past 75 years cattle have been bred and managed to consume high starch (corn/grain) diets. If you have not yet read Michael Pollan’s NY Times 2002 POWER STEER article, you really ought to take the time to do so. This is an excellent story/explanation of how conventional beef reaches the supermarket.
In the uphill battle to find grass type cattle to start our herd, here is a review of the path we traveled:
- Pharo Cattle Company
- Hearing Kit speak back in 2002 opened my mind to what we now call DS Family Farm.
- Sign up for Kit Pharo’s newsletter, excellent info!
- Terry Gompert
- Past UN-L Extension agent and HMI instructor.
- Check if any recordings are still available from UN-L in Knox County such as:
- 2007 Ultra High Stock Density Event
- 2009 Holistic Grazing Management
- Stockman Grass Farmer publication
- Excellent resources, CDs, DVDs, Books.
- Grassfed Exchange
- All things GRASSFED.
- Recordings of their past events are a wealth of information.
- Hidden Valley Ranches in the Nebraska Sandhills
- We met Gary and Cathie Morris at the first Grassfed Exchange in 2010.
- In 2011 we brought 10 heifers and a bull from their Ranch to our farm.
- Previously Gary and Cathie had worked with grass cattle guru Gerald Fry.
- In addition we visited and learned from a number of great local farms.
- We are starting to add cows raised on our farm to the breeding herd.
- Animals born and raised on our farm will out perform cattle raised elsewhere.
- Our forages are improving:
- Cattle were a missing part of our farm.
- Cattle cycle nutrients, improving the soil and future grass.
- Improved soil holds more water to grow more grass.
- All with a goal to improve the level of “finish” on our harvested beef!
- Our Ultimate Goal, providing a better product for you our customer.
So yes, it is possible for cows to live on grass alone. Do your research and enjoy the journey!
Gamey Flavor equals Nutrient Density
In our previous post we described how complex pastures create complex flavors in our beef. We discussed a number of other factors that play into the “beefy” flavor of our pasture grazed animals compared to the simple flavor of conventional beef. When people first taste grass-fed beef they usually comment that it tastes “gamey”. Around here I guess they are comparing that taste to deer.
Deer can travel wherever they like and eat whatever they like. They can select the most nutritious food that is available year round. Over the years I have shot a number of deer in this part Nebraska (still waiting for my chance at one like Jacob’s above). During the cleaning of these deer I have noted that deer being opportunistic, will also feed on corn and other grains. Yet, with over 50,000 deer harvested in Nebraska last year alone, I can’t think of a single time when someone said “that deer tasted like corn-fed beef.”
Healthy wild game tastes “gamey” for the same reason grass-fed beef tastes “gamey”. It is the complex foods consumed by these animals that makes the meat flavor complex (and healthy). They are not force fed a simple starch diet like conventional beef, with the sole purpose of getting fat.
The grain consumed by deer would be unlike the grain fed to conventional beef:
- Whole kernel grains, not processed, rolled or roasted
- Grain would be part of a complex diet, not a simple diet designed for getting fat
- Grains would only be consumed seasonally, not for a significant time leading up to harvest
Now consider our beef herd. We do not allow the cattle to run free like the deer (this keeps our neighbors happy). We manage and control the herd movement to insure our cattle will have fresh forages year round. During the non-growing season, “fresh” means a section of pasture that has not been grazed for the previous 4+ months. Unlike deer, our cattle never receive any grain to insure that our beef has the healthy fat profile desired by our customers.
You know what nutrient dense food tastes like. Remember the last time you ate an apple and thought to yourself, WOW that tasted great. It doesn’t happen very often with a store bought apple these days, but maybe it came from a local orchard, and you just knew it was a good apple. That good flavor came from complex nutritious compounds in the fruit. Well, the next time you bite into some grass-fed beef with a noticeable flavor, just remember that flavor came from complex nutritious compounds in the meat. This nutritious beef will satisfy you on a smaller portion size compared to conventional beef and you will feel better after eating it.
