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RE: [RC] slaughter Sorry it's so long - heidi

Barbara, I'll respectfully disagree with Lud on this one.  Beef cattle in this country by and large ARE maintained on grass or hay much of the year, with the exception being the time they spend in the feedlot in the so-called "finishing" process.  It is in the feedlot that they are fed high-concentrate rations, and it is is these rations that necessitate the addition of prophylactic antibiotics, etc. to the diet, because they are maintained at a level of rumen acidosis (due to the carbs) that begins to threaten the lining of the rumen itself, putting the animal always on the verge of having bacteria and toxins leak out into the bloodstream.  By the time these animals hit the slaughterhouse, instead of the nice clean livere you see in grass-fed beef, the livers are often full of small abcesses, etc.  After a couple of months in the feed lot, these animals are stressed to the point that they could not go back out and lead long, healthy lives.  Just what you want to eat---NOT!  But that's what you find on the supermarket shelves.  Additionally, the unhealthy feeding practices marble in the fat (which in years past has been considered "desirable") and cause a shift in the omegas and the healthy vs unhealthy types of fats.  Feedlot beef is a contributor to our country's obesity and unhealthful life style--grass-fed beef is practically a health food.  There's that much difference.
 
So, since the young slaughter cattle are maintained on grass right up to the point of going into the feedlot anyway, my question has always been, "WHY NOT JUST SLAUGHTER THEM AT THAT POINT?"  You get healthier meat, smaller cuts, better (IMO) flavor, far less need for any sorts of unhealthy additives, etc. 
 
Furthermore, given our energy crisis, the corn that is poured down the gullets of previously healthy bovines to make them walking time bombs to slaughter and serve to the public could be used to make ethanol with which we could fuel our cars.  (I believe it is Brazil that relies almost entirely on ethanol for motor vehicle fuel, and at about half the cost that we are currently paying for gasoline....) 
 
To make this endurance-related, not only would we be healthier riders if we ate grass-fed beef instead of the feedlot stuff, but we could also have cheaper fuel so that we could afford to go to a lot more rides!
 
Heidi



It would be wonderful if all cattle could be pasture-raised and sent to market right off grass.  I asked my husband whether there is enough pasture in our county (not country) to raise enough beef to feed all the people in the county and he said no way. 
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