Brits need to get over their beef with US meat

Washington Examiner ^ | 7th August 2017 | Daniel Hannan

[Ennis85]

I eat steak whenever I'm in the United States. Your steaks are bigger, juicier, and more tender than those I can buy in Europe. Why? Partly because American cattle are given hormones that are banned in the EU.

Now, you might prefer the idea of unadulterated beef, raised only on rich green grass. Plenty of people in Europe say they do, and good luck to them. No one is going to force them to eat anything they don't want. But why should they impose their taste on the rest of us?

Over the past two weeks, a bizarre alliance has coalesced in Britain against the import of American food, in particular beef and chicken (which, being washed in chlorine, is also outlawed by the EU). A post-EU Britain will be free to sign a trade deal with the U.S., removing the more superstitious restrictions, thus lowering costs for British consumers. Who could be against that? Quite a few people, it turns out — anti-Americans, Leftist agitators, militant vegetarians and, not least, Euro-fanatics who want Brexit to fail, and so oppose any post-EU trade deals. Plus, of course, some U.K. farmers who, like all producers in all countries, want to keep out competition.

If a U.S.-U.K. trade deal is consumer-led, removes irrational barriers, and asserts the basic principle that what may be sold in one country may legally be sold in the other, the potential gains are vast.

Here, though, is the key point: The biggest gains are to the country that sweeps away its own barriers. Sure, there will be some gains for Nebraskan ranchers if Britain allows U.S. beef into its markets. But the real advantage goes to the Brits. As prices fall in the U.K.,

[Iscool]

Grass fed beef is much better than the alternative.

I assume you mean grass fed 'only', since it seems all beef is raised on grass of one form or another...

I prefer grass fed beef fattened up on corn...

[jjotto]

Corn is in fact a grass!

[Iscool]

Corn is in fact a grass!

May be but it's too tough to cut with my Craftsman rider so I don't plant it...However, I don't think that was a consideration to those who prefer grass fed beef...

I believe it's the grain (corn) from the corn grass that provides for the tender, flavorful beef...While oat grass grain is excellent for beef, the grass portion (straw) doesn't provide much for food...

[Man from Oz]

Just your opinion sir...

[Man from Oz]

Our US industry castrates all males. A growth implant simply replaces the hormones ( T2 and E) lost from the removal of the testicles. Circulating hormone levels are thousands of times lower than ingested birth control pills and are orders of magnitude lower than broccoli and other crucifer out veggies that are routinely consumed.

[Man from Oz]

You are exactly correct. Cattle on feed fed 75 - 85% corn in the diet for a minimum of 125 days on feed deposit intramuscular fat known as marbling which is directly responsible for juiciness, flavor and tenderness.

[Man from Oz]

I would agree with your sentiments. Grass fed beef in my mind only makes sense for those people with heart issues. While grass fed beef may have flavor, the presence of yellow fat leads to a greater tendency to off flavor (according to sensory panel) results. Not to mention that the meat is chewer.

I have personally consumed a lot of Bolivian grass beef during my travels there. Sure, the meat is flavorful but my teeth feel loose for a week after I return.

[Chgogal]

http://www.hyscience.com/archives/2008/11/american_troops_1.php

Many Europeans are full of themselves. I know because I was born in the US to a Dutch father and a German mother. I lived 25% of my life in Europe. The Europeans are “We know everything better and Americans have no culture.” know nothings. Above is a link from a French Soldier talking about working with the 101st Airborne in A-stan. Enjoy, it is a lovely read.

One of my favorite paragraphs (IOW, yippee for American food):

Heavily built, fed at the earliest age with Gatorade, proteins and creatine - they are all heads and shoulders taller than us and their muscles remind us of Rambo. Our frames are amusingly skinny to them - we are wimps, even the strongest of us - and because of that they often mistake us for Afghans.