If you are finding the more complex flavor of pasture grazed beef is difficult for you or your children to adjust to, try our hot dogs or brats. Consider using stew meat with vegetables or turning that pound of hamburger into meatloaf. Use your imagination and your taste buds will soon adjust to what is naturally known to us as good tasting food, that is good for us.
‘Gamey’ or ‘Beefy’ Flavor?
Folks have commented that they really like how our ground beef fries up in the pan with little “grease”. A friend said, “yeah, love grassfed beef, but still think it tastes a little ‘gamey’.” I asked, “‘Gamey’ or ‘Beefy’ flavor?” After a moment he said, “Ahhh, maybe that IS how beef should taste.” Your taste buds aren’t confused, they probably don’t know any better, let me explain…
If you have spent anytime on our website, you know we refer to our beef as Pasture Grazed rather than grassfed because our cattle consume more than just grass. Take a look at a list of known plants growing in our pasture:
In addition to the flavor from our pasture, in earlier posts we discussed the following factors that play into the flavor/taste of our Pasture Grazed Beef:
- TIME – overall flavor comes with animal maturity.
- Our beef is harvested after 24 months of age.
- The last 60-90 days of feed probably influences flavor the most.
- FATS – Lynne Curry in her book Pure Beef notes:
- “omega-3 level is one of the reasons grassfed beef has a more intense taste than grainfed beef”
- Remember our beef is high in those good Omega 3 Fats!
- Phospholipids fat, the fat we cannot see, stores the flavor.
- The triglyceride fat we can see will be a hard creamy white to a tint of yellowing.
- DRY AGING – Lynne Curry has this to say:
- “It’s all a matter of taste, but many people find dry aging critical to giving the muscles their due time to dry and contract, concentrating the flavors, and letting the calpain enzymes do their tenderizing work.”
- Our beef is allowed to dry age at least 14 days.
- Since our beef is vacuum packed, consider letting it thaw in your fridge for an additional “wet age” period.
- COMPLEX Pastures = primary and secondary plant metabolites
- In this past post we encouraged you to “eat the rainbow” for your health.
- Our cattle can transfer to us the part of the rainbow that we cannot eat first hand.
Now let’s take a look at the feed source for typical conventional beef:
Look at the above feed for the last few months of feedlot beef. Pickup some conventional hamburger at the grocery store. Now look at the above list again, these are the primary ingredients that make up the store-bought hamburger.
- Pickup up any other prepared food product in the grocery store.
- Corn, corn, soybean and more of the same.
- Aren’t you tired of eating corn for three meals a day?
- Consider eating beef with real “beefy” flavor.
- In addition to the simple feeds, feedlot beef are harvested much younger and don’t have the time to acquire “flavor”.
- Dry aging, due to the time and locker space involved, is not practiced for conventional beef. It is “wet aged” in a package waiting for purchase at the store.
- Finally, when you add grain to the diet, the beef rumen bacteria populations switches over to “proteolytic”.
- The good omega 3 fat disappears, along with the conjugated linoleic acid.
- The fat turns from a hard milky white marble to a clear greasy fat.
So enjoy some “beefy” pasture based beef! Just as folks like trying different wineries for the different flavors from each vineyard, we encourage you to try different pasture farm beef! The different makeup of each farms pasture will give a unique flavor to the beef you find there.
Comparing Our Pasture Grazed Beef to Grassfed
In the past three posts we took a close look at our Pasture Grazed beef when compared to typical beef. Thanks to the folks at Mother Earth News, we can see how our beef compares with other grassfed beef from around the country. We were fortunate enough to have DS Family Farm beef included in the recent Mother Earth News pilot Omega 6 to Omega 3 test study with other grassfed beef farms from around the USA. It is an honor to be included with the list of grass based farms that participated. From looking at the list of participating farms I am guessing many of these farms raise grassfed beef similar to our farm.
To clarify, when people ask me about our “Pasture Grazed” beef, my first point is “yes, we are 100% grassfed”. So what is the difference? Basically “grassfed” just involves what feed the animal consumes. In that sense, yes, we are 100% grassfed. When we say “Pasture Grazed” we mean that our herd spends their entire life on our pasture, never confined to a feed lot. For more information please refer to our blog post “Pasture Grazed vs Grassfed Beef“.
