Also people like my dad, will argue, oh but cows DO graze on corn and other veggies, yeah they love some watermelon rinds! BUT...They don't eat this REGULARLY or in high amounts. This is in addition to, on occasion, to their regular diet of grazing on GREEN GRASS, Rye, Clover etc...Not as their sole source of nutrition, especially GMO and adulterated as is with CAFO fed cattle. Not the same as a grass fed cow occasionally eating some left over corn from the field. Or a few pieces of melon rind.
Don't forget factory / CAFO beef is not only feed " GMO corn" but they eat rotten CANDY, even with the WRAPPERS still ON! they eat rotten mash left over from all sorts of food processing like beer/wine etc. You are what you eat...if you cow eats crap, you are eating crap. Boo...eat cows that eat GRASS and get clean water and SUNSHINE! This is SUPERB meat that you cannot surpass, this is what NATURE intended!
@mikeat1068 Excuse me? They start feeding them corn at 5 months, then slaughter them at 14 months. Grass-fed cows are slaughtered at 4 or 5 *years* of age.
Antibiotics fight nasty little resistant bugs like E. coli O157:H7 and the like. In specific, Rumensin buffers the acidity in the rumen, helping to prevent bloat and acidosis; Tylosin (a form of erythromycin) lowers the incidence of liver infection.
Corn is *not* part of a normal cow's diet, period. It causes their stomachs to go acidic, forcing cattle farms (CAFOs) to administer antibiotics to combat bloat and liver disease that's caused by eating corn.
Long story short: it kills them!
The only reason they feed cows corn is because we grow too damned much of it in this country, and it's cheaper than grass. A balanced diet for a cow is grass, grass, and more grass.
@wfkessel Antibiotics don't combat bloat or liver disease. Only bacterial infections. Nor does corn kill cattle!
Corn is included in the finishing part of the process - cattle consume grasses/forage most of their life. Corn comes in only at the end - and even then it is only part of what cattle eat. Forage remains an important part of the diet.
I love Alton Brown, but he's got this one wrong. Cattle graze on corn all the time in the fall...and they would steam roll corn fields year-round if there wasn't a fence there! (Argentina also produce a lot of beef from cattle fed corn.)
He also fails to understand that cattle that are fed corn are also fed a lot of other feed ingredients in that same meal, including alfalfa, hay or another forage. It's all about a balanced diet, which produces good beef.
@mikeat1608 Cattle will eat corn, only because cattle eat such copious amounts of food that they would logically graze INTO corn fields. However, there is no denying that in a cows NATURAL habitat, there wouldn't be any domesticated, genetically altered corn nearby, because originally corn crops were not even present where cattle would have grazed. Of course they will eat it now, they've been domesticated in such close proximity to corn that it's been unnaturally added to their diet.
@phadamblab What does "genetically altered" have to do with anything?
Are you saying we should only eat what humans ate hundreds of years ago? Or thousands of years ago, too? Things change. People adapt and learn new things. Domesticating livestock is one of those things.
@mikeat1608 Cattle have stomachs that are GENETICALLY predisposed to eat a certain type of food. If you're talking in terms of evolution, from an anthropological perspective, genetically speaking it IS actually healthier for human beings to eat what they did for thousands of years; lean meats (fish, poultry) and fresh vegetation. Domesticating an animal does not make the animal develop, or "learn new things," especially in regards to diet. That just doesn't make sense.
@phadamblab Good one...that also means we should be hunter/gatherers. And certainly not user computers. You go ahead. I'll stick to shopping at the local market.
@mikeat1608 Since when does retaining a more naturally beneficial DIET mean that everything else should be reverted to a primitive state? Please don't bother responded, I'm sorry if I offended you, I was just letting you know that Alton is completely correct.
@mikeat1608 This is similar to why fish and other marine animals eat bits of floating plastic; it's been forced into their natural habitat, and they can't tell the difference.
In addition, I'm sure (as any Alton fan would know) that his declaring of "steak" as his favorite animal is part of his dry sarcasm/comedy.
Cattle do not need a "balanced diet." They are herbivores, which inherently contradicts the omnivore ideal for a "balanced diet."
@phadamblab Pretty sure cattle of any background and time period would choose to eat some corn if available! And yes, cattle do need a balanced diet, even those that spend their life on pasture. Whether that balance comes naturally or from humans, it's still there.
@mikeat1608 Cattle are not naturally from the New World, and corn was first found in the New World. Developmentally, there was not historical way a cow would have encountered corn, until after the 1500s at least. In the evolutionary timeline, that is less than a blink of an eye. The buffalo would be the most comparable cattle-like animal that was native to the Americas, and even buffalo did not graze on corn.
How do I know if the meat purchased at a grocery store are grass fed or corn fed? There are NO LABELS whatsoever stating grassfed or corn fed...
SushiSee 3 weeks ago
Also people like my dad, will argue, oh but cows DO graze on corn and other veggies, yeah they love some watermelon rinds! BUT...They don't eat this REGULARLY or in high amounts. This is in addition to, on occasion, to their regular diet of grazing on GREEN GRASS, Rye, Clover etc...Not as their sole source of nutrition, especially GMO and adulterated as is with CAFO fed cattle. Not the same as a grass fed cow occasionally eating some left over corn from the field. Or a few pieces of melon rind.
