I don't know about you, but I'd rather not have one of this guy's offspring on my dinner plate. A recent winner at an agricultural fair, this blue ribbon bull is one mutated looking beast. Aside from any gene selection, we've got a whole lot of help from steroids and growth hormones going on here. I would love to know how old this beast is. You can bet one thing, he's been bred to get really big, really fast, on really cheap food. This is what's being rewarded in "farming" nowadays. Go big or go home, folks.
Sweet Mercy. How can anyone look at that animal above and be proud of what we're doing to our food? It's one thing for consumers to be disconnected from what's happening with our land, but when farmers succumb to the pressure to 'go big' in order to make a living, it breaks my heart. We need to support our small local farmers so we have local farmers to support.
By the way, if you're buying meat at the grocery store, organic or not, how do you know this frankensteinian bull isn't part of the menu? Perhaps not this guy in particular, but you might want to find out who your steak's daddy was. I showed this picture to some of my farmers who scoffed at such an abomination. What would your farmers think of him?
For comparison's sake, I'm including some pictures of blue ribbon winning bulls at agricultural fairs from the earlier part of our century. I wonder what those old, hat-wearing, suspender-flaunting farmers would think of Mr. Roid up there.
The early century bulls look positively dainty in comparison!
ReplyDeleteThe difference is the breed of cattle. The top bull is not the result of steroids, or anything freaky. Charolais were bred in France to be big draft animals. The other three animals are British breeds, which are bred to be smaller. The Charolais which have been imported directly from France are even bigger than the ones directly from France. In fact, it's not uncommon to have a "ton cow" who has been raised only on grass at maturity. That means she weighs around 2,000 pounds, where the average cow weighs around 1,000 to 1,500 pounds. The Charolais breed is known for its higher percent of lean meat in the carcass, which is why they are crossed with the British breeds, to produce a leaner, bigger, carcass with less fat. The predominant finishing steer, at least in Canada, is the "Charcross" steer which is Charolais, with a British breed. The European breeds such as Charolais, Simmental and Salers revolutionized the cattle industry because they have bigger, leaner carcasses naturally. We don't need growth hormone to have good cattle.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charolais_cattle
ReplyDeleteHI Debbie,
ReplyDeleteYes, there's a difference in the breed of cattle, but even in that we see astonishing differences from centuries ago so there are other factors to consider. Look at some old pictures of oxen. They're big beasts of burden to be sure, but we're not seeing what we are now. The breeds you refer to were considered draft animals, as you mentioned, in Europe. The European farmers knew the strengths of their animals and it wasn't in their meat. Those animals were used to pull plows and at the end of their long careers, they'd be made into sausage or burger.
What we have today is the result of man made selection, looking for the biggest animal that could pack on the most poundage in the shortest time with some help from hormones and other synthetic growth enhancers. This doesn't mean every farmer with these breeds are using these products, but the lines definitely had some help along the way.
You say that the bigger European breeds "revolutionized" the cattle industry. Revolutionized how? Do you mean that farmers were able to grow bigger cattle faster? Do you mean that they helped to bring us to this place where cattlemen and women are forced to sell their cattle into a market that rewards the middle man, leaving the farmer with less and less for them and their families? These grain eating breeds that end their lives in a miserable feed lot, heavily subsidized by the Canadian people so their meat can flood our grocery stores inexpensively? Who wins there? I can tell you that it's not the small farmer. One look at the statistics on farmers who are throwing in the towel tells us all that our system is terribly broken.
Your last comment, "they have bigger, leaner carcasses" says it all. We don't want bigger and we don't want leaner. We're looking for a normalcy in the size of our animals, average to breeds that live their lives on pasture, eating only grass for the entirety of their lives. I know these breeds are being supplemented with grain and/or corn. You may also want to look into the importance of deep yellow fat and marbling on grass fed animals. http://www.westonaprice.org/traditional-diets/622-ancient-dietary-wisdom.html
Our aim is to eat the most nutritious, sustainable meat available. I am interested in farmers raising cattle that are rotationally grazed, improving the soil and pastures it lives from and then gives back. I have seen these animals living on pasture, but supplemented with corn and grain and then sold into the 'system' where they then live the remainder of their days in a filthy feedlot, getting fatter on grain and other goodies.
And the meat? What do you mean by "good cattle" are you speaking to the characteristics of the meat or the size of the animal? I've had meat from these types of animals, in fact anyone eating meat from a grocery store has, and I would challenge the description of "good". In fact, if we're discussing the same Charolais and Simmentals that are packaged pretty on our grocery store shelves, I would call that meat down right 'lousy'.
I appreciate your comments. All the best.
Tara
There are also differences within breeds many of the early cattle in the angus breed were of some size and scale with 3 year old bulls such as quality marshall, of scotch heritage in pedigree, weighing 2400 at 3 years of age, and yet the blood of his sizeable herd mate blackap revolution was sent from canada to australia and were turned into smaller cattle called lowlines by purposley breeding them down.and then there were the belt buckle cattle of the 40s and 50s;moral of the story use what works for you but you have to have a market for your cattle.middle of the road is better but not as exciting as the swinging pendulum. just some thaughts from a cattle historian.best regards Steve
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