Definition: A term applying mainly to beef and occasionally dairy, it means cattle that were raised on a diet consisting mainly of grass. Commercial cattle are fed soybean meal, corn, and other grains.
What it means for you: Grass-fed beef is leaner and considered healthier than beef that is fattened up on grains or soybeans. Grass-fed cattle also tend to come from smaller, less industrialized farms, and take about twice as long to fatten for market as conventional beef, and the expense gets passed along to the consumer. So it costs more, but you’re generally paying for beef raised in less cramped conditions with more nutritious diets.
That said, most cattle were “grass fed” at some point in their lives, and can be labeled as such even if they were mostly fed grain. For beef that was raised exclusively on grass, look for the American Grassfed label.
