Why does Foodpunk recommend pasture-raised beef?

Pasture milk, pasture-raised beef, pasture butter, pasture whey… as a Foodpunk you have probably noticed our passion for products from pasture farming more than once. But why exactly do we recommend buying pasture products so warmly? Clearly: on ethical grounds alone it is good to buy pasture-raised beef & co and thereby support better rearing of the animals. Keeping animals on pasture is a gain for our environment too. But since we are Foodpunk, with this recommendation we have also built a few positive aspects for your health straight into the plan. And we have finally made an article that answers all the “where, how, what?” questions.

Put briefly: pasture-raised cattle are cattle that are allowed a life directly on the pasture thanks to more ecological rearing. When you compare cattle from pasture farming with the conventional production of beef in intensive livestock operations, though, far more differences become apparent.

The term pasture-raised beef generally refers to cattle that are allowed to spend their whole life on the pasture. There they have access to fresh grass. In the months when no grass is available they are fed hay. The digestive system of the animals is designed for that. Supplementary feeding by humans is not necessary. Everything the animal needs in order to build up and maintain its body structures and stay healthy, it can obtain from grass with its many stomachs and its complex digestion.

In pasture farming, care is taken that the cattle have the chance to shelter safely in bad weather conditions. Because the aim is to allow husbandry that is as close to the species’ natural needs as possible, the animals are also offered options for relaxation, such as massage devices. The reason? In their natural behaviour cattle would scratch themselves on trees, for instance.

The point is to allow pasture-raised cattle a life with as few stress factors as possible. Stress factors for cattle are, for example, a lack of freedom of movement and poor nutrition, all factors that come together in conventional husbandry. Another stress factor can arise at the slaughter of the animals, when they are removed from their familiar surroundings and transported. There are concepts in which the animals are shot quickly and as painlessly as possible directly on the pasture. Because they are in their familiar surroundings they are relaxed, and the space allows precise work. If such a form of slaughter is not an option, the aim is to choose an abattoir as close as possible, so that ideally the cattle do not have to be transported for longer than 10 minutes.

Not pasture-raised cattle are animals kept in large numbers in sheds. They get little to no outdoor space. They are also mostly fed on concentrated feed, grain and soy. Since the digestive tract of cattle is not designed for this kind of food, this diet means additional stress for the animals. In intensive livestock farming the focus is on fast production of the meat. The grain-heavy diet makes the cattle put on weight more quickly, which minimises the time until slaughter and maximises the profit. Slaughter in conventional operations also involves a great deal of stress for the animals, which among other things affects the taste of their meat. Specifically this happens through the release of hormones in the animal. All these stress factors weaken the animals and make them more susceptible to disease.

At this point it has to be said: the term “Weiderind”, pasture-raised beef, is not protected in Germany. In concrete terms this means there are no uniform requirements a “pasture-raised” animal has to meet in order to be called “pasture-raised”. The German consumer advice centre criticises this state of affairs, because it means the consumer cannot work out in the supermarket whether the animal really was kept on pasture.

Cattle that are allowed to eat fresh grass on the pastures in summer. In colder temperatures these cattle get high-quality hay. Compressed, high-calorie feed such as concentrated feed is not used. The aim with pasture-raised cattle is to allow husbandry close to the species’ natural needs: they have outdoor space, access to fresh grass and also the chance to scratch themselves on installed massage devices, as they would do on trees in their natural habitat.

Since this requirement is not uniform, it is worth asking directly at the farms how the rearing of the cattle is handled.

With pasture farming, no agricultural land has to be taken up growing grain and soy to feed cattle, as would be usual with shed husbandry in conventional operations. That means: you gain more land for other agricultural uses and thereby protect the soils, which would lose fertility if used solely for growing grain (to feed the animals).

An ecosystem is extremely complex: individual components mesh seamlessly and depend on one another.

An example: many cats catch and eat birds. If the number of cats rises, birds are at risk. Since birds eat insects (and that now falls away), we get bitten more. Annoying, isn’t it?

Pasture-raised cattle tend and maintain the so-called grassland ecosystem. Free-living herds of cattle move around so as not to graze one spot completely bare, but instead to have grassland available in as many places as possible. In this way they protect the grassland from being taken over by woodland. Woods and meadows are often in the immediate vicinity of one another and the woods try to expand wherever they can. With a suitable rotation plan applied by the people keeping the cattle, pasture-raised cattle protect the grassland and so preserve the diversity of animal and plant species within it.

Meat from pasture-raised cattle not only tastes better, because no stress hormones are formed at slaughter, it is also richer in nutrients than the conventional product. A nutrient comparison between pasture meat and meat from conventional husbandry:

According to a study by California State University on fatty acid composition and antioxidants, pasture-raised beef contains higher amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. In the study the ratio of omega-6 fatty acids to omega-3 was 1.53:1. With conventional meat it was 7.65:1 (omega-6 to omega-3). The higher the ratio of omega-6 values to omega-3 fatty acids, the more susceptible the body is to inflammation. Inflammation encourages, for example, flare-ups in autoimmune conditions, worse skin, bowel disorders and so on. A low ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 also has a positive effect on cholesterol levels and heart health.

