Grass Fed Beef for Lazy City Dweller

So I have been spending a lot of time looking for good beef products that are grass fed and pasture finished. I have searched a lot on this new interwebs and frankly I am highly disapointed. It turns out that unless you want to buy a 1/2 side, which for those of you who don't know it's a whole 1/4 cow, you are looking at almost no options. Frankly, I don't fancy the idea of freezing a quarter cow, even if it is butchered for me. I am not even sure my freezer can fit all that beef to be honest with you. As a sort of gage, a cow AFTER slaughter is 600lbs on average. So 150lbs of beef... it's like the costco trip from hell.

Now don't get me wrong, I like buyign in bulk, hell I like going to costco. Turns out they have good organic chicken and from the research I have done, it's pretty legit. That said, I could fathom going through 150lbs of chicken with a great deal more ease than 150lbs of cow.

So this means that for me the local options are pretty much bunk, at least for the times of the year when the Redmond farmers market is closed. I had to find another option and things weren't looking good.

Then one day I stumble into PCC and while looking for lamb find grass fed beef. Here comes that Jaded interior monologue "Ok, so what. Whole foods CLAIMS to have grass fed too, but they finish it on potatoes and corn" which to me is wrong on both a humane and a nutritional level.

Here's why; in the humane aspect they are still basically torturing the thing. The cow doesn't wanna be in a pen eating corn, no matter how organic, it's not meant for that. Let the cow eat grass and pasture feed till the end. Plus you already invested in keeping it on the land for the whole year before you finished it, why not just ride it out? I don't get it. It's lame.

As far as nutrition is concerned, you have pretty much destroyed the whole benefit of growing it on grass! The Omega 6s once again outweigh the Omega 3s in that unhealthy balance that we consier "heart attack worthy". It's actually been shown that grass fed beef can have more Omega 3s than Salmon... why the hell would you destroy that in the last 3 months of life, I just don't get it. Not to mention all the junk you have to feed it so it will not get sick off of that feed! AND frankly for me, it's outright deceptive! The consumer purchases this beef wanting to do right by themselves and the animal; in finishing the beef and then labeling it as grass fed you are lieing to the consumer. PERIOD.

Ok so back to the PCC beef. So I see this package of grass fed beef and think what the hell. I ask a few questions and decide, after they say it's pasture finished and "local" to give it a go. I buy the ground beef as here is where the real flavor of the fat is most easily seen and cook it up.

I will say it tasted like grass fed beef. For those of your that have never had it imagine a cow and a salmon have a very delicious baby and that's kind of as close as I can get. It just tastes a lot better and so I started doing some research. Turns out, it is grass fed and finished. How do I know, well their websites says so and after talking with the good people at the PCC, their main meat guy, and the folks at Eel River Farms I have been assured it is. Short of stopping by to check it out I must say I am convinced.

Here it is what their website says about it:

"Unlike conventional cattle and many organic cattle, our cattle remain on certified organic pastures their entire life, never being placed in feedlots for finishing, before they are harvested. By setting these high grass-fed standards, we can assure you that you the consumer are receiving the highest quality, healthiest grass-fed product available. Our cattle never leave the sub-irrigated clover and rye grass pastures they are accustomed to. Also, these pastures allow us to finish a high quality grass finished product that is a pleasure to eat and healthy all at the same time."

I got this from their website, here.

So, I have finally found and researched a beef product I would like to eat and serve to loved ones. I have also been told that it is the nearest large provider of meat. The smaller ones in the area that only sell by the whole cow are way to small to stock a PCC shelf.

Then I went and looked at the other grocery stores. No such luck. I felt a bit upset. I mean, really PCC does have a sort of hippie/hipster following and in my opinion they usually skirt the line between grocery store and health food store. So in my jaded internal voice I say "well of course PCC has it, but I can't even buy a diet coke there, what "normal" person would shop there. How is this really any better for us as a nation. I mean, PCC is catering to people who already eat well and look after themselves. Yeah it's great that they have this product and yes I do buy it there and am greatful for it. But in the end as far as our general population, PCC is the logical place.

So imagine my delight while during my guiltiest of food pleasures, ordering from AmazonFresh, I encounter Rocky Mountain Grass Fed Beef. Again the Jaded voice "yeah sure grass fed for 14 days before it's stuffed full of corn, at the very least they are finishing it on corn and potatoes". So I again research. I would like to point out that I am sure every butcher in seattle and it's outlieing areas hates me by now. Not to mention the providers, but I digress. I research this beef and I order some. Holly Cow (no pun intended) this is once again, the real deal. I can't believe it. On AmazonFresh, where they sell paper towels cheaper than costco, where they sell the average grocery items like Diet Coke and Lays Potato chips and all other manner of god forsaken supposedly terrible for you food, I have found this!! Unbelievable. I can get grass fed beef DELIVERED TO MY DOOR!!

This leaves me with a few final thoughts, all of which are positive. (surprising for me I know)

- I can buy grass fed, good for me beef at a local store which, as luck would have it, is within walking distance to my house. (in Ed Hill that's rare as I think we have the lowest possible walking score)

- I can also have gras fed beef DELIVERED TO MY DOOR!!

- There are grocery stores that carry this stuff. I am thinking, this has to mean that I am not the only person looking for it. More people are being educated on the importance of this type of meat and are demanding it, hence the placement in PCC and AmazonFresh

- Here is the one that is most exciting. This type of humane, well raised, natural (in the real sense not the marketed over hyped bullshit sense) is being raised in a large enough quantity to be put on grocery shelves!

As negative and jaded as I have become regarding this country's food habits, laws, etc. I am feeling kind of, dare I say it, good about this. I don't have to be some sort of wild hippy who wants to buy a half a cow or an eccentric foodie (which I admit I am) to get my hands on this. I just have to walk into my local co-op or surf into AmazonFresh and say I would like a pound of ground beef, grass fed please. And there, on the shelf, both virtual and real, all shrink wrapped (the american standard you know) it will be. Same with many other cuts and even sausages.

Now I am on to find good pork... local and natural (again real natural, not marketing crap natural) although with this particular meat I might be more lucky as I can easily imagine putting away at least half, if not a whole pig. This might be worth the extra freezer in the garage...