Walking through a grocery store these days can be overwhelming, there are so many new labels, phrases and certifications that it can be hard to decipher what is good for us and what is not. The same can happen with skincare. With animal based skincare on the rise it is important to be sure you are only buying products made with the highest quality fats because they are being introduced directly to your bloodstream through your skin.
There are three common terms that you’ll come across when searching for regeneratively raised beef: pasture raised,grass-fed and grass-finished. Let’s break these terms down.
Pasture raised often refers to where the cow ate throughout their life. This means that the cow was fed in open pasture but not necessarily that it exclusively grazed, pasture raised cattle are often supplemented with grain.
Grass-fed cattle on the other hand are cows that are raised eating grass for the majority of their life. This often means that they are raised grazing on pasture but sometimes if could mean that they have been fed hay indoors, this is quite rare. However, sometimes beef that has been labelled “grass-fed” is finished with grain. This means that at the very end of their life cycle they are fed grain in order to give their meat a better fat content before they are butchered. This is where the term grass-finished comes in.
Grass-finished is term that is becoming more popular in the beef world as people become more aware of the meat they are consuming. Grass-finished means that the cow was fed exclusively grass for its entire lifecycle, even the finishing process.
The problem with these terms is that they are unregulated, meaning that pretty much anyone can use them and there are no set guidelines. This is why knowing your rancher is so important. Exploring a ranch’s website, emailing them with questions or even visiting in person are all ways that you can get to know how your beef is raised.
So why does grass-fed and finished matter? For us there are three main reasons: animal health, human health and environmental health.
Choosing grass-fed and finished means that you are supporting a business that cares about the health of their cattle. Grains disrupt the complex digestive system of ruminates which often leads to health issues, bloating and stress in the animal. When left to forage cattle is exposed to the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants they need to thrive.
Your own health should also be a major factor in supporting grass-fed and finished ranches. Grain-fed cattle are unable to store up the same amount of nutrients in their tissues compared to grass-fed cattle. Grass-fed and finished beef has been shown to contain significantly more vitamin A, vitamin E, zinc, iron, phosphorus and potassium compared to grain-fed beef which means that it is good for your stomach and your skin. Forage-based diets are also shown to boost the CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) content, this is a well known essential fatty acid that is known to reduce the risk of obesity, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.
And of course the health of our enviroment also plays a role. Grass-fed and finished cattle are often raised using regenerative agriculture practices, this leads to increased biodiversity of pastures, improved quality of run-off water and improved carbon sequestration.
At Mountain Wisdom we have had a close relationship with the farm we source our 100% grass-fed and finished beef fat from for many years, we then process it ourselves into the clean tallow that later becomes the key ingredient in our products. You can check out our collection of tallow based healing products by clicking the link here. Thanks for reading!