Several years ago, after cutting into one bland steak too many, the award-winning travel writer Mark Schatzker asked himself: Why do some steaks taste better than others?  That apparently simple question resulted in his first book, "Steak: One Man's Search for the World's Tastiest Piece of Beef."  Schatzker visited four continents and seven countries -- including Scotland, Japan, and Argentina -- in an attempt to understand the much loved but terribly misunderstood meat.  Among his numerous revelations -- our love of fat may be responsible for our large brains; the primitive cattle painted on cave walls in Europe appear to be superbly well finished; thin steaks are underrated -- perhaps the most extraordinary is that everything Americans think they know about steak is wrong. Great steak is not about corn, and it's not about marbling.  And it sure ain't simple.  The best steak Schatzker ever ate was grass fed.  And yet, so was the worst.  But after logging more than fifty thousand miles and eating several hundred pounds of steak, this all too skinny Canadian says he has some answers.

Schatzker is a food, travel and humor writer and a frequent contributor to Condé Nast Traveler.  His writing has appeared in New York, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal and has been excerpted in Best American Travel Writing.  In 2007 he traveled around the world in 80 days -- without flying -- to celebrate Condé Nast Traveler's 20th anniversary.  He lives in Toronto with his wife and three children, where he is a columnist for The Globe and Mail newspaper.

Here is what some folks have to say about the book Steak:

A deep dive into a delicious subject
By Tomas
This review is from: Steak: One Man's Search for the World's Tastiest Piece of Beef (Hardcover)
I wasn't sure what to expect when I started reading Steak. What I found was an excellent blend of travelogue, food writing, personal journal, and scientific discourse. The book is enjoyable from beginning to end. There is an honesty to the writing, suggesting a deep fascination and passion for the subject matter - steak. And that leads the author to discuss more than just opinions, more than just subjective descriptions of good food that may or may not be accessible to the average person. Schatzker travels all over the world to attempt to uncover why people love steak, what makes steak taste good, and what is wrong with mass produced commoditized beef. He writes about the food and flavor science in an ease that is reminiscent of Malcolm Gladwell or Atul Gawande. The complexity of the subject matter is explained in a story like fashion and that makes it highly digestible (pardon the pun) and fascinating. For a book that is educational, fun and even at times touching, I highly recommend this book.

Most Complete Book Ever
By Paul

This review is from: Steak: One Man's Search for the World's Tastiest Piece of Beef (Hardcover)

Most complete book ever written on the hows and whys of producing the best flavored beef. Also a very enjoyable read for anyone interested in the culture of eating.

Lots of fun, lots of information -- a great read!
By Edward

This review is from: Steak: One Man's Search for the World's Tastiest Piece of Beef (Hardcover)

I enjoy "single subject" books like Rice, Sugar, Salt, The Founding Fish, Caviar and so forth. And I have been a perfect-steak-searcher for years. Some background: when I was a kid, my father, whose father was a butcher,would go in with a friend and buy a "side" of beef. He'd have it delivered to the local butcher where it would hang to become "dry aged." On Saturdays we'd go to the butcher shop and watch the butcher scrape off the mold and trim off the dried-out edges and deftly cut off two strip steaks 2 1/4 inches thick. The meat was crimson and "marbled" with intricate traceries of fat. Dad would cook the steak in an iron skillet (as the French do). Always rare. When done he'd put it on a warm plate and then pour red wine in the pan, add a pat of butter, swirl it around over high heat to make a sauce which he'd poured over the steak on the serving plate. That ritual turned me into a steak aficianado.

Schatzker's book is a steak lover's feast. He explores the merits of grass or grain fed beef and much more while taking you on a carnivorous journey around the world, a journey that will introduce you to the most subtle and delightful differences between extraordinary steak and ordinary meat.

An excellent and entertaining read
By C. J.

This review is from: Steak: One Man's Search for the World's Tastiest Piece of Beef (Hardcover)
This is a book that all serious foodies (like myself) will enjoy. Even the most dedicated vegan should find the information about the agricultural and industrial aspects of putting a steak on the plate to be fascinating. Mr Schatzker has a very readable style of writing and I raced through this book in two afternoons. Very enjoyable.

Will Harris is the owner/operator of White Oak Pastures, a multi-generational family farm that was established in 1866 in the small, southwest Georgia community of Bluffton.  Will is the fourth generation of Harris’ to operate White Oak Pastures and his daughter, Jenni, is the 5th generation to join the operation.  In the beginning, White Oak Pastures (originally White Oak Plantation) was a multifaceted, multi-species operation.  His ancestors slaughtered cattle, hogs, chicken and lamb every week and sold them in nearby towns.  They even built a commissary on the farm to further build sales.  However, as agriculture became heavily industrialized, so did White Oak.  In the mid-1900’s, the Harris family transitioned from a multi-species operation to a monoculture of beef cattle and started depending heavily on chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and supplemental feedstuffs.  Will gradually grew tired of this type of production system and made a conscious decision to make radical changes in the way they operated.  These changes were predicated by Will’s concern for the environment, animal care and welfare, and human health.  One of Will’s favorite sayings is that, “Nature abhors a monoculture”.

