At WholeFoods Market: Grass fed vs. Vegetarian fed? page

[PrimalStewart]

What exactly does "vegetarian fed" meat mean? It seems to me that the vagueness in wording is somehow...purposely that way. It pisses me off. Why are people always trying to pull a fast one on people, or cut corners and try to get more for less. I'm not into deception; so what does this term mean, exactly?

I asked the butcher (guy) at the WF. He said "Oh yes it's good." I said "what's in it?". He said mostly corn. That is what I gathered, and he mumbled something else and trailed off. So ...corn. Which is pretty much just as problematic as grains. Its nutritionally deficient, hard to digest, and jacks up the omega 6's in the animal being eaten. The only plusses is that it is hormone and antibiotic free. That I am thankful for.
So, am I spot on for this vegetarian fed thing? Am I missing something? Can somebody explain exactly what this means, if I've missed it?

They did have a grass fed section. But that meat was nearly 3x the price of anything else! Howcome it is feeling impossible to afford good, clean food?

Thanks

[HeatherJ]

I would think 'vegetarian fed' really means 'stuffed with corn and soy and maybe also wheat'. I would avoid it if you can, and go for grass-fed.

It does truly suck: the most nutritious food is also the most expensive in a lot of cases. All we can do is budget, go for cheaper cuts like beef shin or chicken thighs, sacrifice money in other areas of life, and hope that this movement becomes mainstream enough to have a positive effect on the price of good quality food.

[adameads]

Stuff with corn/fed corn is cheaper because corn is cheap and subsidized by governments all over the world. Watch Food, Inc. or King Corn.

[Ayla2010]

The money that you aren't spending on packaged/processed foods makes it easier to budget this stuff in I found.

[lexie]

Vegetarian fed generally means grains, corn, or soy - but without bits of other cows ground up into their meal (a concern after the mad cow disease issues some years back). It's not a good choice, but if it was a choice between unmarked factory-farmed or marked vegetarian-fed, it's a lesser evil.

I'd go for grass-fed though.

[magnolia1973]

Can you find a local farm and buy from them? I buy from a place that does pastured beef, chicken, pork and lamb. Premium cuts- strip steaks/lamb chops run $15/lb, cheaper cuts are $6-$8, ground beef is $5 lb. It means their animals eat grass. From birth to death. They are not finished on a lot. They said it is less fatty than normal meat.

[TCOHTom]

What exactly does "vegetarian fed" meat mean? Thanks

It means not this:

In a 1997 article in US NEWS & WORLD REPORT, we learned that animal-feed manufacturers and farmers were also experimenting with dehydrated food garbage — fats emptied from restaurant fryers and grease traps, cement-kiln dust, newsprint and cardboard derived from plant cellulose, and even human sewage sludge.

Cattle Feed, What They Don’t Want You to Know.

There has been some regulation as to what one can feed a steer, to avoid abuses that may have occurred. However, the lack of regulation in our food industry is such that I'm willing to spend a bit more for my food I know if from a quality source.

Only 9 percent of downer cattle (animals that cannot walk, exhibit symptoms of neurological disease, and/or that die or are killed for reasons other than routine slaughter) are tested in the United States compared to 100 percent in the European Union and Japan.

U.S. Beef Industry Facts | The Center for Food Safety

[JennaRose]

I would think 'vegetarian fed' really means 'stuffed with corn and soy and maybe also wheat'.

Just like human vegetarians

[sbhikes]

If you are looking at eggs, know that while cattle are vegetarians, chickens are not. Either way it means an unnatural, cheap diet.

[PrimalStewart]

Can you find a local farm and buy from them? I buy from a place that does pastured beef, chicken, pork and lamb. Premium cuts- strip steaks/lamb chops run $15/lb, cheaper cuts are $6-$8, ground beef is $5 lb. It means their animals eat grass. From birth to death. They are not finished on a lot. They said it is less fatty than normal meat.

This is my next move magnolia, good call on it. I live in the Richmond VA area...guess I have to do some scouting around a bit. Thanks for the suggestion. How did you find your local farm?