My Beef with Organics

Sebastian Hickey discovers that Organic beef harms the planet. If you’re keen to save the earth, it might be time to consider your options because it’s not as clear as you thought.

Most foodies dig the kudos of organic cuisine. Every time they set the table that’s another vote for sustainable farming. Save the world, one meal at a time. Right?

Not so simple.

In Ireland, to get an organic certification, Irish cattle farmers are forced to buy feed from abroad. “There are no GM [genetically modified] crops in Ireland,” advised Gillian Westbrook, Executive Researcher at the Irish Cattle & Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA), “but if a crop farmer tries to get certified as a ‘GM-free producer’, the procedure to get that certification is not available.”

If there’s no procedure available to certify a crop ‘GM-free’ then there’s definitely no way to label it ‘organic’. Consequently, organic beef producers have to shop elsewhere for the ‘organic’ grain to feed their cattle. This means that the cow in Leitrim that made your organic steak could have been fed on maize from Brazil. Now ask yourself, is it better to eat an organic steak from South America, or an organic steak from Ireland grown on South American grain? Think about it.

It’s not all bad news. Fortunately, there are at least two easy substitutes. Sway from the conventional route and go for a Conservation Grade beef or tap into the grain-free alternative.

Down in Clare, the Burren Beef & Lamb Producers Group Ltd. (BBLP) is a “grouping of like minded Burren farmers, established in march 2007, farming for conservation,” explains Ruairí Ó Conchúir, Finance and Operations Officer for the BurrenLIFE project, “We’re not organic, not conventional. We’re a grade that’s called Conservation Grade, a grade that’s well established in Europe, a well established grade in Britain, probably not even heard of in this country.” They uphold Ireland’s moral and legal obligation to protect the Burren and they do this using indigenous cattle.

Galloway and Shorthorn cattle have been grazing the rough limestone terrain for 6,000 years. Their persistent appetite has curbed the development of bullying scrub, preserving the eclectic fauna for which the Burren is so well known. In recent years, since men used central heating instead of firewood and since farmers modernised their farming activities, the upland, or winterage areas of the landscape have been left to overgrow. The Burren is being swallowed by wild brush.

By reverting to traditional farming techniques, feeding the cattle on wild grass and bolstering their herd on a locally sourced, heavily researched super-feed just before the calving months, the BBLP have optimised a sustainable farming strategy. No drugs, no hormones, no problem.

“[It is] beneficial for the farmer because it reduces their costs and it’s beneficial because it reduces environmental impact,” advises Ó Conchúir. The Burren is being tidied up the natural way, all the while fattening up a happy, healthy stock of cattle for their artisan beef trade.

Locally sourced, acutely administered feed means there’s hardly a hoof-print made on the environment, plus their traditional farming techniques expose the cattle to a unique array of fauna with which to flavour the meat. So well reputed was Ireland’s bygone Burren beef that literature dates to 1652 boasting its taste and succulence. These techniques have created some of the best meat in European history and now anyone in Ireland can try it at the push of a few keys.

Nevertheless, if you’re a stickler for the organic stamp, you’ll want to get in touch with Joe Condon of Omega Beef Direct, a Waterford based, family run farm where the diet of the cattle is 100% grass fed. His farming renaissance harkens back to Norman traditions, encouraging a farm where the cattle and the environment do the hard work. “The less I do,” he remarked with a smile, “the more successful I am.”

His cows have 20 acres per head, nearly 40 times the grazing range for intensively farmed cows. With that kind of space they can choose where they eat. Guided by cravings and nutritive intuition, they choose which of the 64 grass types to consume and which areas of parasitic infection to avoid. “The cows know where the parasites are but they don’t go there… They are naturally repulsed by it.” This kind of preventative mechanism, where good planning and fine conditions let the cows endure for themselves is a common trend in the organic movement. “The other type of farming is a lazy type of farming,” Condon advised, “You lose all the artisan skills. You could leave a problem develop right up to the danger point, and then get a burst of chemicals to solve it.”

Because of all the grass, Condon’s beef is thick with Omega oils, the essential fats normally linked to fish. It is butchered by an award-winning artisan in Lismore, blast frozen to maximise the retention of nutrients and sent in parcels to clients around Ireland.

Having tasted a striploin from both camps, I can tell you the flavours are bovine. Even when raw, the steaks smell of roast beef. There is significant marbling, a rich hue, a velvet texture and low water content. After a sizzling broil and a two-minute rest, the steaks are tender, warm and triumphant. They taste like they’ve been marinated in a deep Bordeaux, rich, mellow and suave. When you put down your fork, you’ll understand what the fuss was about.

Ordering is simple. To get in touch with your beefy heritage, contact info@burrenlife.com. For a grain free organic alternative, email info@omegabeefdirect.ie. Don’t be afraid of the price tag either. At €15-18 per kilo, it’s actually cheaper than the shops, and that includes delivery.

Artisan food is back in vogue. It’s sustainable, healthy and progressively more affordable. Let’s hope it’s indicative of a wider gastro-renaissance.

Like Joe Condon says, “If you go out to your front lawn, there’s munching going on. Everything is being eaten all the time. Right here. Right now… Eating is what it’s all about.”