zlacker

[return to "Eat Real Food"]
1. kristo+fO1[view] [source] 2026-01-08 02:03:09
>>atestu+(OP)
Tyson foods and other meatpacking companies lobbied and funded RFK...

Here's industry reports

https://www.nationalbeefwire.com/doctors-group-applauds-comm...

https://www.wattagnet.com/business-markets/policy-legislatio...

And straight up lobbying groups

https://www.nationalchickencouncil.org/new-dietary-guideline...

https://www.meatinstitute.org/press/recommend-prioritizing-p...

Lobbying groups, putting out press releases, claiming victory...

Here's some things you won't find in any of the documents, including the PDFs at the bottom: community gardens, local food, farmers markets, grass fed, free range... Because agribusiness doesn't make money with those.

Just because you might like the results doesn't mean they aren't corrupt as hell

◧◩
2. throwu+452[view] [source] 2026-01-08 04:35:47
>>kristo+fO1
> grass fed, free range... Because agribusiness doesn't make money with those.

Agribusiness absolutely makes money off of those. In fact they had a hilariously easy time adapting to the consumer trend because all they had to do to label a cow “free range” or “grass fed” was change the finishing stage to a lower density configuration instead of those abominable feed lots you see along highways. The first two stages, rearing and pasturing, didn’t change because they were already “free range” and “grass fed”. Half of the farmland in the US is pastureland and leaving animals in the field to eat grass was always the cheapest way to rear and grow them. They only really get fed corn and other food at the end to fatten them up for human consumption.

The dirty not-so-secret is that free range/grass fed cows eat almost the exact same diet as regular cows, they just eat a little more grass because they’re in the field more during finishing. They’re still walking up to troughs of feed, because otherwise the beef would be unpalatable and grow quite slower.

True grass fed beef is generally called “grass finished” beef and it’s unregulated so you won’t find it at a supermarket. They taste gamier and usually have a metallic tang that I quite honestly doubt would ever be very popular. The marbling is also noticeably different and less consistent. Grain finished beef became popular in the 1800s and consumers in the West have strongly preferred it since.

I’m not sure you can even find a cow in the entire world that isn’t “grass fed”. Calves need the grass for their gut microbiomes to develop properly.

◧◩◪
3. messe+V52[view] [source] 2026-01-08 04:46:04
>>throwu+452
> Grain finished beef became popular in the 1800s and consumers in the West have strongly preferred it since.

Don't conflate the US and the "west".

◧◩◪◨
4. throwu+K72[view] [source] 2026-01-08 05:08:17
>>messe+V52
> Don't conflate the US and the "west".

I only vaguely said “the West” because I didn’t want to get into the complexities of subsistence farming, regional quirks, and pedantics like “soybeans hulls are often considered roughage”.

About a third of beef in the world is truly grass finished and two thirds of that is subsistence farmers who can’t afford the grain. Most of the rest comes from Australia, Brazil, and New Zealand because it’s more competitive to leave them in pasture than import the grain.

As much as you may want to hold your nose up at the US, the (vast) majority of beef sold in the world is grain finished and has been for a long time. It’s just more economically competitive and people strongly prefer the taste and texture.

◧◩◪◨⬒
5. urban_+wj2[view] [source] 2026-01-08 07:09:25
>>throwu+K72
> and people strongly prefer the taste and texture.

...and _people in the USA_ strongly prefer...

Although, I don't know how solid the evidence for even that statement is.

◧◩◪◨⬒⬓
6. subsis+0E2[view] [source] 2026-01-08 10:22:15
>>urban_+wj2
where is the mythical land of people that prefer gamey metallic beef?
◧◩◪◨⬒⬓⬔
7. cresha+lK2[view] [source] 2026-01-08 11:22:48
>>subsis+0E2
Wherever it they're finding people in charge of canteen menus.
[go to top]