Beef: Introduction
To a cow, grass is the alpha and the omega . . . The cow creation myth would begin, not with light, but with dew on the morning lawn.1
Cow stomachs evolved to digest grass specifically, the grasses available in the vicinity of where the cow trod. Today, the average cow raised for beef”which includes more than 90 percent of U.S. cows is allowed to subsist on grass for only the first nine to 12 months of its life. This is the picturesque image of cows in pastures most Americans have. Once beef cows reach approximately 650 pounds, however, they are taken to a feedlot to be finished. Finished, in a cow's case, means getting packed into pens and fed a high-calorie, cheap grain mixture primarily made of corn, gaining over 400 pounds within three to six months, and then, well finished.2 Additionally, these cows are given large quantities of supplemental growth hormones and antibiotics, the former to further expedite the finishing process and the latter to combat many of the health problems cows are subject to from both the process and the environment in which they live.
This method of raising, fattening, and slaughtering cattle is environmentally unsound, poses significant health risks to both the cows and humans, is inhumane to the cows, is notorious for treating workers poorly, and is economically problematic. The current state of the beef industry is unsustainable. The industry needs an overhaul, particularly as estimates predict that beef production will double by 2050.3
In this section, the environmental, social, and health implications of the beef industry will be addressed. We believe that it is important to discuss beef separate from the discussion of other forms of meat (coming soon to the Cater to the Earth Education pages) because of the outside impact of cattle even in comparison to the rest of the livestock industry.
While we have tried to provide what we see as the most pertinent information about this topic, it is by no means a complete story. We plan to beef up this section (pun intended) in the coming months. Suggestions about what to include? Email us.
Footnotes
1. Andrew Rimas and Evan Fraser. Beef: The Untold Story of How Milk, Meat, and Muscle Shaped the World. New York: Harper Collins, 2008. 9