The supermarket steak tray
Meat doesn't have an ingredient list, so the story is told in a few words on the front of the tray. A typical one reads:
Highlighted: the two lines most people misread.
- "Grain fed 100 days" means the animal spent its last few months in a feedlot eating a grain-based ration. Around 40% of Australian cattle sent to slaughter are now finished this way. Grain-finishing makes beef fattier and more marbled, and quicker to bring to weight.
- "MSA graded" (Meat Standards Australia) is a grade for eating quality: tenderness, juiciness and flavour. It's useful, but it tells you nothing about what the animal ate or how it was raised.
- "Grass fed" on its own has no single legal definition. It can mean grass-fed for most of its life, then grain-finished. The words you want are grass-fed and grass-finished, or "100% pasture-fed".
- "Hormone free" is a misleading phrase, because all meat naturally contains hormones. The real claim is "HGP-free", meaning no added hormone growth promotants. HGPs are legal in Australian beef, so it's worth checking.
Grass-finished, or certified organic
Grain-finished, HGP-unknown, "premium" tray beef
Grass-fed and finished, HGP-free, or certified organic. Ideally from a farmer or butcher you can ask.
Why grass-finished: studies generally find grass-finished beef has more omega-3 fats, more CLA and more antioxidants like vitamin E and beta-carotene (that's why its fat can look more yellow) than grain-finished beef. And the animal spends its whole life doing what cattle are built for: grazing.
Where certified organic fits: look for a certifier's logo, such as Australian Certified Organic (ACO) or NASAA. The word "organic" on its own isn't regulated on food sold in Australia. Certified organic rules out HGPs, routine antibiotics and synthetic chemicals on the pasture. It doesn't automatically mean 100% grass-finished, because organic rules allow some organic grain, but most Australian organic beef comes off open pasture.
Ask these three questions at the butcher, market stall or farm gate:
- Is it grass-fed and grass-finished, or was it grain-finished?
- Were HGPs or routine antibiotics used?
- Which farm is it from? A good butcher knows. The best ones can tell you the farmer's name.
Lamb is usually the easy win. Most Australian lamb is raised on pasture, so it's often the most affordable way to eat grass-fed meat at the supermarket.
Making it affordable:
- Buy the cheaper cuts: mince, chuck, blade, shin and osso bucco. Slow-cooked, they're as good as any steak.
- Buy a mixed box or a "quarter cow" direct from a farm and freeze it. Per kilo, it's often cheaper than supermarket steak.
- Eat a smaller portion of better meat, with more veg on the plate.
- Ask for bones and offal. They're cheap, nutrient-dense, and the bones make the broth from issue #4.
Find farms and butchers near you in Farmers & Butchers, and supermarket options tiered in Packaged Meat.
Put protein on the plate at breakfast
The typical Aussie breakfast of cereal, toast or a pastry is mostly carbohydrate. Many people find that leads to a mid-morning slump and a hunt for something sweet by 10am.
Aim for a palm-sized serve of protein in your first meal: eggs, leftover slow-cooked beef, a lamb sausage from the butcher, or plain full-fat yoghurt (see issue #3). Protein and fat at breakfast tend to keep you fuller for longer and your energy steadier through the morning. It's Dr. Diet setting up the rest of the day.
Make it stick: cook once, eat twice. Make extra at dinner, and tomorrow's breakfast is already done.