Grass fed beef is available at several stores around the island.
- West side: Ishihara Market in Waimea. Look for the “Island Beef” label
- South side: Medeiros Farms in Kalaheo
- East side: Wailua Country Store in Kapaa
- North shore: Chevron gas station in Princeville
Why is Grass Fed Better?
Three reasons.
1: Cows are genetically able to digest grass, they’re not about corn and soy. Corn and soy are too high in protein and fat and the cows raised on grains develop diabetes and digestive discomforts, diarrhea, and more Methane. Also, grain fed cows live miserable lives in feed lots and I’d rather be a vegetarian than support animal torture.
2. Healthy cows have healthy tissue and that means their meat, bones, fat, liver, etc. etc. are all richer in vitamins than grain fed or grain finished cows.
3. Omega-3 fats. If you are like me, the best tasting part of the steak is the fat, especially if you brown it on the grill. Mmmmms. When the cow was pasture raised, that deliciousness is rich in omega-3 fat, the kind of fat that keeps your brain cells connected and reduces inflammation. Also high in omega-3: liver, heart, and bone marrow.
What’s the secret to a great steak?
For one thing, you need to have a good sense of timing to cook it just right – but that’s no secret. The real trick to enjoying a super steak is having a great butcher, and having him or her nearby so your steak is fresh and never, ever frozen.
Medeiros Farms – Locally Grown Beef, Chicken, and Eggs
Here in Kalaheo we are lucky to have three talented butchers…or well they’re women so maybe they’re butcheresses? Anyway, they take care of the dirty work of turning those cute little guys we drive by on our way home (the cows) into pieces of food. Their tools are not all saws. One of the most important tools to creating tasty beef is time.
There will be no beef until it’s time…
One of the dirty little secrets of the industrial beef industry is, after they’re done torturing cows by confining them into filthy concrete windowless boxes and forcing them to survive on feed that their digestive systems rebel against (causing chronic diarrhea), they follow this unnatural and inhumane practice with another one that’s just as bad or worse: tenderizing the meat with chemicals – sometimes injecting them into the cow’s bloodstream while still alive. This is all in the name of saving time. The cows get fat fast, just like you would if you ate nothing but corn and soy products (for reasons described elsewhere). Pumped full of antibiotics so they don’t die from all the infections they’re exposed to, they can be brought to slaughter weight in half the time of cattle raised on grass. And, because every second that passes by without product being produced is an unforgivable waste, rather than tenderizing the meat naturally, by aging it, they use chemical enzymes that break down protein.
Someone has probably written their PhD thesis on how aging versus chemical tenderizing makes a culinary difference, something to do with water loss over time. I know for sure that, when it comes to flavor, the steaks we get from Medeiros Farms – locally raised on Kauai grass and aged the old fashioned way – are out of this world. Compared to the grocery store’s they are…well, there’s no comparison. You have to try one and see what I mean.
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