Photos of recipes from the new book Tender Grassfed Barbecue
Photos of recipes from the cookbook Tender Grassfed Meat
The Best Internet Source for Grassfed Beef
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat and Tender Grassfed Barbecue
Delicious meatloaf made with U.S. Wellness Meats grassfed liverwurst.
I am often asked for recommendations as to a good place to buy grassfed meat. At this point, I have one answer, when it comes to the Internet.
Back when I wrote my first book, Tender Grassfed Meat, I decided that I would recommend a number of good sources of grassfed meat. I would not favor any particular operation. That was almost nine years ago, and I have changed my mind.
The very first good grassfed beef I received was from one supplier, and that supplier has been so superior to everyone else that I have decided to give them the recognition they have earned over the last nine years.
That supplier is U.S. Wellness Meats.
The reasons are many, and here are the most important ones.
Quality
The meat is grassfed, has enough internal fat to be tender and delicious, and is raised with skill and knowledge. Quality has become a huge problem in grassfed beef nowadays, as the increasing demand has led some farmers who do not know how to finish grassfed beef into the market. These farmers often produce meat that is so lean and poorly finished that it will never be tender or delicious. It takes a great deal of skill to properly raise and finish grassfed beef, and the farmers who raise beef for U.S. Wellness Meats have that skill.
Price
While the price of other grassfed meat has skyrocketed during the last few years, the prices at U.S. Wellness Meats have risen much more slowly. Not only are the regular prices lower than almost everyone else, there are sales every two weeks that give you fifteen percent off everything. In addition, shipping is always seven dollars and fifty cents. And additional discounts are available when you buy in bulk.
Reliability
I have ordered meat from U.S. Wellness Meats literally hundreds of times over the last nine years. Most orders are perfect, and in the very rare event that something goes wrong, they have always made it right. They are more reliable than anyone else I have used. Every one of the thousands of pieces of meat I have bought from them has been tender and delicious after I cooked it.
Tassie Beef
Much of the grassfed beef sold by U.S. Wellness Meats is imported from Tasmania. It is important not to confuse this magnificent meat with other beef imported from Australia. While some of the grassfed beef imported from Australia is of mediocre quality, beef from Tasmania is different. Tasmania has incredibly rich soil and grasslands, and the grassfed meat it produces is superb. In fact, it is just as good as the best American grassfed beef, in my opinion.
Service to the Grassfed Community
If you are committed to only eating grassfed beef, you cannot help but notice how much more expensive it has become over the last few years. But U.S. Wellness Meats has deliberately held their prices down, making superb grassfed beef available to many people who could not otherwise afford it. True, this does give them business advantages, such as customer loyalty, and taking customers from the more expensive sources. But it does serve our community by making grassfed beef much more affordable. At this point, they are the best price choice available to me, and I deeply appreciate their commitment to the grassfed movement, taking the long view rather than trying to grab as much short-term profit as possible. In my view, they deserve our support, and I will happily continue to buy their meat.
Great People
I usually order by telephone, and I have had the pleasure of much interaction with the people at U.S. Wellness Meats. Without exception, they are well informed, pleasant, helpful, efficient, good to talk to, and they get the job done right. This is the best group of elite workers I have ever worked with, in my entire life. It is always a pleasure to deal with them.
Scope of Inventory
While I have focused this article on grassfed beef, U.S. Wellness Meats has a vast array of other fine products, including grassfed lamb, grassfed bison, pastured pork, pastured chickens, pastured ducks, even excellent frozen shrimp and other seafood. They also make excellent grassfed beef sausages with only good ingredients, including the best organ meat sausages I have ever come across. While they produce several fine organ meat sausages, I consider their liverwurst, made from grassfed liver, grassfed kidney, and grassfed heart, to be one of the most nutritious products I have ever purchased. These organ meat sausages make it easy to enjoy the benefits of organ meats. They also make some very fine bacon, with only good ingredients, and many other fine products, including grassfed beef tallow and other healthy fats.
For these reasons, I recommend U.S. Wellness Meats as the best choice I know for purchasing grassfed meat through the Internet.
The Healing Qualities of Organ Meats
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat and Tender Grassfed Barbecue
This delicious meatloaf contains grassfed beef, heart, kidney, and liver. (Recipe on page 181 Tender Grassfed Meat.)
Our ancestors used food to prevent and heal disease, and to maintain their natural functions. They did not have the benefits of scientific studies, but they did have the benefits of experience, knowledge that was passed down from father to son, mother to daughter, master to apprentice.
