What do you mean by "naturally-raised?"
With all the hype surrounding "natural" food these days, what does "naturally-raised" even mean?
We can't guarantee how other companies define "natural," but for us the answer is
simple. It means animals are raised the way nature intended, the way they've been raised traditionally for hundreds and hundreds of years. They are free to roam at leisure in the pasture, eating the things that cows, pigs, and sheep naturally eat. They have access to clean, uncontaminated water at all times.
They are never given artificial hormones, steroids, or routine antibiotics. Their pasture land is never sprayed with chemical fertilizers or weed killer. They have plenty of room to graze and are never forced to eat nothing but unnatural, processed commercial feed.
Is your beef "grass-fed"?
Yes!
Once the baby calves are weaned from their mothers, they eat all the grass, clover, and natural plants they want while they wander around in the pasture. For the majority of their lives, grass (or hay) is their main food.
Did you know there's no legal, USDA-standard definition of exactly what "grass-fed" means? Savvy consumers need to ask questions to determine exactly how long the steer ate grass and what else (besides grass) it was fed.
Our beef is absolutely "grass-fed," but it's not technically "100% grass fed."
Our cows are grass-fed and have access to natural pasture their whole lives, but they are "grain-finished" to improve the flavor and texture of the meat. Our steers are supplemented with
non-GMO grain (in addition to their natural pasture forage and hay) for the last few weeks before they are butchered. This is what adds the rich "marbeling" that makes our beef taste so delicious.
Some people find that one-hundred percent grass-fed beef tends can be tough, dry, and disappointing in the flavor department (some say it tastes "gamey") because it is
too lean. At the end of their growth, our cattle get fed a non-GMO blend of grain to add fat (moisture and flavor) to the meat. At Simple Beef Co, we believe your beef shouldn't taste like you're eating grass too, right?
Where are your farms located?
At Simple Beef Company, we don't actually own any farms. Rather, we partner with carefully selected Upper Cumberland farmers. We buy livestock directly from them, arrange to have it butchered and packaged at a local USDA-inspected processing facility, and then sell the fresh cuts of meat directly to you.
