Beef Jerky Gift to Philippino Familin

Where does your meat really come from?

Hither's the rundown:  I volition just discuss three of the near common kinds of beef in the Philippines: (1) Local grain-fed; (2) Imported Beefiness; and (iii) Local grass-fed.

The kind of meat we accept in the market, the meat nosotros grew up with and have grown to love, and what ends upwards on our tabular array, has a lot to practise with economics or the business of meat.

Local Grain-Fed

Almost all cattle operations in Luzon (except for some dairy and breeding operations) heighten cattle for the supermarket trade.  Supermarkets pay a premium for beefiness and thus farmers who sell to these markets are able to get more money for their meat.

Nonetheless, supermarkets volition only go meat that measures up to a certain weight.  This is so that the supermarkets are able to maximize meat to bone ratio. And, since the supermarkets will only accept this bulky weight, farmers accept to make certain that their cows weigh at least 420-500 kilos when they bring them to the market. Now, to get to this weight that supermarkets volition buy, the cattle farmers will have to fatten their cows.  If they left the cows on its natural diet of grass and permit them to leisurely graze, they won't get the required weight in time then they lose on the sale.

How do farmers make sure they have fat cows in a short time?  They fatten information technology up with grain and grain by-products.  Cows are kept in feedlots and fattened up with grain.  Since grain is quite expensive in the Philippines, they substitute also with grain by-products such as mill food rejects, brewers' grain by-products, sweepings, and the like.  How much grass does the moo-cow actually eat?  It varies from farm to farm. The bigger the farm, the more than majuscule it has to supplement with grain.  Smaller farms cannot beget a lot of grain or by-products. On the average, local fattening operations use about 60% food concentrate and 40% grass. Economics dictate: the bigger and faster, the better chances at the supermarket. Farmers are often forced to implant growth-inducing hormones to make sure the cows are fattened in record time.

Imported

The steak we grew upwardly with and love to consume, that fat juicy one with the white marbling, those come up from imported breeds similar Angus and Hereford. These are the breeds that are able to put on more fat. The cows are raised in large farms with highly mechanized farming operations.These cattle operations accept a farmer to cattle ratio of 1:100 upward to ane:1000 heads.  That means having just ane farmer to one thousand cows! The U.S. also heavily subsidizes grain and thus cattle farms are able to go very cheap grain to feed livestock. (They likewise have to feed during the wintertime or a drought using grain.) They feed cattle more than than ninety% grain. Now, since the cows don't feed based on their natural constitution and on the pace that they should, they easily get ill.  Farmers then have to requite them antibiotics.  They are likewise implanted growth-producing hormones. Not but that (this is exactly where the vegans bellow: brute cruelty!") they are dehorned and so they can be easily handled, and castrated so they gain weight much faster. Also, the calves practise not stay in the farms for long.  Farmers send the calves off to feedlots when they are only 6-8 months of age.  They do this then they go on their pasture gratuitous for producing more cows.  Note that a large pct of imported beefiness comes from dairy operations and dairy operations more often than not use more than supplements like milk replacers and medications for young calves.

Imported Grass Fed: Grass fed claims are voluntary and cattle are not 100% grass fed. These cows tin can even so be grain fed or can exist pasture-raised but grain finished (they are subsequently fattened with grain.) Forty to fifty percent of imported beef comes from dairy cows.

Local Grass Fed

Local grass fed beef used to be the beef no one wanted to sell or buy. For the big-scale farmers, it was simply not economical.  For the consumers, at that place was not enough fat!  Simply with the increasing consciousness on the benefits of grass fed beefiness (good fat, loftier in Omega 3 and CLA, and leaner than skinless chicken), it has since climbed up the ranks and has now won a niche market place.

Local grass fed meat comes from very pocket-size farms, mostly family unit farms.  The breeds are of the Indian breed, which are hardy, suited to our tropical climate, and bacteria than the temperate breeds.The farmer to moo-cow ratio is usually 1:ane or 1:ii.  Small farms with a few cows don't need extensive land, fertilizer, pesticides, or heavy equipment. The cows do the work. They are tamed near similar a family pet. This is again, the most applied affair to do.  Tamed animals are easier to handle. The family unit farms volition as well non feed it anything merely grass.  Feeding it grain is overly impractical, almost cool.  With the amount of rainfall we become, green grass is readily available all yr round. So the moo-cow feeds on grass and lives outdoors, in the pasture. The cow is non dehorned or castrated. There is simply no betoken in doing then.  Also, they feed on their natural nutrition of local grass, building upward their immune organization so there is no need for antibiotics at all. Lxxx percent of local grass fed cattle at their market place age, will only counterbalance between 320 to 350 kilos live weight, way down the mark of supermarkets.  The smaller animals get slaughtered in the local wet markets because the cost of transporting them to major markets is also expensive (Price of shipping a 320 kilo moo-cow is the same as the 500 kilo cow.) The remaining 10% (those with better weight) are sent to a fattening functioning in Batangas to exist finished on a ration of grass and grain by products.

The healthier, more humane, upstanding, and sustainable choice is really local, grass fed beef.  The cows were fed grass every bit nature intended them to, without medications, and have lived stress-free, happier lives. What you take then is food that is low in fat, and a groovy source of Omega 3 and the cancer fighting CLA. (See table comparison Imported Commercial, DowntoEarth Grass Fed and Local Grain-Fed)

The challenge however, is in sourcing the meat.  Clearly, you won't readily detect these in the local supermarkets. A wholesaler or butcher might claim he has grass fed beef, but information technology is hard to really ascertain where information technology comes from and how it was raised.  Yellow fat does non always mean the cow was fed 100% grass.  You can feed upwards to 80% of dry feed and still get yellow fat.  What you need is someone you trust and who knows where to discover these small farmers and could buy direct from them. (Now it's very difficult to pretend I'm non boasting or hard-selling here but really, 99% of our grass fed meats come from these small farmers, the other 1% we raise ourselves.)

Meat Comparison

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Source: https://www.downtoearth.ph/the-philippine-cattle-industry-an-introduction/

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