MOTS411 7 months ago
Don't forget factory / CAFO beef is not only feed " GMO corn" but they eat rotten CANDY, even with the WRAPPERS still ON! they eat rotten mash left over from all sorts of food processing like beer/wine etc. You are what you eat...if you cow eats crap, you are eating crap. Boo...eat cows that eat GRASS and get clean water and SUNSHINE! This is SUPERB meat that you cannot surpass, this is what NATURE intended!
MOTS411 7 months ago 2
@mikeat1068 - you sound like a fool
@phadamblab & @wfkessel - nice.
ktphshe 1 year ago
Want a great Grass Fed burger try The Grazing Cow in Plano, TX. NE corner of Spring Creek and Avenue K behind the gold store.
funnypuppy1 1 year ago
I agree with @phadamblab - this is becoming useless. The general public has been totally brainwashed. Good luck in the Coronary Care Unit.
wfkessel 1 year ago
@mikeat1068 Excuse me? They start feeding them corn at 5 months, then slaughter them at 14 months. Grass-fed cows are slaughtered at 4 or 5 *years* of age.
Antibiotics fight nasty little resistant bugs like E. coli O157:H7 and the like. In specific, Rumensin buffers the acidity in the rumen, helping to prevent bloat and acidosis; Tylosin (a form of erythromycin) lowers the incidence of liver infection.
wfkessel 1 year ago
Corn is *not* part of a normal cow's diet, period. It causes their stomachs to go acidic, forcing cattle farms (CAFOs) to administer antibiotics to combat bloat and liver disease that's caused by eating corn.
Long story short: it kills them!
The only reason they feed cows corn is because we grow too damned much of it in this country, and it's cheaper than grass. A balanced diet for a cow is grass, grass, and more grass.
Oh, yeah: a little water doesn't hurt, either.
wfkessel 1 year ago
@wfkessel Antibiotics don't combat bloat or liver disease. Only bacterial infections. Nor does corn kill cattle!
Corn is included in the finishing part of the process - cattle consume grasses/forage most of their life. Corn comes in only at the end - and even then it is only part of what cattle eat. Forage remains an important part of the diet.
mikeat1608 1 year ago
I love Alton Brown, but he's got this one wrong. Cattle graze on corn all the time in the fall...and they would steam roll corn fields year-round if there wasn't a fence there! (Argentina also produce a lot of beef from cattle fed corn.)
He also fails to understand that cattle that are fed corn are also fed a lot of other feed ingredients in that same meal, including alfalfa, hay or another forage. It's all about a balanced diet, which produces good beef.
PS - Steak isn't an animal!
mikeat1608 1 year ago
@mikeat1608 Cattle will eat corn, only because cattle eat such copious amounts of food that they would logically graze INTO corn fields. However, there is no denying that in a cows NATURAL habitat, there wouldn't be any domesticated, genetically altered corn nearby, because originally corn crops were not even present where cattle would have grazed. Of course they will eat it now, they've been domesticated in such close proximity to corn that it's been unnaturally added to their diet.
phadamblab 1 year ago 3
@phadamblab What does "genetically altered" have to do with anything?
Are you saying we should only eat what humans ate hundreds of years ago? Or thousands of years ago, too? Things change. People adapt and learn new things. Domesticating livestock is one of those things.
mikeat1608 1 year ago
@mikeat1608 Cattle have stomachs that are GENETICALLY predisposed to eat a certain type of food. If you're talking in terms of evolution, from an anthropological perspective, genetically speaking it IS actually healthier for human beings to eat what they did for thousands of years; lean meats (fish, poultry) and fresh vegetation. Domesticating an animal does not make the animal develop, or "learn new things," especially in regards to diet. That just doesn't make sense.
phadamblab 1 year ago
@phadamblab Good one...that also means we should be hunter/gatherers. And certainly not user computers. You go ahead. I'll stick to shopping at the local market.
mikeat1608 1 year ago
@mikeat1608 Since when does retaining a more naturally beneficial DIET mean that everything else should be reverted to a primitive state? Please don't bother responded, I'm sorry if I offended you, I was just letting you know that Alton is completely correct.
phadamblab 1 year ago
@mikeat1608 This is similar to why fish and other marine animals eat bits of floating plastic; it's been forced into their natural habitat, and they can't tell the difference.
In addition, I'm sure (as any Alton fan would know) that his declaring of "steak" as his favorite animal is part of his dry sarcasm/comedy.
Cattle do not need a "balanced diet." They are herbivores, which inherently contradicts the omnivore ideal for a "balanced diet."
phadamblab 1 year ago
@phadamblab Pretty sure cattle of any background and time period would choose to eat some corn if available! And yes, cattle do need a balanced diet, even those that spend their life on pasture. Whether that balance comes naturally or from humans, it's still there.
mikeat1608 1 year ago
@mikeat1608 Cattle are not naturally from the New World, and corn was first found in the New World. Developmentally, there was not historical way a cow would have encountered corn, until after the 1500s at least. In the evolutionary timeline, that is less than a blink of an eye. The buffalo would be the most comparable cattle-like animal that was native to the Americas, and even buffalo did not graze on corn.
phadamblab 1 year ago