Williamson Farms Featured in the Issaquah Press
Grass Fed Beef: The Hottest Trend in Mouth-Watering Meat

The hottest trend in meat makes old-timers’ mouths water.
By Jeanie van Amen. January 19, 2005

Don Mitchell swore off beef nearly four years ago after hearing about mad cow disease.

The Issaquah resident had been replacing his occasional steak with organic poultry and fish until, on a recent shopping trip to PCC Natural Markets in Issaquah, he was introduced to grass-fed beef. After taking a couple of steaks home to barbeque, he was hooked.

“I think it is really good,” Mitchell said. The meat is more lean, and just looks better than typical packaged grocery store fare, he said. “My kids loved it. They are constantly asking me, ‘When are we going to get it again?’

That kind of enthusiasm is music to the ears of Jerry Williamson, owner of Williamson Farms. The family-run enterprise, located about 22 miles west of Moses Lake, specializes in natural, grass-fed beef, and was chosen by PCC Natural Markets last October as its exclusive supplier. Up until then, the farm had been mainly selling its tasty wares locally and over the Internet. Interest in the farm’s grass-fed beef has been growing faster than a field of corn. Williamson said his farm went from selling about 50 head of grass-fed cattle a year to 360 last year. He expects the farm will be selling 2,000 head annually in two years.

Grass-fed, natural, organic — what’s the diff? Grass-fed beef is not a new concept. According to Williamson, it’s how cattle was raised before World War II. It simply means the animal has consumed nothing but its mother’s milk and grasses from birth to harvest.

“It was the standard; now it is the exception,” Williamson said. Grain was introduced into the diet of livestock because of the surplus of grain after the war. Today, most cattle is raised on a mix of grass and grain. Natural meat is more common. It just means the cow was raised without antibiotics or hormones.

Organic meat goes a step further, by insuring the animal is fed organically grown feed and is also raised without antibiotics or hormones. Even organic and natural livestock, though, are usually fed grain. The grass-fed meat from Williamson Farms is natural, and Williamson is working on an organic designation as well – a process that can take at least three years.

Health benefits of going grass-fed

Grass-fed beef has many health benefits, according to the folks at PCC. Here are a few:

• Choosing products from grass-fed cattle virtually eliminates the possibility of mad cow disease — a disease thought to be spread through animal byproducts added to cattle feed — because the livestock is fed only grass.
• Grass-fed beef has about the same fat content as skinless chicken.
• Grass-fed animal products have been shown to be higher in heart-friendly omega-3 fatty acids, beta-carotene and conjugated linoleic acid — nutrients important in fighting cancer, cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.
• Grain-fed beef produces acid-resistant E. coli bacteria, making it more at risk for E. coli infection. Grass-fed beef contains 2,500 times less E. coli-causing bacteria than grain-fed beef.

Environmentally sound

Williamson points to a symbiotic relationship between grass-eating animals and the soil as the reason grass-fed cows are important in the cycle of farm life. “We began to look at them more as a continuous crop, if you will, that benefited the other crops that we were raising,” Williamson said. Cows left to pasture leave manure scattered around as fertilizer, which improves the soil, unlike feedlots where concentrated waste can pollute the land and groundwater.

Williamson’s cattle go to pasture in spring and summer while a main plant crop is grown. After that crop is harvested, he plants the ground with a winter wheat or Triticale grass, and the cattle graze on it on a rotational basis through the winter. Then it starts all over again in spring. “We think is it environmentally and economically sound,” Williamson said.

Slowly growing in popularity

Although sales are moving slower than hoped, Paul Schmidt, director of merchandising at PCC, said he expected that. “The response is good when it is being demo’d and people get to taste the product,” he said, adding that stores often “blow through the meat after a demonstration.”

The taste has been likened to wild game more than the beef flavor people are used to, Schmidt said. The flavor is also subtly shaped by the varieties of grass used in feeding.

Grass-fed beef only accounts for about 10 percent of the grocery chain’s total beef sales, but Schmidt said PCC is committed to the product and is helping local ranchers develop their stock.

The meat is priced slightly higher than typical grain-fed beef, but lower than the organic, grain-fed cuts offered in the store. So far, PCC is the only local store to offer grass-fed beef, according to Schmidt.

Cattle futures

Chris Chiechi, owner of Fischer Meats in downtown Issaquah, started carrying a natural beef line two years ago, but has not seen any great demand for grass-fed products. All-natural beef products account for less than one percent of his sales, he said.

The popular butcher had a record year in 2004, drawing customers from as far away as the Olympic Peninsula.

Smaller grocers in the area have tried selling grass-fed beef without much success, according to Schmidt. But the climate may be changing. Last week alone, another case of mad cow disease was confirmed in Canada, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture updated its dietary guidelines last week, recognizing the importance of omega-3 acids in reducing cardiovascular disease.

Some trendy restaurants are featuring grass-fed beef in their menus, Schmidt said. “It is different, but people who try it like it.”

Lynne Vea, chef and instructor for PCC Natural Markets, uses grass-fed beef in a stir-fry recipe during a demonstration at the chain’s Issaquah store. Because of the meat’s lower fat content, it cooks much faster, Vea said.

What’s your beef?

Compare the nutritional value of a 3-ounce serving of grass-fed beef to typical beef.

Sources: http://www.clevelandclinic.org
http://www.ucinthevalley.org
http://www.eatwild.com

Recipe: stir-fried basil beef with shiitakes and cashews (serves four)
1/4 c peanut or vegetable oil
1 lb grass-fed beef, cut into thin strips
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 sweet onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 small hot red chile, sliced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into julienne strips
3 T soy sauce
1 t cane sugar
20 Thai or sweet basil leaves
1/2 c roasted cashews and peanuts

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over high heat in a wok or large sauté pan. Stir-fry the beef and garlic for four minutes and remove from the pan. Add the remaining oil to the pan and cook the onion, mushrooms, chile and red bell pepper for two minutes. Stir in the beef mixture and add the soy sauce, sugar, basil and cashews. Heat through and serve over steamed jasmine rice.

— Lynne Vea, chef and instructor for PCC Natural Markets

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