In 1995, Will reinstituted rotational grazing practices and initiated a 100% grass fed beef program, givning up the use of grains, hormone implants, and antibiotics.  In 2000, he gave up the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides and sought organic certification.  In 2005, Will took a calculated risk (and a huge leap of faith) and built an on-farm USDA-Inspected Beef Slaughter and Processing plant so that he could provide his customers with high quality, source verified product.  In 2010, he added sheep and free range poultry to the operation.  In 2011, a poultry processing plant was built and ducks, geese, turkeys, and guineas were added to the mix.  In addition, White Oak now also has organic gardens in production.
 
Today, White Oak Pastures employs 65 people and is the ONLY FARM in the U.S. with an on-farm USDA-Inspected beef, small ruminant, and poultry processing facility.  White Oak produces grass fed beef, lamb, and free range chicken, turkey, guinea, geese and ducks for retail markets up and down the east coast.  White Oak Pastures is a prime example of a multi-faceted operation that successfully follows the family commitment to animal welfare, environmental sustainability, revitalization of the rural economy, and locally produced food.  They are Certified Humane, hold a Step 5 GAP (Global Animal Partnership) rating, and are Animal Welfare Approved.
 
A prominent statement on the White Oak Pastures website is:
 
“We are fiercely committed to the well-being of our animals and the quality of the meat that we provide our customers. We honor that commitment by treating our animals with dignity and respect from the day that they are born throughout their lives, including the day that they are slaughtered.”

Here is a well done 16+ minute video that was done a little over 2 years ago that takes you around White Oak Pastures.

Gabe Brown didn’t have the traditional upbringing of most ranchers today. He grew up in Bismarck, but was interested in production agriculture at a young age. He began working for area ranchers while he was in high school and was active in FFA. Gabe says he’s living his dream and encourages young people to pursue their goals, no matter how difficult it may seem.

Gabe attended Bismarck State College for two years and completed his Animal Science and Agricultural Economics degrees at North Dakota State University in Fargo, ND. Shelly has a business degree that she puts to good use managing the ranch’s record keeping.

Gabe and Shelly married while in college and in 1983, invested their life savings in a group of Angus heifer calves. They ran these heifers on shares with Shelly’s father, Bill Voegele, until they graduated. After college, they ran their cattle on 560 acres of rented land and started AIing to Gelbvieh sires, building the herd they have today. In 1991, they purchased 640 acres from Shelly’s father and leased an additional 1,280 acres. This was the opportunity they had been waiting for. Since that time they have purchased another 760 acres and leased an additional 1320 acres, bringing the total to the 6,000 acres they operate on now.

When Gabe and Shelly first took over, they could run 65 cow/calf pairs and 15 yearlings on three pastures. Today, this unit along with the additional 820 acres supports 250 cow/calf pairs and 50 to 250 yearlings. Brown divided the original three pastures into 38 smaller paddocks to support a planned grazing grassfed system, enhancing forage production in harmony with nature.

Through his on farm research, Gabe has become a pioneer in Cocktail Cover Crops & Grazing Management. Gabe and his son Paul run the farm together and produce grassfed beef with their system of grazing.

The Beef Checkoff Group has funded a new tool that is helpful if you are trying to come up with unique cuts to temp your grassfed beef buyers with new individual cuts.  It is always a good idea to educate your consumers about how to cook the beef you sell and you should be doing that.  This new diagram will give you pdf files and videos to show you some of the newer cuts the Beef Innovations Group have been working on.  I hope this helps you improve your revenue with some new idea's and marketing tools.

Beef Innovations Group Diagram

There are people on both sides of this fence; the GMO fence.  We certainly have opinions here at the Grassfed Exchange but it is not our place to voice our opinion but it is important to know what the issues are and be able to form you own opinion.  Dr. Huber was the invited guest and speaker of Terry Gompert just before Terry's passing.  This post is only to allow you to be aware of what some are saying.  This is a total of two hours of video so it will be the same as sitting down to watch a feature length film but the information is extremely interesting and my guess will leave you with either strong convictions or many questions.  Even if you are a grassfed beef producer, GMO alfalfa is now being planted and other crops that you could be feeding your animals.  The GMO issue is being forced upon us so it is in our best interest to learn something of this issue from someone other than the company that is selling the products to us.

