These days, you can get “artisanal” chocolate, bread, cheese, and coffee…so why not artisanal beef?

When the Greensbury team first heard that people were using the term “artisan” or “artisanal” for organic meats, we thought it was a little strange, since artisans have traditionally been defined as craftspeople who work with their hands, making things everything from furniture to leather belts. But the more we thought about it, the more we realized that small family farmers are practicing a traditional craft, and sustainably raised grass-fed beef deserves to be recognized for its unique flavor and quality.

Here are some reasons to put the organic grass-fed beef raised on American family farms into the same category with other finely crafted foods and products:

• Made in small batches: “Small batch” is now a term, like artisanal, often attached to canned foods, or baked goods, or other edible items to distinguish them from industrial or mass-made products. When you buy small batch salsa, for example, you can assume that it wasn’t made on an assembly line in a enormous factory that cranks out thousands of bottles a day. By the same token, when you buy grass-fed steaks and other grass-fed meats raised on organic family farms, you know that the animals were raised with care in pastures, not in feedlots, and that the farmer’s livelihood depends on following strict organic standards and producing beef that is “a cut above” what you find in the average supermarket aisle.
• Traditionally made: Before the rise of industrial farming, cattle were routinely grazed in pastures, and therefore beef was grass-fed. Industrial farming introduced grain into the picture, as well as antibiotics and added hormones, which were designed to make producing beef faster and cheaper. Unfortunately, most Americans began to get used to beef that is grain-finished and raised on farms that use pesticides and synthetic fertilizers.
• Unique: Greensbury works with family farmers raise that their livestock and poultry with an emphasis on taste. These farmers have created innovative and unique diets that consist of a variety of green-growing forage. One of our ranchers admitted he spent more than 15 years fine-tuning the different types of grasses, plants and alfalfas he feeds his cattle to make his meat taste great.
• Authentic and wholesome: Our farmers and ranchers treat their animals humanely, allowing them to graze freely. They rotate grazing to allow the grass and soil to replenish naturally. Organic grass-fed beef is better for us, and better for our planet. When compared to grain-fed livestock, grass-fed and pasture-raised meats are among the healthiest of protein sources on the planet, with more “good” fat, less calories, more omega-3s, and more conjugated linoleic acids (CLAs).

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