The Best Beef For Your Buck

Letter to the Editor in the Washington Post 

The Feb. 25 Food article “Pastures or feedlots? The big beef conundrum,” ignored a central reason well-managed, grass-finished beef is better for us: Much of the beef in this country is finished in feedlots on a diet of chemically grown corn and soy and a daily dose of drugs and antibiotics. Public-health advocates have long pointed to the terrible toll these feedlots have on our health, from fostering a dangerous epidemic of antibiotic-resistant bacteria to the impact on farmland doused with pesticides. While it’s critical that we reduce the amount of beef Americans eat, there are also strong arguments, backed by strong science, that if you’re going to bite into a burger, the best thing for the planet, and your body, is well-managed, grass-fed beef.

Anna Lappé, Berkeley, Calif.

Photo: F. Delventhal for USDA