Interview with Todd Churchill

We caught up with Todd Churchill, the owner of Thousand Hills Cattle Co, and exclusive beef supplier to Fresh & Natural, recently, and had a chance to ask him some questions.

F&N: What motivated you to get into the grass-fed beef business?

TC: Well, I grew up on a farm in Illinois, and my family has been in the cattle business for years. I moved to Minnesota 15 years ago to attend St. Olaf College, and liked it here, got married and bought a small farm near Cannon Falls. I’ve always loved eating beef, but over the past three or four years, I virtually stopped eating beef, because it was usually tough, bland or poor tasting, and generally upset my digestion.

I could not understand why beef now was so different than the beef I remembered eating as a kid. It wasn’t until I read an article in the New York Times magazine by Michael Pollan, titled This Steer’s Life, that I began to understand what had happened to the cattle industry, and why I no longer liked eating it. (Ed. Note – find the article at: www.nehbc.org/pollan1.html.)

F&N: What makes 100% grass fed beef so different from other beef?

TC: Just about everything! First of all, cattle are designed to eat grass. They have a stomach, actually three stomachs—called a rumen, designed especially to convert plant tissue (leaves, stems) into energy that gets stored as muscle and fat. When cattle are fed corn, it greatly disturbs the rumen and digestive tract. This upsetting of their digestive tract can make cattle sick, and can easily kill them if not treated quickly with antibiotics. Because of this, most cattle are fed antibiotics mixed in with every mouthful of corn, to keep them healthy enough to keep eating. This is why most of the antibiotics made in America end up in animal feed, creating the anti-biotic resistant strains of viruses and bacteria we are reading so much about these days.

It stands to reason that if you want beef that is healthful, you must get it from healthy cattle. And corn-fed cattle, by definition, are not healthy cattle. This has been proven over and over again in clinically controlled scientific studies, comparing the nutritional differences in beef from corn fed vs. 100% grass-fed cattle.

F&N: Nutritionally speaking, what are the differences?

TC: Well, Mark Norman, your on-staff licensed clinical nutritionist, could probably explain this more precisely, but I’ll try. A growing body of research is showing that a diet high in Omega 3 fatty acids and low in Omega 6 fatty acids reduces the risk of diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and cancer. An ideal diet has a ratio of 4 times as much Omega 6 as Omega 3. The problem is that the average American has a ratio of more than 20:1, way too much Omega 6, and too little Omega 3. F&N: How does the beef we eat affect these ratios?

TC: Corn fed cattle, even those fed certified organic corn, have a ratio of 20 times as much Omega 6 as Omega 3, the same ratio as our imbalanced American diet. On the other hand, grass-fed cattle have a ratio of 2 times Omega 6 to Omega 3. This ratio is far healthier, and is similar to wild game.

F&N: Are there other heath benefits in 100% grass fed beef?

TC: Absolutely. In addition to having more truly beneficial fat, 100% grass-fed beef also has lower cholesterol, lower total fat, and lower calories than grain-fed beef, whether conventional, natural or organic.

This research is so compelling that Dr. Chris Foley, M.D., a natural medicine physician and faculty member of the University of Minnesota School of Pharmacy and Medical School "prescribes" 100% grass-fed beef to all his patients, because of its health benefits.

F&N: I’ve seen other beef advertised as “grass-fed” and just fed corn right before slaughter. How does this compare to your 100% grass-fed beef?

TC: All cattle are fed grass for part of their lives. It’s what they are fed the 2 – 6 months before slaughter that determines the health of the meat. Many beef companies are aware that “grass-fed beef” is growing in popularity, so they market their corn-fed beef as grass-fed. However, the health benefits present in 100% grass-fed beef begin to disappear after only 2-4 weeks on corn. Make sure that you are eating 100% grass-fed.

F&N: Isn’t grass-fed beef tough?

TC: Not when the right cattle are raised the right way, and the meat is not overcooked. 100% grass-fed beef is leaner than grain-fed beef, so it takes less cooking time and lower temperatures to get to the recommended safe internal temperatures (and complete cooking).

F&N: What do you mean, the right cattle, raised the right way?

TC: The right cattle are small to moderate in size, old-fashioned British breed cattle. Most are Red or Black Angus, but some are Galloway, Devon, Murray Grey. Less than 1% of the cattle raised in the USA meet Thousand Hills Cattle Co strict quality standards for tenderness and taste. We personally inspect every animal for health, welfare, and tenderness.

F&N: And the right way?

TC: The right way is the old-fashioned way: NO Antibiotics, NO added growth hormones, NO chemicals used on our pastures, and NO corn or grain fed. Just locally-raised, free-range cattle, fed grass and alfalfa hay or silage in the winter.

Q: Where are the cattle raised?
A: Thousand Hills Cattle Co. works with small, family-owned farms and ranches in the Upper Midwest, primarily Minnesota and Iowa.

Q: Where are the cattle slaughtered and processed?
A: All Thousand Hills Cattle Co. cattle are slaughtered and processed at Lorentz Meats in Cannon Falls, in a state-of-the-art spotlessly clean USDA inspected processing plant.

Q: Why is 100% grass-fed beef more expensive that conventional or natural meat?
A: The main reason is that the farmer/rancher gets paid a significant premium for raising 100% grass-fed beef. The bottom line is that high-quality food costs more in the short run. But, there is growing consideration of evidence that it could cost significantly less in the long run when you factor for health benefits such as reductions in medical expenses and lost work.

Q: Why isn’t Thousand Hills Cattle Co. beef certified organic?
A: Certified organic is a great standard for produce. However, from our perspective, the most significant health and environmental benefits come with the grass diet and grazing—and raising the cattle and pasture without the toxicities and energy requirements that come with using grains in a feedlot. The truth is that almost all certified organic cattle are fed organic corn in a feedlot. And, feeding organic grain or corn does not guarantee any reduction in pollution, reduce energy requirements related to feed production and distribution, provide the nutritional and disease preventing qualities of 100% grass-fed meat, nor significantly improve the health or quality of life of the animals.

Q: How is 100% grass-fed beef good for the environment?
A: Cattle are designed to be natural solar energy collectors. They convert solar energy stored in grass to protein usable by humans. Conventionally raised cattle require as much as 250 gallons of crude oil during their lifetime. Gas for the tractors to plant and harvest the corn. Gas for the trucks to haul the corn to the cattle in the feedlot. And crude oil to make the chemical fertilizers and herbicides applied to the cornfields. Grass-based farms store large amounts of carbon in the soil (which slows global warming), spread manure evenly on the land instead of in feedlots—reducing or eliminating run-off and water pollution, and protect soil from wind and water erosion.

Q: Is 100% grass-fed beef safer? I’m worried about E coli and BSE (Mad Cow disease).
A: Yes. Grass-fed cattle have been found to have up to 300 times less E coli O:157 than grain –fed cattle. Their rumen, because of the chemistry of their grass diet, simply aren’t very friendly to E coli bacteria.
According to the USDA, feeding animal by-products spreads BSE. This practice, until recent regulation, was common with conventionally raised cattle. It has never been a part of grass-fed agriculture, and Thousand Hills Cattle Co. only selects cattle that have never been fed animal by-products.

Q: Is Thousand Hills Cattle Co. 100% grass-fed beef source verified?
A: Yes, we know where all our cattle are raised, and what they are fed throughout their lives.