> What seems more remarkable to me is the "decline" in >desireables for food
quality can happen so quickly
>on perfectly good grass fed beef subsequently  "finished" on >grain for
just a few weeks before butcher.

Sally Fellon in "Nourishing Traditions" argues the grain finishing basically
mimics the natural change in diet that bovines experienced as the meadow
grasses ripened into seed. I have no idea if this is a valid point. But i
don't see that grain-fed makes any big difference to nutritional quality of
u eat a variety of cuts including the gelatin-rich ones [ox-tail, lamb
shank] and include the marrow.

andrew