This verification process for grass fed meat dates back to 2006 when ams announced that it would for the first time create an official government backed definition of the term grass fed.
What does grass fed meat mean.
There s just one problem.
What is grass fed meat.
Grass fed beef simply means that the cattle were allowed to forage and graze for their own fresh food.
The usda raised the benchmark to 99 in 2006 before finally settling on 100 in 2007.
They may be given close substitutes like alfalfa during the winter but unlike grain fed animals the emphasis is still on providing the closest thing to a natural diet as possible.
Originally grass fed animals got at least 80 of their nutrition from grass range pasture or forage.
The grass may be fresh grass or grass type hay.
Grass fed on the other hand may be used to label meat from cattle that were started on a grass diet but have either received supplemental grain feed or are finished on a fully grain based diet.
Grass fed means that animals eat nothing but their mother s milk and grass from birth to harvest.
Grass fed links to what the animal eats grass.
Usda definition of grass fed the us food and drug administration usda proposed standards to establish a benchmark for grass fed claims in 2002.
At its best grass fed meat and dairy is linked to lower fat and a better balance of omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids than the grain fed versions that currently make up 99 percent of the respective markets.
The diet shall be derived solely from forage consisting of grass annual and perennial forbs e g legumes brassica browse or cereal grain.
In fact many grass fed cows spend the last few months of their lives eating grain in feedlots to help them quickly gain weight.
Grass forage fed means that grass and forage shall be the feed source consumed for the lifetime of the ruminant animal with the exception of milk consumed prior to weaning.
We like to put it simply.
Grass fed meat is so nutritionally superior to factory farmed meat that it is practically a different food.