Our Pasture Grazed beef compared with the Grassfed beef – Omega 6 to 3 Study
Here is the Data Analysis Summary for beef from the Mother Earth News, 1/11/2016, pilot study.
In the table below I take the pilot grassfed beef values from the table above and compare them against our Pasture Grazed beef findings:
A few points about the above chart:
- We are humbled that our beef expresses 60% higher anti-inflammatory Omega-3s (above average).
- We recognize also that our beef has 24% higher of the inflammatory Omega-6s (above average).
- It is the Omega-6 LA that holds conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), the anti-cancer fatty acid.
- LA was the primary Omega-6 component of our sample.
- Since our animals live their entire lives on grass, we estimate ~75% of our Omega-6 LA is CLA.
- Potentially our sample was above average for CLA, but that is only a guess based on research data.
- Please see our prior post for how we estimated CLA.
- Again we are humbled that our beef expresses a better Omega-6 to Omega-3 ratio (above average).
Summary of the Laboratory Analysis of Our Pasture Grazed Beef
This is the third and final post discussing our beef compared to “typical” beef. If nothing else, I have learned a great deal about the role of fat in my diet as I complete this summary of the laboratory analysis of our Pasture Grazed Beef. When I asked Midwest Labs to analyze our beef, I specifically requested a report of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), see our “Power Fat” blog post from April 2014 on this all important fat component. Unfortunately they were unable to analyze CLA specifically. So what is CLA and what can we tell from the data we have?
Estimating CLA
Conjugated linoleic acid is a form of rearranged omega-6 linoleic acid (LA). The rearranged LA (CLA) appears to be anti-cancer where as our earlier post pointed out omega-6 fatty acids, like LA, are inflammatory. So the more LA converted to CLA the better! This conversion is more dramatic for animals that spend a larger part of their life on green forages. For a run down of CLA and grassfed meats, refer to the CLA page at EatWild.com and this CLA document at BeefResearch.org.
So what can we deduct from the laboratory data we have for our Pasture Grazed Beef sample vs. the two “typical” beef samples for CLA?
- The Beef Research document notes “the total CLA content of beef varies from 0.17 to 1.35% of fat”.
- Remember, we are comparing 3 lean beef samples with comparable levels of total fat (nutrition label).
- We have established our beef matches grassfed characteristics and the typical beef matches grain fed.
- The Eat Wild information notes that grassfed beef will have 3 to 5 times more CLA than grain fed.
- For our estimates we will use 1.25% CLA in our grassfed fat and (1.25/3=0.42) 0.42% CLA in typical beef fat.
- This will put our beef just below the high range for CLA content and only 3 times more than the typical beef.
- Using our four ounce serving size nutrition label.
- DS Family Farm Beef = 9.5 grams fat * 0.0125 = estimated CLA of 0.13 grams.
- CNF 6068 Typical Beef = 8.4 grams fat * 0.0042 = estimated CLA of 0.04 grams.
- USDA 23271 Typical Beef = 9.5 grams fat * 0.0042 = estimated CLA of 0.04 grams.
Another note of interest is that CLA is fairly stable under most cooking and storage conditions. All of the facts and figures presented in these three posts have been on raw meat analysis. I’ll keep “what happens during cooking” for a future blog post. From what I hear, during cooking we loose more Omega 3 than Omega 6 which will raise the final Omega 6 to 3 ratio.
Is There Really A Difference Between Grassfed and “Typical” Beef?
I think we can say, “Yes” there is a difference. From the laboratory, to the field, to the animal and to the taste, many folks will tell you, yes, there is a difference.
The question becomes, “Is the difference enough to make a difference?”
If you are interested in grassfed meat for your health, here is a 2010 study where eating grassfed meats (beef and lamb) increased the study groups blood omega 3 values. (Cambridge Press link). Note in this study there was not much CLA difference in any of the beef, but the lamb was off the charts (higher) for CLA!
