Feeding animals grass: A new innovative concept or ‘reinventing the wheel’??

So… grass-fed beef, kind of reinventing the wheel, eh? True, yes this is true, but maybe taking a few steps back could be beneficial in this day and age. The concept is simple; keep animals on grass/hay and out of feedlots, for the duration of their lives. There is then no need to ship in feed or ship animals to feed, henceforth using fewer resources in their developmental process. Ample benefits accrue from the grass fed process, some for the environment, farmers, animals, and humans.

I would love to delve into all those specifics but due to the vastness of the topic I will direct those with interest to the website http://www.eatwild.com, is a phenomenal resource. Not only does it state facts on the benefits of grass fed but it also is a resource to find local purveyors.

It was through that website that I found Cameron Ranch ( http://www.cameronranch.com), outside of Riverton. One of the other interns, Mitch, and I, went out to visit Pete Cameron and check out his operation last week. Pete has been in the ranching business for 30 years. Throughout those years he has raised cattle, sheep, horses, dogs and cats — and shared his life with ranch guests. If nothing else, it is really nice to put a face behind the food in which you eat.

Through computers, mass shipping, etc., many of us have never associated a human being with the food we eat. Due to operations like Pete’s you can go out to place in which the cattle are raised, meet the producer, stay in his bunkhouse, chat poetry (or whatever), and then go home the next day with beef that sells for around $3-4/lb (you can’t find it much cheaper at the grocery store).