Chicago Tribune | Gaining ground with grass

"Half of the box went to Mayor Daley, and the other half was sent to me," recalled chef Sarah Stegner, referring to the grass-fed ground beef she received last year from Tallgrass Beef Co. in Sedan, Kan. Stegner's line cooks at the Ritz-Carlton Chicago couldn't stop raving about it.

"They said those were the best burgers they ever tasted," Stegner said, and she agreed. "I thought it was amazing and really delicious."

Stegner, now co-chef/owner of Prairie Grass Cafe in Northbrook, uses Tallgrass meat for every beef dish on the menu and has noticed a spike in beef orders since the restaurant began serving it in December.

Committed to using sustainable yet flavorful products whenever possible, Stegner believes such grass-fed beef will become a staple in the culinary world.

Others are picking up on the benefits, too, including poultry and other livestock producers in Illinois and nationwide. The movement was bolstered this week with the release of a report confirming the health benefits of grass-fed beef.

"I think many more chefs will be serving grass-fed beef in the future, not just because of the health benefits, but because of the superior flavor," she said. "And once people try it, they'll put it into their diet regularly."

That's music to the ears of Tallgrass Beef owner Bill Kurtis. Yes, that Bill Kurtis: the A&E Television Network documentary host and former WBBM-TV news anchor.

"In my lifetime I have seen us try to clean up the air, clean up the water, eliminate smoke from the workplace and eating establishments," he said. "My prediction is the next battleground will be food."

Branching out

Kurtis wants to join the fight. After buying a ranch in Kansas 10 years ago, he needed to find a way to pay for it. "Cattle seemed to be a good choice, but I also wanted something sustainable, good for the environment and good for people," he said.

"There was a `new'--so new it's old--grass-fed approach to raising cattle that had not been done successfully in the past 60 years. In the days before cattle were fed corn and other grain-based products, they grazed on the open range, eating the natural, indigenous grasses that grew in the region. Beef was more healthful and certainly more flavorful back then."

Sixty years ago, the government began giving its surplus grain to ranchers, who started feeding cattle with it. "That created marbling, and made cattle gain weight fast, which is what ranchers wanted," he said. "Unfortunately, the cattle also were fed antibiotics and hormones to increase their rate of growth and to compensate for deficiencies in the grain-based diet."

Kurtis decided to steer his cattle toward grass, though it wasn't that simple. "You can't turn any old cow out on grass and expect it to miraculously change into tender and tasty meat," he said. "What we had to do was find those cattle that still possessed the genes to fatten quickly on grass but [produced beef ] with taste and tenderness, and some of those breeds date back to the Mayflower."

Years of searching cattle herds for specific animals that still possessed the genetic makeup Tallgrass wanted led to British breeds such as Angus, Hereford, Devon and Shorthorn.

Kurtis wants to conquer the Chicago market first but plans to expand Tallgrass Beef into more cities within a year. For now, the beef is available at Fox & Obel Food Market in Chicago, Foodstuffs in Evanston and through the company's Web site, tallgrassbeef.com. Prices range from $9 to $23 per pound.

The grass-fed phenomenon isn't limited to beef. Many farmers also are selling poultry, eggs and dairy products from grass-fed livestock. Case in point: the Dickman family. Raising mostly corn for 41 years in Herscher, Ill., 75 miles southwest of Chicago, they switched to poultry in 1999. Their incentive to join the grass-fed revolution was fueled by a desire to know where their food comes from.

"We decided to raise our own [chickens]," said JoAnn Dickman, "which would be much healthier and have an immensely flavorful taste. Grass is a natural detoxifier so our chickens are higher in omega-3, have less fat and more substance to the meat than grain-fed."

Maple Tree Inn in Blue Island serves her chicken, and it can be purchased at her farm as well as some local markets.

Health benefits

A national report released this week followed up previous research showing higher levels of beneficial fats in grass-fed beef and milk. Kate Clancy, a senior scientist in the food and environment program of the Union of Concerned Scientists, was author of the report.

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