If you ask for my opinion, I would have to say “I don’t know” if the difference is enough to make a difference. There appears to be some good indicators that grassfed meat does have health benefits but as my “Health Nut Highway” friend would tell me, we are all “biochemically different”. If grassfed meat makes you feel better, than yes it does make a difference!
Looking to improve your health:
- Eat whole foods, locally produced and minimally processed.
- Reduce sugars, starches, vegetable oils, stress and toxic relationships.
- Increase your intake of animal protein and fats!
- 100% Grassfed preferable (I am biased).
- But any animal that has access to grass for a significant part of their lifespan should be just fine.
The old adage applies, “if you don’t measure it you can’t manage it”. These results show that our management is headed in the right direction. Our beef definitely fits the “healthy profile” as promoted by the grassfed beef industry. We will leave you with a graphic of our beef nutrition label. Note this graphic depicts an eight ounce ribeye steak (four ounce sounds kind of small to me).
A summary of all three “Fatty Acid Analysis” posts PDF.
Grassfed beef – fat analysis – omega 6 to 3 ratio
The previous blog post was a little heavy on charts (PDF with all charts) from the laboratory analysis of one of our pasture grazed ribeye steaks. In this post I continue the comparison of our grassfed beef to two “typical” beef samples. First of all let’s summarize some of the discussion and charts from the earlier post, then we will address polyunsaturated fats:
Saturated Fatty Acids (SFA)
In Chart 1 (previous post), our grassfed beef sample had higher SFA (~60% of fat) when compared to typical beef (~40% SFA). When we looked specifically at the break down of SFAs in Chart 2:
- Grassfed beef had a higher percentage of palmitic acid, used in the complex process of cell communication.
- Grassfed beef had a lower percentage of stearic acid, in our body this is converted to oleic acid, see below.
- Saturated fat is the preferred energy source of the heart.
- You probably knew our liver protects us from toxins but did you know saturated fat protects our livers!
- Since the early 1900s the food supply has not changed much in available SFAs, 50 gm/day vs. 56 gm/day (2004). +
- If fats are causing health changes in our population, SFA must not be the source of change.
- Finally as the Ohio State study points out, eating carbohydrates raise saturated fat levels in the blood but eating good portions of saturated fats does not raise SFAs in the blood (carbs are the problem, not fat).
Monounsaturated Fatty Acids (MUFA)
- Our grassfed beef sample had lower MUFA (~35% of fat) when compared to typical beef (~50% MUFA) (Chart 1).
- The primary MUFA for both grassfed and typical beef is oleic acid or olive oil (Chart 3).
- MUFA has been found to be the main fat in fatty tissue.
- Palmitoleic acid is the next MUFA found and is lowest in our grassfed beef vs. typical beef. Palmitoleic is the fatty acid the OSU study considers the most problematic when looking at human blood levels.
- Early 1900’s, Americans obtained 42% of their MUFA from fats/oils and 40% from meat/poultry/fish. +
- In 2004 Americans obtained 63% of their MUFA from fats/oils and only 22% from meat/poultry/fish. +
- The American food supply has increased in the use of vegetable oil MUFA by two-thirds while decreasing MUFA from meat by one-half.
- Overall MUFA in early 1900s = 47 gm/day in the food supply vs 79 gm/day in 2004 (+), an overall increase of MUFA by 60%!
- Appears like we have too much MUFA in our food these days, especially from vegetable oils.
- If fat is causing health changes in our population it may be due to over consuming MUFA.
Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFA) – Grassfeds Claim To Fame
- Our grassfed sample had the same Total PUFA when compared to typical beef (4%) (Chart 1), but looking at Chart 4 above, you will immediately note a difference in the PUFA makeup.
- The omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids are both important in small amounts and the correct ratio!
- These “fatty acids are also precursors of eicosanoids (prostaglandins, thromboxanes, and leukotrienes), which are hormone-like compounds that regulate blood pressure, heart rate, vascular dilation, blood clotting, lipolysis, and immune response”. ++
- Omega 6s are for inflammation, such as blood clotting during an injury.
- Omega 3s are for anti-inflammatory functions during healing.
- Polyunsaturated fatty acids are essential because unlike SFA and MUFA, our bodies cannot make these, we must consume PUFA in the food we eat.
