G'day Guys,
Well, It’s been 9 weeks on the carnivore diet for Dave and I.
We'd just got back from America, where we fully immersed ourselves in the culinary culture. I’m talking pizzas, barbecue, pancakes, cheesecake, pretzels, s’mores, burgers - and, I even added a few more cookies to my cookie quest! I’ve always been on the hunt for the world’s best cookie, but by the end of the trip, I couldn’t even look at another one. I was completely cookied-out and craving a steak.
At that stage, I wasn’t fussy about where the steak came from, grass fed or grain fed—it didn’t matter. My body just needed red meat and veggies!
You know the feeling? It’s the same feeling you get on Boxing Day after you’ve just had a box of cadbury favourites, 2kgs of prawns and your body weight in ham and potato salad.. That was me.
What stood out to me in America was how hard it was to find grass fed beef. And when we did find it, guess where it came from? Australia!
A staggering 95% of the beef in America is corn-fed..
We spent a lot of time walking through the meat aisles of American supermarkets (riveting, I know😅). I liked Whole foods the best.
Most of the beef sold in America was ground beef (mince) in various forms: burgers, meatballs, mince, sausage patties, hotdogs, and things we hadn't even heard of before. We even visited a meatball factory that produces 12 million meatballs every single week—just for one supermarket! On top of that, they also make 250 tonnes of burgers every week. The sheer volume was mind-blowing, they loved showing us meat loving Aussie's around!
Another thing we noticed was the small selection of steaks available in supermarkets. Most of the cuts were rib or eye fillet and chuck steak, nearly everything was corn-fed and the sheer size of the cuts indicated that the animals were extremely large when processed, the same for the poultry. The whole chickens were the size of basketballs.
So, why is beef production in America so grain-heavy? There are a few reasons:
1. Cost-Effectiveness: Grain-fed cattle require less land and reach heavier weights faster.
2. Affordability: Grain-fed beef is cheaper for consumers, and mince is even more affordable, so most beef is turned into ground products.
3. Seasonal Limitations: In colder climates, where grass isn’t available year-round, it’s harder for farmers to produce grass-fed beef.
4. Population Demand: With so many people to feed, the focus is on producing food quickly and at scale.
The trip was an eye-opener and made us appreciate how lucky we are to have access to high-quality, grass-fed beef here in Australia. (Although, 80% of the beef consumed in Australia is still grain fed, so you have to know where your beef is coming from to be sure its actually grass fed!)
Anyway, the day we flew back from America, we went straight to Adelaide for the Carnivore Collective Conference which is where our Carnivore journey began...
TBC..
Bianca x
Ps, you can stock up on grass fed meat easily through us! We deliver right to your door.
