Steak & Satellite

Difference in luxury beef?

When a menu offers a $140 piece of steak.

Question the source.

Not as difficult in this case when the farm's name is part of the menu. Its website has an "Animal Well-Being" page containing common industry verbiage and a marketing video, but no mention of how the cows are raised. Do they graze on pasture? Are they grass-finished? For $140, higher standards are being practiced, right?

Maybe farm visits are allowed. The FAQ page doesn't say but its "Feeding & Handling" section doesn't bode well when terms like "feeding operations", "including corn", and "can receive antibiotics" are used. This $140 price tag is as disturbing as a luxury clothing store known to contract sweatshops. Exploitation at the hands of the luxury class seems especially cruel.

The "About" page says the cows are "raised along the high plain of the Snake River in Eastern Idaho." A quick check on Google Maps pulls up a location.

Find facts.

That looks like a feedlot. Not a small one either. And it appears to reside in American Falls, Idaho, as mentioned in an article by Idaho Statesman.

Know the difference.

While the apparel industry is pledging towards accountability and transparency, the meat industry is going the reverse direction, passing laws known as "Ag-gag" to essentially criminalize those who attempt to expose factory workers committing crimes.

If corporations are concerned about being misrepresented, it should promote transparency, not further hide from public scrutiny. And if animal activists want to reduce meat consumption, they must reach the meat-consuming audience with a more honest representation of the industry. Yes, continue to document big factories, but also collaborate with ethical farms and help educate consumers about key differences, such as the difference between feedlots and pastures.

Everyone deserves to know, particularly those willing to pay $140 to eat 4 ounces of beef.