- Since we must consume these, it is a good thing we need just tiny amounts: “the requirement for essential fatty acids is infinitesimal under most conditions and can be easily met by eating a diet that includes traditional whole animal foods without necessarily adding any specific fats or oils.”++
- A current concern of PUFAs is omega 6 intake. With the reduced consumption of animal fats and eggs over the past few decades and an increase in vegetable oil consumption (corn and soy), the average American has too much omega 6 compared to omega 3s. Our bodies are constantly in a state of inflammation (Times Magazine 2004 “Fires Within” highlighted this issue).
- In 1995-2000 data, the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids in the food supply = 9.7:1. +++
- “This is much higher than the recommended ratio of 2.3:1.” +++
- Here is why grassfed meats have a claim to fame, note our steak with an omega 6 to 3 ratio of 2.0:1 matches the recommended ratio.
- Both typical beef samples have an omega 6 to 3 ratio that exceeds the U.S. food supply as a whole (12:1 and 17:1).
- Another possible problem with PUFAs is just plain over consumption resulting in oxidative stress.
- “PUFAs are uniquely vulnerable to oxidation because they are the only fatty acids with two or more double bonds, and it is the carbon that lies directly between two double bonds that is vulnerable to oxidation”. ++
- “The consumption of excess PUFAs increases oxidative stress”. ++
- Early 1900s = 13 gm/day in the food supply of PUFA vs 37 gm/day in 2004 (+), an overall increase of 35%.
- Do you think we are currently overconsuming PUFAs?
- Maybe too much of a good thing?
- Remember our need for PUFAs is “infinitesimal under most conditions”.
Summary and Lead In To Our Next Post
I apologize for referring back to the charts from the previous post (as one PDF document) and multiple references to numbers through percentages etc. If this is something you are really interested in, then I have tried to give some data and sources that can help you along your way. If you are like my wife Sheila, this maybe a little more info than you are looking for.
Here are some things for you to consider up to this point:
- Saturated Fats from meat/eggs/poultry is not the problem it has been portrayed to be and has not increased over the past century in our food supply.
- High Carb diets (low fat diet) causes increased saturated fat in the blood stream (OSU Study).
- Reducing meat consumption and increasing vegetable oils use in the U.S. has led to:
- Overall increased consumption of MUFAs.
- This fat is hard for us to burn.
- Overall increased consumption of PUFAs.
- Vegetable oils are high in omega 6s and has thrown our ratio of omega 6 to 3 far above the recommended levels (possibly causing a continuous state of low grade inflammation in our bodies).
- PUFAs are very important but at very small quantiles, over consumption can cause oxidative stress.
- Overall increased consumption of MUFAs.
Our next post will be a Fat Finale and we will look at:
- The all-important Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA).
- Give a final overview of what you get with one of our grassfed steaks.
- Give you some final food for thought on grassfed vs. typical beef.
- Hiza, H.A.B., & Bente, L. (2007). Nutrient Content of the U.S. Food Supply, 1909-2004: A Summary Report. (Home Economics Research Report No. 57). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion.
++ Precious Yet Perilous – Weston A Price Foundation website, 2010 article.
+++ Gerrior, S., Bente, L., & Hiza, H. (2004). Nutrient Content of the U.S. Food Supply, 1909-2000. (Home Economics Research Report No. 56). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion.
Grassfed vs Conventional Beef – Voodoo or The Difference is Real?
I recently visited with a friend who shed some weight over the past year, when I asked how he lost the weight, he replied “improved my diet”. He obviously “gets it”, notice he didn’t say he was on some kind of “diet” he just changed to a “healthy diet”. One specific diet change he mentioned was that he was eating grassfed beef rather than conventional beef. We discussed the “known” benefits of grassfed and then he pointed out that his son, who raises conventional beef, refers to grassfed as “Voodoo Beef”!
With our first Pasture Grazed, 100% grassfed beef in the freezer, it was time to find out for ourselves, is there really a difference between a pasture grazed beef compared to typical (corn-fed) beef?