Saturated fatty acids are important for our body, because among other things they are needed for producing energy and for hormone metabolism. The saturated fatty acids in pasture-raised beef are made up of various types of fatty acid, including stearic acid, palmitic acid and myristic acid. What stands out here: the stearic acid value is raised compared with the conventional beef product, while the values for palmitic and myristic acid are lower. As a result the concentrations of the individual saturated fatty acids are healthier in their ratio to one another and reduce, among other things, the possibility of hardening of the arteries.

Conjugated linoleic acid (also called CLA) belongs to the group of polyunsaturated fatty acids with two double bonds. It is found mainly in the meat of ruminants and in their milk. It forms in the digestive tract of ruminants through the linoleic acid isomerase of the bacterium Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens. It can also form in the tissue of the animals through the desaturation of trans-vaccenic acid. In pasture-raised beef, conjugated linoleic acid has been measured at two to three times the concentration. Research suggests that CLA has an anti-cancer and antioxidant effect and has a favourable influence on glucose and fat metabolism.

Vitamins that are important for the body and our wellbeing, such as vitamin E and precursors of vitamin A, are present in higher amounts in pasture meat than in meat from shed husbandry. Vitamin E is a cell-protecting vitamin. It can dampen inflammatory reactions and prevent hardening of the arteries (arteriosclerosis). It also protects the memory and influences the ability to recall. Vitamin A is involved in growth, cell formation, reproduction and vision. As an antioxidant it also acts as a “radical scavenger”.

The antioxidant enzymes glutathione, superoxide dismutase and catalase are present in higher concentrations in pasture meat. They help to reduce reactive oxygen species in the cells and are therefore true anti-ageing boosters.

In the supermarket it is unfortunately usually not clear where the meat on offer comes from and how the animals were fed, because intensive cattle farming does not have to be labelled. According to the German consumer protection centre, some supermarkets deliberately obscure the origin and rearing of the cattle with glossy, flowery language. Sentences such as “raised on the grass steppe and latterly fed on grain” should set your alarm bells ringing. Because cattle do not need to be fed grain in order to be healthy and fit. All the animals need is grass and hay. That means that in this case, despite time on the pasture, it is definitely not the pasture-raised beef we Foodpunks want to eat.

At least the organic label gives a little more information about the animals in the supermarket. In Germany, cattle classed as organic must have free outdoor access as often as possible. Pure shed husbandry and high amounts of concentrated feed are ruled out. A finishing period of a maximum of three months is however possible with organic too.

The best thing is to buy your meat directly at a farm. There you can ask how long the cattle are allowed out on the pastures and what other particular features their rearing has.

Other sources we recommend are:

• fleischlust
• kauf-ne-kuh
• max-wurst
• hafninger-weide (for everyone in the Munich region)
• meinbiorind

All products connected with pasture farming have a positive effect on our wellbeing, for example pasture milk. A study published in 2018, a cooperation project of the University of Minnesota, Johns Hopkins University, Newcastle University, Aarhus University Hospital and Southern Cross University, looked at the composition of the fatty acids in dairy products depending on how the animals were fed. It tested and compared the milk of pasture-raised cattle, organic cattle and cattle from conventional husbandry. The conclusion was that the omega-3 fat content in pasture milk is up to 50 per cent higher compared with the conventional product. It also contains polyunsaturated linoleic acid (also called conjugated linoleic acid, CLA for short). Vitamin E, precursors of vitamin A and iron were also found in higher concentrations in pasture milk. That makes products made from pasture milk an ideal tool for improving health.

Foods from pasture farming are, for example:

• pasture butter
• milk from pasture farming
• pasture lamb
• pasture buttermilk
• pasture Gouda
• pasture Butterkäse
• cream cheese from pasture farming
• pasture Cheddar
• pasture whey
• collagen from pasture farming

Quite apart from the health advantages, pasture-raised beef of course also has the #nomnomnom factor. So we asked you: what are your favourite Foodpunk recipes with pasture-raised beef?

Your top 10 are:

1. Swede chips with steak and pepper dip
2. Chicory and radicchio salad with beef
3. Thai curry with beef
4. Tender rump steak with fruity lamb’s lettuce
5. White asparagus and coconut and orange sauce with steak
6. Fresh Asian vegetables with beef strips
7. Spicy tomato soup with roasted mince
8. Tender beef rump steak with vanilla carrots and salad
9. Rump steak with herb butter and salad
10. Simply onto the grill with it, and vegetables and herb butter alongside

You will find all the recipes in the Foodpunk app, and number 10 under Flexmeal.

If you have now developed a real appetite for healthy, tasty food that is good for the body, for wellbeing and for the taste factor, then have a plan drawn up for you by our nutrition experts and get going, with products from pasture farming (or with vegetarian or vegan recipes).

To finish, our creative chef Francesco shows you how to sear a fillet of pasture-raised beef perfectly.