Do you ever get completely overwhelmed by grocery store labels? Yup, me too, I'm Justine--
cattle rancher, nurse, mother of two littles, and if you keep reading I am about to debunk food
labels and misconceptions attached to beef these days. I grew up on a small family ranch in
rural Alberta, Flaghill Ranch, roughly two hours from Calgary, my family started selling our own
beef direct to consumers ten years ago. Our mission was to share nutrient dense grass finished
beef with families just like our own- good people just looking to eat cleaner and skip all the
added junk. Little did we know that fast forwarding to the present day, there would be so many
health conscious families looking for meat that was natural, grass finished, grass fed, home
grown, organic, hormone free, antibiotic free, pasture raised.
Okay woah woah woah… lets back it up, that's a lot of flipping labels.
I get it, I try to shop locally, mainly organic and let me tell you reading product descriptions and
labels in the grocery store aisles with two screaming toddlers isn't possible and frankly with the
marketing strategies these days takes more time than the average person has to give. Flaghill
Ranch focuses on building connections with customers to connect them to their food source and
be a safe, trustworthy source for unbiased information about the cattle industry and food
production from the meat perspective.
I connected with Katie from Holistico and instantly bonded over nutrient dense whole foods and
their immense connection to skin, gut and hormone health. More and more research is coming
out everyday to support how important beef, specifically,"100% grass finished beef" is to
supporting a balanced diet and overall human health. So, let's deep dive some of the most
common beef labels you might see and how to be a savvy carnivore.
Grass Fed Versus Grass Finished
This is one topic all the kids are talking about these days, so don't be deceived, grass fed just means the animal ate grass the majority of their life. For those who may not be familiar even in the conventional cattle/ beef production system, most animals are pasture raised and grass fed until the last 3-6 months of their life when they go to a finishing feedlot. The feedlot is the most common place where cattle go to receive a more intensified grain and corn ration to fatten for harvest. Grass finished means the beef animal received a strictly grass and forage based diet their ENTIRE life. So why does being 100% grass finished matter? Well, when cattle are finished on grass their fat profile is different than grain finished, being higher in omega 3 fatty acids, as well their meat carries exceptional phytonutrients passed down from the healthy plants they were foraging on. Grass finished beef takes longer to finish (fancy term for fatten), so it's the low and slow method to muscle growth and animal maturity; the natural timeline of animal development in grass finished beef production promotes improved cattle organ health and meat that has a denser nutrient profile. HELLO, more bang for your buck- so next time you're price checking at the store remember the ratio of nutrients per pound. If you want to learn more about nutrient density of grass finished beef we recently just shared a blog with a bunch of new scientific research.
Hormone Use
Another hot ticket topic these days is hormone use in cattle production. So all meat harvested
from a mammal contains some level of natural hormones produced in the body, these arenaturally occurring hormones that aid in normal growth. Some cattle producers will also inject
their cattle with a synthetic ADDED growth stimulating hormone. Added growth hormones are
synthetic peptide hormones not steroids and what they do is increase rate of gain and increase
feed efficiency in cattle- short story they help grow and fatten animals faster to decrease time in
the food chain. Now remember they call it "fast food for a reason" with every shortcut in nature
you lose quality and in the case of beef, nutrient density. On Flaghill Ranch we DO NOT use any
added growth hormones in our animals, we believe in raising our cattle as close to nature as
possible.
Antibiotics
Now if you're still searching for more, let's talk antibiotics. The Canadian Food Inspection
Agency truly has done a good job of protecting the beef food chain from any antibiotics... What I
mean by this is that all antibiotics given to cattle have a withdrawal period; meaning no animal
should be harvested for meat within certain time parameters from a medication administration.
What these drug parameters do is ensure that all of the medication has had adequate time to be
completely metabolized and 100% removed from the animal's system before harvest. On our
ranch we follow all of the CFIA antibiotic protocols as well as a few added layers of protection
for our customers, because we know you are still uncertain. We still use antibiotics on our ranch
because we believe that it is an important part of animal welfare and basic care to an injured or
ill animal. We do however keep exceptional records of any medications administered on the
ranch with specific traceability with our beef animals. Why this matters is that if a customer
specifically requests no antibiotics, then we can still guarantee this for them.
Beef labels are a challenge to sort through because there are so many different combinations of
different practices out there; not all beef is made the same and no ranch is identical. The
number one thing I advise beef consumers is to get connected and build a relationship with your
food producer. For some of you that might mean personally reaching out to me at
flaghillranch@gmail.com to ask any question you can think of about beef or for others it might
mean finding a local food store that stocks meat directly from a beef producer. Know that we
understand the challenges with buying local food and sorting through the junk of food labels. We
are excited to see folks connecting with farmers, learning about where their food comes from
and sourcing beef that nourishes their whole body. If you want to learn more check out: https://flaghillranch.com
Thank you for reading,
Justine of Flaghill Ranch
Comments