We sent in a rib steak (ribeye after removing the bone) from a 2015 harvested steer to Midwest Laboratories in Omaha Nebraska for analysis. With the results in hand I searched out some “typical” beef analysis to compare our pasture grazed beef with. It didn’t take long and I had two similar† “reference” samples from the USDA and Canada nutrient databases. Below we compare a DS Family Farm Pasture Grazed steak to some “typical beef” steaks – Canada record 6068 and USDA record 23271.
Let’s Talk FAT!
- Trans Fat? Yes there is natural Trans Fat in beef, not the added hydrogenated vegetable oils (bad stuff).
- Looking at the above three samples, I believe the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rules would allow all steaks to be labeled as ZERO TRANS FAT since they are all 0.5 or less. So when you check any food product label, if it says ZERO TRANS FAT, it may actually not be “zero”.
- Always avoid food items with any ingredient listed as “partially hydrogenated“.
Warning – pie charts below!
- Chart 1 – ALL FATS – do not fear good grassfed fat!
- I was once brain washed with the “fat is bad for you” message. I believe more folks are understanding it is High Carbohydrate Diets (Low Fat diets) that can be linked to heart disease and diabetes. This study at Ohio State University points out:
- Increasing levels of carbs in diet during the study promoted a steady increase in blood fatty acids.
- Carbs are being converted to fat instead of being burned as fuel.
- Reducing carbs and adding (good/portions) fats ensures the body will promptly burn saturated fat as fuel. (This will take a resetting period for your body to switch between using carbs vs. fat for energy).
- Please watch the OSU video that points out your brain is 60% fat! Eat fat to fuel your brain!
- Chart 1 displays a noticeable difference between SFA – Saturated Fatty Acids versus MUFA – Monounsaturated Fatty Acids in grassfed vs. conventional, we will look at these individually below.
- Chart 2 – SATURATED FATTY ACIDS (SFA)
- Note in Chart 1 = 60% of the fat from our pasture grazed beef is SFA vs. around 50% of typical beef is SFA.
- Chart 2 = two main SFA, Palmitic (tropical oil) and Stearic is better balanced (?) in our beef versus typical beef.
- Tropical (palmitic) oils are gaining favor with nutrition folks, get yours from our Midwest 100% grassfed beef!
- Chart 3 – MONOUNSATURATED FATTY ACIDS (MUFA)
- Note in Chart 1 = 35% of the fat from our pasture grazed beef is MUFA vs. around 50% of typical beef is MUFA.
- Chart 3 = primary MUFA is oleic acid, also known as Olive Oil.
- Grassfed has a higher percentage of the SFA Palmitic (good fat, chart 2) but a lower Palmitoleic MUFA (bad fat, chart 3).
- According to the OSU study, in humans, “Palmitoleic acid, a fatty acid associated with unhealthy metabolism of carbohydrates that can promote disease”. Could this apply to cattle also?
- Chart 4 – POLYUNSATURATED FATTY ACIDS (PUFA)
- Note in Chart 1 = 4% of the fat from all three sample is PUFA.
- The Holy Grail of Fatty Acids
- The Essential Fatty Acids
- Notice a difference? Hint – a balance of green & yellow is recommended.
Stay tuned we will dive in to the PUFAs in our next post!
† I selected these reference samples because they were of the same part of the beef. We sent in a Rib Steak which is a Ribeye with a rib bone still attached. The bone was removed, so our sample was a ribeye when analyzed. I consider our beef lean so the selected reference samples used were identified as “lean”. We are still building our soils and forages and striving for higher fat (marbling) percentages in our beef.
Note, I am not an expert on fats nor statistical analysis. Feel free to dive into the Government data and check my calculations for the two samples listed above. If you find any discrepancies, please email me: doug@dsfamilyfarm.com. If you have comments please share them on our Facebook Page.
Omnivores Relax With Real Food
Omnivores, relax with real food! This was the take home message we found in last evenings PBS documentary “IN DEFENSE OF FOOD”, featuring well known food journalist Michael Pollan.
