Organic Vs Grass-Fed Beef: What's The Difference?

Your grocery store meat aisle can sometimes seem a bit overwhelming with the multiplicity of food labels on items like packages of beef. Terms like organic and grass fed are but a few of the various designations you might find. And if you're wondering what the difference is between these two labels, there are a few and they revolve, in part, around what the cattle ate before they arrived on the grocery shelf. At the most basic level, the label grass-fed beef means the cattle were raised on grass and other natural forages. 

Unlike the grass-fed term, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) certifies the organic beef designation. As part of the USDA's requirements, a portion of the cattle's diet must include organic pasture (grass) but can also include other organic food sources like grain. In the food world, organic means a product has been grown without the use of most synthetic fertilizers and pesticides and isn't genetically modified. For cattle, that also means they have been raised without antibiotics or growth hormones. 

And there are also differences in how these two diets affect the beef. A fully grass-fed diet tends to result in leaner meat with an earthy taste while organic beef that was also grain fed tends to be more marbled with a milder flavor. Let's dive a little deeper into the differences — and similarities — between grass fed and organic.

The organic beef label packs a lot into this little sticker. Unlike other beef certifications from the USDA, such as prime, select, or choice, the organic designation has more to do with the way the cattle are raised than what the meat looks like after slaughter. In order to meet the requirements, besides giving their cattle no antibiotics or growth hormones, producers must let their cattle graze on organic pasture for 120 days a year and follow certain animal welfare standards like providing year-round outdoor access for the animals (with some exceptions), per the USDA.

The cattle's diet must also consist of at least 30% organic grass with the rest being made up of other organic feed, like grain. The reason that some cattle growers feed grain to their cattle is to quickly get the animals up to market size and to produce better marbling in the meat. This means that the cattle can be confined in feedlots for certain periods of time, as opposed to grazing freely, as is the case with grass-fed cattle.  

Since the USDA handles organic certification, what it takes to earn the organic beef label is cut and dry. When it comes to grass fed, it's a different story. While the USDA used to certify the grass-fed designation, the agency almost completely stopped back in 2016. It still has a certification program for small producers with 49 head of cattle or less, but that's only a fraction of the market. For everyone else, there are some third-party certifiers, but beef producers aren't required to use them. Even so, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), an arm of the USDA, requires them to provide documentation before they can use the grass fed label.

According to the FSIS labeling guidelines for 100% grass fed beef, the cattle can only eat grass or other forages like hay, rather than grain. Cattle producers can still use the grass fed label for animals that consumed grains if it clearly states the percentage of grass to grain. But be warned, beef labeled as grass-fed could have come from cattle that had been given antibiotics or growth hormones, or been exposed to pesticides. 

Both grass fed and organic will cost you more than conventional meat because of the extra time and effort in its production. In the end whether you decide to go for grass fed, organic, or a product that encompasses both, it comes down to personal choice.