Video 1

Video 2

Apparently U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) has reintroduced a bipartisan bill to permanently prohibit all livestock that cannot walk because they are diseased, injured or ill from entering the food chain and to require that they be humanely euthanized. This bill does not address personal consumption or animals that have simply broken a leg. I don't think anybody truly wants sick animals in the food chain, but if your animal breaks a leg, you should still be able to eat it and have someone else slaughter it.

The Downed Animal and Food Safety Protection Act (H.R. 3704), which has been reintroduced several times, was expanded in 2009, when the USDA banned the slaughtering of downed cattle and mandated that these animals be euthanized after a California slaughter plant allowed downers to enter the food supply.

Of the twenty confirmed cases of mad cow disease in North America since 1993, at least sixteen have involved downer cattle. Although this is true, these animals were obviously sick and a sick downer is wholly different than a broken leg as you all know.

The bill would change existing regulations by making the ban on downer cattle permanent. Under current law, the USDA can loosen or repeal their rules at any time. The measure also would extend the ban to all livestock — not just cattle — and close an existing loophole that permits the slaughter of downed calves.  This bill does not take into consideration, the small producer so in an attempt to cut off big business, congress is wanting to shot the little guy.

The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Agriculture, where it is pending.

Let your representative know today, especially if they are on the Agricultural committee, to not support this bill, H.R. 3704.

The following is the text of the bill if you would like to read it or a pdf you can download if you would rather.

BILL - H.R. 3704

I
112TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. R. 3704
To amend the Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act of 1958 to
ensure the humane slaughter of nonambulatory livestock, and for other
purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
DECEMBER 16, 2011
Mr. ACKERMAN (for himself, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. MORAN, Ms. JACKSON
LEE of Texas, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr.
KUCINICH, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. MICHAUD, and Ms.
SCHAKOWSKY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Agriculture
A BILL
To amend the Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act
of 1958 to ensure the humane slaughter of nonambulatory
livestock, and for other purposes.
1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Downed Animal and
5 Food Safety Protection Act’’.
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2
•HR 3704 IH
1 SEC. 2. FINDING AND DECLARATION OF POLICY.
2 (a) FINDING.—Congress finds that the humane
3 euthanization of nonambulatory livestock in interstate and
4 foreign commerce—
5 (1) prevents needless suffering;
6 (2) results in safer and better working condi7
tions for persons handling livestock;
8 (3) brings about improvement of products and
9 reduces the likelihood of the spread of diseases that
10 have a great and deleterious impact on interstate
11 and foreign commerce in livestock; and
12 (4) produces other benefits for producers, proc13
essors, and consumers that tend to expedite an or14
derly flow of livestock and livestock products in
15 interstate foreign commerce.
16 (b) DECLARATION OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the
17 United States that all nonambulatory livestock in inter18
state and foreign commerce shall be immediately and hu19
manely euthanized when such livestock become non20
ambulatory.
21 SEC. 3. UNLAWFUL SLAUGHTER PRACTICES INVOLVING
22 NONAMBULATORY LIVESTOCK.
23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Public Law 85–765 (commonly
24 known as the ‘‘Humane Methods of Slaughter Act of
25 1958’’) (7 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.) is amended by inserting
26 after section 2 (7 U.S.C. 1902) the following:
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•HR 3704 IH
1 ‘‘SEC. 3. NONAMBULATORY LIVESTOCK.
2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
3 ‘‘(1) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘covered en4
tity’ means—
5 ‘‘(A) a stockyard;
6 ‘‘(B) a market agency;
7 ‘‘(C) a dealer;
8 ‘‘(D) a packer;
9 ‘‘(E) a slaughter facility; or
10 ‘‘(F) an establishment.
11 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—The term ‘establish12
ment’ means an establishment that is covered by the
13 Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601 et
14 seq.).
15 ‘‘(3) HUMANELY EUTHANIZE.—The term ‘hu16
manely euthanize’ means to immediately render an
17 animal unconscious by mechanical, chemical, or
18 other means, with this state remaining until the
19 death of the animal.
20 ‘‘(4) NONAMBULATORY LIVESTOCK.—The term
21 ‘nonambulatory livestock’ means any cattle (includ22
ing calves), sheep, swine, goats, or horses, mules, or
23 other equines, that will not stand and walk unas24
sisted.
25 ‘‘(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means
26 the Secretary of Agriculture.
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•HR 3704 IH
1 ‘‘(b) HUMANE TREATMENT, HANDLING, AND DIS2
POSITION.—The Secretary shall promulgate regulations to
3 provide for the humane treatment, handling, and disposi4
tion of all nonambulatory livestock by covered entities, in5
cluding a requirement that nonambulatory livestock be hu6
manely euthanized.
7 ‘‘(c) HUMANE EUTHANASIA.—
8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),
9 when an animal becomes nonambulatory, a covered
10 entity shall immediately humanely euthanize the
11 nonambulatory livestock.
12 ‘‘(2) DISEASE TESTING.—Paragraph (1) shall
13 not limit the ability of the Secretary to test non14
ambulatory livestock for a disease, such as Bovine
15 Spongiform Encephalopathy, provided that such live16
stock are humanely euthanized immediately after
17 such livestock are tested for such disease.
18 ‘‘(d) MOVEMENT.—
19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a
20 covered entity shall not move nonambulatory live21
stock.
22 ‘‘(2) DISEASE TESTING.—Notwithstanding
23 paragraph (1), a covered entity may humanely move
24 nonambulatory livestock if required for a specific
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•HR 3704 IH
1 test for disease if the livestock is unconscious until
2 euthanized in accordance with subsection (c).
3 ‘‘(e) INSPECTIONS.—
4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for an
5 inspector at an establishment to pass through in6
spection any nonambulatory livestock or carcass (in7
cluding parts of a carcass) of nonambulatory live8
stock.
9 ‘‘(2) LABELING.—An inspector shall label,
10 mark, stamp, or tag as ‘inspected and condemned’
11 any material described in paragraph (1).
12 ‘‘(f) VIOLATIONS.—A covered entity who violates a
13 provision of this section shall upon conviction be fined not
14 more than $5,000, imprisoned not more than one year,
15 or both.
16 ‘‘(g) EFFECT ON STATE LAW.—This section shall not
17 be construed to preempt any law or regulation of a State
18 or a political subdivision of a State containing require19
ments that are greater than the requirements of this sec20
tion, or which create penalties for conduct regulated by
21 this section.’’.
22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—
23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para24
graph (2), the amendment made by subsection (a)
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•HR 3704 IH
1 takes effect on the date that is 1 year after the date
2 of enactment of this Act.
3 (2) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after
4 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
5 Agriculture shall promulgate final regulations to im6
plement the amendment made by subsection (a).
Æ
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Grass-fed beef is better for human health than grain-fed beef in ten different ways, according to the most comprehensive analysis to date. The 2009 study was a joint effort between the USDA and researchers at Clemson University in South Carolina. Compared with grain-fed beef, grass-fed beef was:

1. Lower in total fat
2. Higher in beta-carotene
3. Higher in vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol)
4. Higher in the B-vitamins thiamin and riboflavin
5. Higher in the minerals calcium, magnesium, and potassium
6. Higher in total omega-3s
7. A healthier ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids (1.65 vs 4.84)
8. Higher in CLA (cis-9 trans-11), a potential cancer fighter
9. Higher in vaccenic acid (which can be transformed into CLA)
10. Lower in the saturated fats linked with heart disease

S.K. Duckett et al, Journal of Animal Science, (published online) June 2009, “Effects of winter stocker growth rate and finishing system on: III. Tissue proximate, fatty acid, vitamin and cholesterol content.”

On Nov 18, 2011 President Barack Obama signed a U.S. appropriations bill that lifted the prohibition on funding USDA inspections of horse slaughter facilities. This in essence opens the door to slaughtering horses in the U.S. again for human consumption although there is no funding at the USDA to inspect this meat.

Although many of us have known that the ability to slaughter horses in the U.S. should never have been done away with in the first place, this effort may be too little to actually have any real effect.

The prohibition started in 2006 and led to the closing of the last U.S. horse slaughter facility in Illinois in 2007. This plant in IL processed horses for human consumption.

You may be personally very aware of the increased neglect and abandonment of horses since this ban. That doesn't even mention the crash of horse prices since 2006. Will this change help or not.

According to a Thoroughbred Times article which interviewed Jay Hickey, President of the American Horse Council, he says that the appropriations bill is only effective until Sept. 2012. This short window is not long enough to build a business around and certainly not long enough to invest money in a new facility.

In the same article, it said that 137,984 horses were shipped to Mexico and Canada for slaughter in 2010.

We can all draw our own conclusions from this Congressional action but it sure seems they are giving the appearance of helping without really doing anything other than wasting our tax dollars on time to enact this impotent law.

What do you think?

Eating animal fat, particularly from grass fed animals, is very good for us. It is a food people have been eating for thousands of years. CBS aired an interesting segment that's worth watching.  Go ahead, it's only 6 minutes long. What do you think about eating saturated fat?

Our next event has been scheduled for 2012. Mark your calendars now for Sept. 21 - 22, 2012 in the same location in Norfolk, NE with pasture walks to be held on Sept. 20. We will have more information about the speaker line up as information is available. Our preliminary speaker line up is: Dr. Garry Lacefield from the University of Kentucky, Gabe Brown a rancher and National Speaker from North Dakota, Will Harris III a rancher and abbatoir owner for both beef and chicken in Georgia and Mark Schatzker author of the book Steak. We will have bio's up of all of these great men shortly. Check back frequently for updates on the 2012 event and it's speakers!