Marianne,

I can't speak for Fresh Fields because I know nothing about their
store/operations.  --So much *nothing* in fact that I've never even heard of
them.

I can tell you, however, that all beef is grass-fed up to near the time they
ship to feedlots, which is where the bulk of the actual graining
(corn-feeding) takes place.  It's pretty much standard practice for cattle
raisers to introduce trough feeding to cows--and, consequently, very small
amounts of grain to them--maybe about a month before they are shipped out,
though I'm sure the amount of time a farmer/rancher does this actually
varies from no introduction at all to maybe a few days to a few weeks.
Understand, though, at this point in a beef cow's life it is still mostly
eating pasture grass and/or hay, depending on the time of year.    Critters
can be suspicious of new things, and introducing both trough-feeding and
grain is a way to ensure the bovines won't hunger strike (and lose valuable
weight!) once they're penned in feedlots and offered only grain.  Truth is,
cows love corn, and once they get a few tastes of it they're carb converts.
That makes introducing the troughs easy.

Once they arrive at the feedlots that serve the processing plants, they are
exclusively trough-fed and grained.  (With some exceptions brought about by
whatever extenuating circumstances might exist.)  Now, mind you, corn is not
cheap.  It's actually a very expensive way to feed cows, but it imparts a
certain taste we've all grown up on and causes some rather rapid weight
gain--yes, fattening--before slaughter.  Penning--that is, limiting the
cows' ability to roam (and besides making huge operations
manageable)--further promotes weight gain and fat infiltration/marbleization
of the meat.  Tender, juicy beef is the result.  (The required hanging/aging
after slaughter also promotes tenderization by allowing microbial breakdown
of the products of rigor mortis. You can't imagine how tough and nearly
inedible beef can be unless it's penned before slaughter and hung
afterwards. You might as well try to chew a boot.)  Over many years a vast
amount of research has been devoted in the beef industry to identifying just
how long a cow needs to be grained to achieve a cost effective weight gain:
taste balance.  It is only something like a mere three weeks. Anything much
beyond that is considered a waste of time and money.  While I can't speak
with any authority on the matter, it's my guess that the ever-increasing
numbers of packaged beef we find in the store that is labeled "Enhanced with
a 10% solution...." is an industry attempt to further cut back the time and
costs of graining by artificially imparting the taste we expect beef to
have.  I guess I'll get around to asking someone about this some time.

All in all, though, beef cows lead very normal, pastoral, lives for their
species until just a few weeks before we serve them for dinner.  I would
much rather be reincarnated as a beef cow than as a dairy cow.  <g>

Theola




**************************************
> From:    Marianne Fuller <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: finding grass fed beef
>
> Someone said at one point that grass-fed cattle are often fed grains right
> before they are killed. If you buy your food at a place like Fresh Fields
> rather than directly from a rancher (not too accessible), how can you tell
> whether the cattle were completely grass-fed or fed grains before death?
And
> does the latter pretty much make the cattle just like cattle that were fed
> grains the whole time, or not?