Organs As Medicine
Cultures as diverse as the ancient Chinese, ancient Greeks, many African tribes, and Native Americans connected the eating of a certain animal, and body part of a certain animal, to heal and benefit various organs and parts of the body and mind. This practice continued into the twentieth century, with some medical doctors using some of these traditions to help their patients.
There is a logic to this practice, as the nutrients the animals needed to maintain and nourish their organs were likely to be found in that particular organ. Scientific research has confirmed that organ meats are very rich in vital nutrients. I do not know of research that has supported the idea that eating the particular organ of an animal would prevent or heal disease in the same organ of the person who ate it. Of course, modern medicine does not use these methods, relying mainly on drugs, surgery, and radiation.
Some examples are as follows:
- Eating the heart of a strong, healthy animal was believed to help maintain the health and strength of the human heart. The Native Americans placed special value on the heart of a young stag, for this purpose. In the early twentieth century, some doctors in the U.S., used to advise patients with heart problems to eat beef heart as a way to strengthen their own heart.
- Many peoples believed it was beneficial to eat the brains of an animal, and that this would make them more intelligent and sharpen their minds.
- The liver was particularly prized, all over the world. Hunters would often eat the raw liver of their kill on the spot, as it was felt to be the most beneficial at that time. The hunters would divide the raw liver among themselves, so all could get the benefits. It has even been documented that the first part of the prey eaten by a predator, such as a lion, is the liver. Eating the liver was believed to make the liver of the eater stronger, and to purify and cleanse the body. Science has confirmed that cleansing and detoxifying the body is the function of the liver. In fact, the custom of eating liver regularly, at least once a week, was common in Europe and the United States up to the middle of the twentieth century.
- Many peoples believed that eating the eyes of an animal, particularly an animal known to have keen vision, would help their own eyesight.
There are many other examples, but the general idea was that eating a particular organ of a healthy animal would help the same organ in the human who ate it. Every traditional society who did this was careful to only eat healthy organs, from healthy animals. If the organ appeared diseased, or even discolored, no one would eat it.
My Experience
I make it a point to regularly eat liver, kidney, and heart from grassfed cows. I should mention that all of these organs seem to be functioning perfectly, and give me no discomfort or trouble. You can do this without much work, if you get the magnificent liverwurst from US Wellness Meats, which contains high-quality liver, heart, and kidney from grassfed cattle, in the form of a sausage that is very easy to eat.
This post is part of Fat Tuesday and Real Food Wednesday blog carnivals.
Disclaimer: Information found on the Tender Grassfed Meat site, including this article, is meant for educational and informational purposes only. Any statements or claims about the possible health benefits conferred by any foods or anything else have not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. None of the content on the Tender Grassfed Meat site should be relied upon for any purpose, and nothing here is a substitute for a medical diagnosis or medical treatment.
Not Fit for a Dog, or for Humans Either
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat and Tender Grassfed Barbecue
Grassfed meat and bones, the most traditional and best food for dogs.
The pack of wild dogs stalked hungrily through the tall grass, sniffing for prey. Suddenly, the pack leader stiffened as he smelled something. The pack froze, watching the leader. The leader bounded forward, and the pack followed, howling. They burst furiously out of the grass, and pounced upon a — patch of GMO soybeans?
Sounds unbelievable, does it not? Well, so does a can of vegetarian dog food. But, believe it or not, I saw such a can recently, proudly marked as “vegetarian†dog food. Not trusting my eyes, I took a look at the ingredients. They included water (the first ingredient), soymeal, soybean oil, and a host of artificial vitamins. Oh yes, there was also some brown rice. Dogs are real big on brown rice. The ingredients were described as “natural.†In reality, this means that the soy was almost certainly GMO.
Dogs are carnivores. They are designed to hunt prey and eat raw meat. Not soybeans, especially not GMO soybeans. Of course, dogs will eat this, if they get hungry enough. In fact, they will probably wolf it down, as their bodies search desperately for the vital nutrients that aren’t there. And just in case hunger is not enough, flavor-enhancing chemicals can be used to give a meaty flavor to this stuff. But that does not make it meat.
Come to think of it, soymeal and soybean oil, highly processed to remove the stench and horrible natural taste, are added to all sorts of foods made for humans. While we are omnivores, replacing meat with soy is a bad idea for us too.
In other words, processed soy is not fit for a dog—or humans either.
Would You Rather Eat Grassfed Hamburger or Soymeal?
The answer is very obvious, for most people. And almost all the people who would choose soymeal would do so because of their vegan or vegetarian beliefs, or because they are scared to eat red meat. But the reason that most humans would choose grassfed hamburger is because grassfed meat is one of the oldest and most traditional foods of humankind, a food that has nourished humankind for thousands of generations. In contrast, unfermented soy has been eaten for little more than one hundred years. And GMO soy did not even exist until the 1990s. All soy includes hormone-disrupting chemicals and other toxins, though traditionally fermented soy has much less.
To say that grassfed meat tastes better than unfermented soy is like saying water is wet. And grassfed meat and fat are full of valuable nutrients, and are not toxic. This wonderful meat provides many nutrients that our bodies crave, and make us healthier and stronger.
While the soy industry has planted all kinds of misinformation all over the Internet, trying to convince us that soy products have been eaten since the dawn of time, the truth is very different. Soy was first grown as a crop in China, thousands of years ago. This soy was not eaten at first. It was used to restore nitrogen to the soil, and would be alternated with food crops at various intervals. The fact that soy was not eaten or fed to animals tells us that the early Chinese knew it was not good to eat, as even this early, non-GMO soy had toxins, hormone disruptors, and smelled and tasted horrible. Eventually, the Chinese learned to ferment soy to make various foods. The traditional fermentation process reduced the toxins, and greatly improved the taste and smell. Even this fermented soy was only eaten in small amounts, and used mainly as a condiment and seasoning.
It was not until the twentieth century that the eating of unfermented soy really began. Industrial processing made it possible to extract large amounts of oil from soy. This oil could only be made by refining soybeans, and had never been eaten by humans before. At first it was used solely for industrial uses, but soon was used as an ingredient in processed food and as a cooking oil. The sludge left over after the oil was extracted was thrown out as smelly, slimy garbage. Then someone came up with the idea of adding this sludge to foods, as it does contain protein. This sludge is still the basis of most soy foods, though now it almost always GMO. Since this stuff is truly revolting in its natural state, it is highly processed and mixed with sweeteners and flavor enhancers. Unbelievably, soy products are marketed as “health foods.â€
I choose grassfed hamburger.
Grassfed Meat and Organs Can Be Great for Dogs, and Humans
I have often written about how grassfed meat can help people recover from all kinds of injuries, including physical ones. This applies to dogs as well as people. My friend John Wood, a terrific grassfed farmer and the founder of U.S. Wellness Meats, learned this firsthand about four years ago. John’s dog, Buck, was severely injured in an accident. The Vet found a severely broken hip, and did not think Buck would ever recover. John did not give up. He put Buck on a diet of raw grassfed meat, grassfed liver, and grassfed marrow bones. There was no surgery. John also gave Buck a very high-quality liquid calcium magnesium supplement. After three months, Buck was completely recovered. X-rays showed that the hip had healed completely.
Does anyone really think that Buck would have been healed by eating canned soymeal?
I know a number of humans, including myself, who have rebuilt their bodies and health by eating grassfed meat. So, I say that grassfed meat is fit for a dog, and humans, as both species thrive on it.
I am not a veterinarian, and am not qualified to advise people on what to feed their dogs. But no one needs to be a vet to know that feeding dogs a vegetarian soy-heavy diet from a can just does not make sense.
Related Post
Avoid Second-Hand Soy—Just Eat Grassfed
This post is part of Monday Mania, Fat Tuesday, Real Food Wednesday, Freaky Friday, and Fight Back Friday blog carnivals.
Don’t Be Afraid of Real Food
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat and Tender Grassfed Barbecue
Tender grassfed rib steak with pastured eggs.
Some years ago, I was going to lunch with two friends. The restaurant had a special, a brisket pot roast that smelled wonderful, and made us all hungry. One of my friends wanted to order the special, but he was afraid. He said “That looks so good, but it will clog my arteries and take years off my life. I cannot risk it.†He ordered a chicken salad he did not want and did not enjoy. He had no chronic disease, but he was afraid that one serving of meat would shorten his life.
Fear is the great convincer. Fear overwhelms reason, education, logical thinking, and common sense. Fear is used routinely by the government, the medical profession, the food industry, and large corporations to get us to do what they want.
Fear has been used very effectively in scaring people to change what they eat. We are told that we must have GMOs, or the world will starve. We are told that we must stop eating butter, or our arteries will be clogged. We are told not to eat cholesterol, or we will die from heart disease. We are told not to eat animal fats, or we will die from diabetes, cancer, heart disease, or all of the above. All of these lies are not true. Yet all of these lies are believed by most of the American people.
Ironically enough, the targeted “scientific study†has become the most effective way to spread fear. After all, everyone trusts science. But science has little to do with many such studies, which almost inevitably are full of holes and prove nothing.
Red meat, the oldest and most natural food of humankind, is often a target of these studies. The powers that be want to reduce or end the eating of red meat by the general population, something that ruling classes have tried to do since grains became plentiful. So, several times a year, almost every year, studies come out claiming that eating red meat will do something terrible to us. Usually they try to scare us with heart disease, or cancer, or diabetes, or all three. This year, the latest “meat is doom†study is trying to scare us with DEATH. We are told that we have a much higher chance of dying from all causes if we eat even a small amount of red meat. Of course this study makes no distinction between grassfed meat and factory meat. The study has already been debunked by Denise Minger, among others in this article: Will Eating Red Meat Kill You?
But here is the point—we have nothing to fear from real food. We have nothing to fear from grassfed meat, humankind’s oldest food. The foods of our ancestors, without chemicals or modern tampering, prepared in traditional ways, are good for us. It is that simple.
Our ancestors did not fear their food. On the contrary, they ENJOYED it. The only problem with food was getting enough of it. When real food was available, our ancestors prepared it in a myriad of delicious ways and joyfully ate their fill, relishing the taste, texture and satisfaction good food provides. Every great event was celebrated with food, with special foods served to celebrate special events. Throughout most of the world, the most special food was some form of red meat, served without fear or guilt, and enjoyed thoroughly.
Dr. Weston A. Price studied a number of peoples eating the diet of their ancestors. Though many of these people were considered “primitive,†none of them had cancer, or heart disease, or diabetes, or tooth decay, or any of the many diseases that plague modern humans. All of these peoples ate red meat. Some of them ate huge amounts of red meat, every day. One of them (the native people of the interior of Northern Canada) ate nothing but red meat, along with the fat and organs of the animal. They were healthy and vital in a way that few modern people are.
None of them feared their food, which was natural and real. Neither should we.
This post is part of Monday Marnia, Fat Tuesday, Real Food Wednesday and Fight Back Friday blog carnivals.
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7 Grassfed Foods that Can Really Improve Your Natural Functions
By Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat and Tender Grassfed Barbecue
Grassfed liver is a nutrient-rich ingredient for a meatloaf.
My friends at U.S. Wellness Meats recently mentioned in their newsletter that WebMD had actually posted a list of foods that could improve your health. As mentioned in the newsletter, the very fact that a mainstream site would even state that any food could heal is a huge step forward. True, the list of foods at WebMD did not include any meat, and did not make any distinction between organic (or the equivalent) foods and the pesticide and chemical soaked foods offered by conventional agriculture, but hey, it’s a start.
This has inspired me to offer my own list of seven grassfed foods that greatly improve the natural functions of the body. The natural functions of the body are nature’s way of keeping us healthy, and the better these functions work, the healthier we are.
- Grassfed Beef. This is one of the oldest foods of humankind. Our ancestors thrived on it, and so do we. Grassfed beef and fat are loaded with all kinds of nutrients, such as a perfect balance of omega-3and omega-6 fatty acids, natural CLA, the Vitamin B complex, all the amino acids, many other vitamins, many minerals, and many other nutrients, often known as “co-factors.†Grassfed beef and fat are easy to digest and the nutrients they carry are easily assimilated. I have never heard of anyone being allergic to grassfed beef. If you eat the meat very rare, it is also full of many valuable enzymes that will help digestion and also nourish the body. Grassfed beef was known in Europe as the most effective way of rebuilding a damaged body. An old German saying  is beef gives strength. It was eating grassfed beef and other grassfed meats that rebuilt my body back to good health, and I have received many emails from others who have had the same renewing and revitalizing experience.
- Grassfed Bison. Grassfed bison has all the benefits of grassfed meat, and more. Grassfed bison was the favorite and most common food of the Native Americans who lived on the Great Plains of the United States. These native people were known for their robust good health, fantastic eyesight, ability to heal from even the worst of wounds, great stamina, height, strength, and perfect teeth, though they had no dentists. They also had almost no infant mortality, in an age where only half of the babies born in London survived to age 5. These native people were also known for being healthy robust and active even into a very advanced age, and for keeping their teeth and eyesight well into their nineties. Grassfed bison is even easier to digest than grassfed beef. One of my favorite foods is very rare grassfed bison roast or steak, so tender it can be cut with a fork. I feel better with every bite. At the end of such a meal, I feel renewed and revitalized. Unfortunately, grassfed bison has become very expensive as the demand is much greater than the supply, but it is worth getting as a very special, nourishing treat as finances permit.
- Grassfed Lamb. This is one of the world’s very favorite foods, though lamb is not popular in the U.S. This may be because the U.S. is one of the very few countries to feed grain and soy to lambs, which ruins the taste, in my opinion. But fortunately, the U.S. still has some ranchers who raise wonderful grassfed lamb. Grassfed lamb is also an ancestral food, containing the same invaluable nutrients as grassfed beef and grassfed bison. Grassfed lamb was used by our ancestors to relieve digestive difficulties. This ancient wisdom was invaluable for me a few weeks ago. I had eaten at a restaurant and suffered from indigestion and similar complaints within a day. Natural remedies did not help much. I was doubtful, but I roasted a rack of lamb medium rare, and ate some of it with the fat. Within hours, all my digestive difficulties were gone. Grassfed lamb can be absolutely delicious if properly cooked, tasting nothing like the conventional lamb so many Americans hate.
- Grassfed Bone Broth. Whether made with the bones of grassfed beef, grassfed bison, grassfed lamb, or any combination of them, grassfed bone broth is one of the most nourishing and comforting foods you can eat. Rich with easily assimilated minerals, these delicious broths are also full of natural gelatin and other substances that are vital for the natural functioning of our bodies, and help preserve and strengthen our bones and joints. These broths help stimulate and ease the digestive system, which is why broth was served as a first course or with meals all over the world. Bone broths, brimming with nutrients, are a universal remedy for colds and all kinds of illness. I also think of them as the perfect mineral supplement, as the nutrients in broth are very easy to digest and assimilate.
- Grassfed Liver. Whether from grassfed beef, grassfed bison, or grassfed lamb, grassfed liver is one of the most nutrient-dense foods you could possibly eat. Hunters all over the world, for uncounted thousands of years, would eat the raw livers of the animals they killed. Lions and other predatory animals will also eat the liver first. Grassfed liver is particularly rich in B vitamins, Vitamin A, Vitamin D, Vitamin K, magnesium, and many other nutrients. Grassfed liver also contains substances that help the human liver function much better. Other substances in liver reduce fatigue and improve brain function. Contrary to popular belief, grassfed liver is not full of toxins, but is full of nutrition. I have not yet been able to do it myself, but friends who regularly consume small amounts of raw grassfed liver report wonderful results. I get very good results from cooked grassfed liver.
- Grsssfed Heart.The hearts of grassfed animals were prized all over the world, as it was felt that eating them would strengthen the human heart. This belief was common even into the twentieth century, where country doctors would often prescribe it to their patients as a way to avoid heart disease. Grassfed heart is perhaps the best natural source of coenzyme CoQ10, which is vital to maintaining a healthy heart. Grassfed heart, whether from beef, bison, or lamb, is loaded with many nutrients, and is believed to contain substances that will strengthen the human heart.
- Grassfed Kidney. This organ meat was also a favorite of traditional cultures, from Europe to Asia to Africa to the Americas. It is very dense with vitamins and minerals, and contains substances that are believed to improve the natural functions of the kidney. Wild predatory animals will usually eat the kidneys after they finish the liver.
If you do not want to go to the trouble of cooking the organ meats, you can still get the benefits of eating them, in one wonderful product—U.S. Wellness Meats Grassfed Liverwurst. This wonderful grassfed beef product is 25% grassfed liver, 25% grassfed heart, 25% grassfed kidney, and 25% grassfed beef and fat. This is the easiest way I know to get the benefits of organ meats, and the combination of all these nutritious organs gives a new meaning to “nutrient-dense.†This is my favorite sausage of all time, and I make it in many different ways. Tender Grassfed Meat has some of these recipes. But you can also eat it straight out of the wrapper.
These traditional animal foods are some of the superfoods our ancestors knew and thrived on, and we can enjoy their many benefits today.
This post is part of Monday Mania, Fat Tuesday, Real Food Wednesday and Fight Back Friday blog carnivals.