Comments on: Food for Thought: Lard and Tallow, Healthy Fats?

By: Katie

Katie — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:31:26 +0000

The cattle are on grass or hay the entire year, but I don’t know how much time they spend outside in the winter. I do believe they dip the teats, in a “sanitizing solution”. Bleach water, I think Not ideal, but you can’t avoid EVERYthing! Like I said, I think they just pull that animal’s milk when the cow has mastitis.

By: tonya

tonya — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:41:32 +0000

are your farm’s cattle pastured 24/7/365? if they are always on grass, i can see a lower mastitis incidence, because it’s “cleaner”. manure, mud & dirt are big culprits where mastitis is concerned. this also makes me wonder if the farm pre & post dips their cattle’s teats & if they do, with what…if they do dip with something, it’d probably be a chemical of some sort. that all being said, i can’t see a zero incidence of mastitis. it’s gotta be treated somehow when it happens.

mastitis usually doesn’t require a vet visit, unless it’s REALLY nasty (staph).

i’ve done some looking for pesticide residue info, but it’s been a busy work week for me. still searching.

By: Katie

Katie — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:47:26 +0000

Tonya,

Looking fwd to the info on liver/filtering and toxins left behind (never thought I’d say THAT and mean it!).

If I remember our tour correctly, our dairy farm pulls the animal’s milk if they have mastitis…but I think they have a really low incidence of mastitis, period, b/c the animals are so healthy (only one vet visit in 4 or 5 years).

Thanks for all the links – my head is spinning trying to figure out what I’m reading!
Katie

By: Lenetta @ Nettacow

Lenetta @ Nettacow — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:49:49 +0000

PS – linked. Thanks!!
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By: tonya

tonya — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:35:32 +0000

this link has a lot of good info & references on organic vs. conventional

http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/faq/BuyOrganicFoodsC.shtml
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By: tonya

tonya — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:56:11 +0000

quality grade is determined by marbling & carcass age.

more info here: http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/bqa/manual/appendix/qualitygrds.htm(i actually learned to do this in class at MSU.)

http://ars.sdstate.edu/AnimalEval/Beef/beefgrade.htm

http://ars.sdstate.edu/AnimalEval/Evalhome.htm

livestock diets are designed to be efficient. it’s a balance of input cost, time on feed, & output.
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By: tonya

tonya — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:47:54 +0000

something being marketed as no antibiotics during finishing means no antibiotics during finishing.

this makes me wonder, how does your dairy farm treat mastitis?

i have steered clear from organ meats. not my bag. my family (grandparents, parents) used them as i was growing up. i’ve seen them & dealt with them. given the “filter” properties of the liver though, it’s not one i would go for. now, that is me being anecdotal.

i’ll look for some evidence of residue in liver meet or fats.
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By: Katie

Katie — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 09:47:12 +0000

Isn’t the “grade A” meat called so because of its marbling though? I talked to a local meat market and they said they don’t stock grassfed animals because the marbling isn’t there. ?? I was under the impression that, ironically as much as we value “low-fat” foods as a society, we value higher-fat meat for the flavor.

M. Pollan says in In Defense of Food “animals grow faster on a high energy diet of grain.” Can I say accurately then that factory-farmed animals (meaning anything other than green grass, really) eat diets designed to make them grow faster to be ready for slaughter more quickly?

I don’t think I’d use tallow from supermarket beef myself. Is it true that toxins/chemicals will concentrate in the animal fat (like pesticides from their feed)?

Thank you,
Katie

By: Katie

Katie — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 09:40:40 +0000

Tonya,
Is the “withdrawal” time the reason some beef is marketed as “no antibiotics in the 120-day finishing period”?

re: organ meats. I’ve only used liver once, but I have another in my freezer. I read that it’s so healthy…I would only use organ meats from pastured, organic animals at this point, never supermarket chickens or beef. BUT – I don’t know much about them overall! You?
Katie

By: tonya

tonya — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:08:43 +0000

just noticed this too…”Unfortunately, most supermarket meat is factory-grown, where the animals don’t get exercise and have diets meant to make them fatter quicker.”

NOT TRUE. farms don’t want their animals to be fat. fat doesn’t pay. muscle does. fat & muscle are indirectly proportional. muscle quantity & quality are what farm’s are selling.

as an animal gets fatter it has less muscle. thus, too much fat = bad. as i mentioned in my first post, fat is the last component laid down in the finishing process. “fattening” truly is the finishing part of finishing. actually, fat is also called finish when describing livestock.
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