Totally.
Taking a look at beef in a more traditional context...it is a seasonal meat, slaughtered in fall. My dh comes from a traditional society where many people are only recently/now coming to refrigeration. Large animals don't keep at any time other than winter, when there is a cold room in the house, thanks to the weather. So, beef is slaughtered in the cold time (after grazing through the summer and storing Vit. D) and then split between several families, hung in the cold room and eaten, meal by meal. In his tradition, meals typically consist of a small chunk of meat (maybe 1 pound to about 6 people), slow-cooked with a large pile of vegetables (which would be carrots, parsnips, squash, potatoes, onions) and served with bread or couscous...or maybe in a pot of white beans with onions and spices, served with bread. When they eat it, they sop up all the broth and clean the bones, eating cartilage, fat and connective tissues with gusto.
They may eat this meal daily, but never are they serving each person a steak or some such, so the meat goes a long way. Responsible eating/consumption seems to be the "other half" of the sustainability story that we avoid as a society. Like with electricity and fuel, we want to continue to consume according to our current habits, and discover a magic bullet that will eliminate the impact of our practice. It's irresponsible to over-consume. We spend extra money and take in extra calories that we then have to spend more time and money exercising off. And yes, I am still guilty of that myself, and don't mean to point fingers.
But sustainability is a holistic thing. We have thousands of small steps to take in order to even approach the goal of sustainable living. So, is it worth buying grass-fed? Yes, yes, yes!
We're looking forward to raising a pair of steers on grass again soon. They yielded less meat, but better meat. They were a delight to raise--great temperament, beautiful animals. And by raising a pair, at slaughter time, we sold one to "pay for" the other for our own freezer. They grow slowly, but the quality difference is truly amazing. And we have to manage the pasture carefully, but that's part of the "rest of the story."
). It had a link to the meatgeek.org site. That's where I found this article from a professor at Penn State that basically says grass-fed beef isn't what its cracked up to be and its not sustainable and good for the environment. He has some interesting points. I'm a believer in TF and sustainable farming, etc so this info is confusing to me. Anyone care to discuss? Thoughts?