We thought the documentary was well done and echo the main point of the film, when it comes to eating, just relax and eat food, that is – real food. The stuff you find in the middle of the grocery store is what Pollan calls “edible food like substances”. Focus on the “edges” during your grocery store visits to find real food. Refer to our blog post on this topic from January 2014 “How to shop for a healthy diet”.
Other points from “IN DEFENSE OF FOOD“:
- Eat Traditional Foods, these are time tested (2013 blog post)
- Watch your portion size
- If you don’t know your current daily food intake levels, I encourage you to find out. I was surprised to learn what my daily calorie intake was compared to what was suggested for my height and weight (June 2015 blog post).
- (2021 Update) With updated information and a switch in diet to higher Protein intake, portion sizes are no longer an issue.
- East mostly plants (Eat the rainbow blog post)
- (2021 Updated) Though we were happy at the time of this documentary, that “Real Food” was being promoted, we generally don’t agree with the point to eat “mostly plants”. Especially based on more recent information. Per the bullet below, for most of us, pasture grazed animals as a source of nutrient dense protein and fats are the key to human health. Granted, we are all biochemically unique.
- The documentary points out the health benefits of meat from pasture grazed animals
- You have heard, you are what you eat!
- “We are what what we eat eats too.” Michael Pollan.
- In other words, we can’t eat the nutritional diversity of a prairie… but we can eat something that is capable of eating the nutrition of a prairie!
- A bite of our pasture raised and grazed beef allows us to eat the prairie.
- “We are what what we eat eats too.” Michael Pollan.
I basically started on the above described Omnivores path several years ago. I took it to the next level by incorporating the portion size advise (including fasting) this past year (described in June 2015). Six months later I am happy to report my weight and health has been maintained.
As you look forward to the new year are you considering another “Diet Resolution”? If you find yourself stuck somewhere trying to get on what our friend Danna calls the “Health-Nut Highway”, we urge you to watch this documentary.
Remember, “We are all on a diet. Be on a healthy one.” Dr. Mercola
Head ’em up, Move ’em on – RAWHIDE
Head ’em up, Move ’em on – RAWHIDE! I have to admit this brings back memories of the Blues Brothers more than it does of Clint Eastwood (Rowdy Yates). To be clear, we are not much for Head ’em up around here. No whips, yelling or any other commotion near our herd. Low stress = high quality beef. (music provided at end of post)
Move ’em ON!
Fresh grass – MOVE – fresh grass – MOVE, is the name of the game at DS Family Farm. The way nature made the prairies is the method we use to restore and improve our pastures. Cows have legs and we believe they aren’t made for standing in lots. So what does Move ’em on look like? Here is a recent example:
In the above photo we start with the herd on November 26th near a water tank. Temporary wire fences are put up moving away from the tank. This photo on November 30th, shows the first 4 paddocks have been grazed, cattle have moved into the 5th paddock (most of the cows are just over the hill out of view). ATV tracks are visible along the future paddock lines, smashed down grass so we can install the fences. Small square bales are also visible in future paddocks. This is our non-growing season and we are supplementing the stockpiled grass with hay. If these moves were during the growing season we would prevent the herd from grazing previous paddocks after the third move (it takes grass about 3 days to start re-growing after being bitten off and we don’t want cows biting off new grass).
Sounds like work?
Paddock setup does take some time but in a few hours we are done with 3 days of moves. Here’s how automatic Batt Latch gate openers and electric poly wire technology allows the cows to do most of the work:
In the example shown above the cows have just moved into the 11/30 paddock (as you can see they are busy working). On November 30th we will setup two Batt Latch gate openers on the next two fence lines and a third fence line will stop the cattle from proceeding any further. We don’t need to show up to work again until December 3rd!
Cows doing the work they love
Don’t get us wrong, we love working with the cows, but this technology gives us flexibility in our schedule. This setup allows us to do a quick drive by to see if the cows have moved. Fresh grass and move, fresh grass and move, this is the key to soil health, grassland health, cattle health and ultimately your health.
We hope you have enjoyed this post and we invite you to stop by sometime to see our herd in MOTION. Always pasture grazed, never in lots for your health and ours. We leave you with some Move ’em on entertainment:
