Quote:
Originally Posted by otnemem
lolsemantics. I will rephrase for you:
The methods by which the overwhelming proportion of cattle are fed grain in the United States is bad for the animal's health as well as our own.
Your whole breakdown there doesn't mean much. Corn is cheap, and it makes cows fat quickly. That's why it's used in feedlots. The cattle industry doesn't care about exploring alternate grain sources, humane treatment, antibiotic-free farming, etc. They just want to make the meat cheaply so they can sell it cheaply, and as long as their profits exceed the judgments they dole out from lawsuits, they couldn't give a ****.
Plus, it all goes back to their natural tendency: to eat grass. Why do we need to waste time trying to figure out what it is about certain amounts of certain grains that make them sick, when you could just let them graze on grass and they'd be much healthier?
i still think you're overgeneralizing. there are many farmers/butchers involved in supplying meat who care deeply about their practices and they persist in areas where consumers care enough. These specialty places can give you beef that may be fed with some grain that is far superior to average grocery products and may fetch a price equal to or greater than grass fed and im not sure you can say objectively one is necessarily healthier for the animal/consumer or better than the other. the natural-way argument doesnt mean much when we may be able to provide a more optimal living, health and meat quality than their instinctual tendency. in general natures past success is a good rule-of-thumb so not a bad idea to not interfere too much.
though even humans have so much debate as to our optimal diet, and i dont think it can be easily settled saying which is best and healthiest and its just as hard for animals. anyways, we're not getting anywhere and i think we agree that the best and healthiest meat comes from suppliers who aim to keep their animals in the best physical health and are meticulously optimizing their processes. there are quality butchers i know of who supply their cattle with organic feed, that the cows are able to discover themselves, rather than be forcefed, that often includes some grains, and its some of the best meat available anywhere and i'd be surprised if it fared much worse in any study comparing to health benefits to strictly grass-fed beef (which doesnt tell us much about whether the feed is totally organic, whether they forage themselves, whether they are constantly moved to new areas [this is big in disease prevention among grass feeding] etc.).