American cows have gotten bigger and bigger over the years, since cattle farmers say it's more efficient and cheaper. The weight of the average cow was around 1,000 lbs. in the mid-1970s, but was 1,363 lbs. in 2016--and increase of about nine pounds each year. And that's changing the way your steaks look. "As U.S. beef cattle have ballooned in size, experts say, restaurants, grocery stores and meat processors have had to get creative in how they slice and dice them up. Increasingly, that means thinner steaks — as well as more scrap meat and “alternative” cuts designed to make the most of a bigger animal," Caitlin Dewey reports for The Washington Post.
But there's evidence that Americans don't like the changes to their steaks, which could hurt beef sales in the future. Josh Maples, an agricultural economist at Mississippi State University, told Dewey that "If you buy a steak, you have a picture in your mind of what it should look like . . . If you make that thinner, or you cut it in half — for many people, that ruins the eating experience."
The problem lies in the increasing diameter of the cows' muscles. An upcoming study in Food Policy says that these larger muscles result in huge, expensive portions if they're cut to the traditional thickness of steaks. So the easiest solution for butchers, restaurants and grocery stores has been to simply cut the steaks thinner. Others, like popular steakhouse chain Texas Roadhouse, cut the steaks to the traditional thickness, but cut bits off the edges to put in kebab or chili dishes.
With cattle continuing to get larger, Texas A&M animal sciences professor Davey Griffin says that consumers will simply have to adjust, Dewey reports.
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| Washington Post chart |
The problem lies in the increasing diameter of the cows' muscles. An upcoming study in Food Policy says that these larger muscles result in huge, expensive portions if they're cut to the traditional thickness of steaks. So the easiest solution for butchers, restaurants and grocery stores has been to simply cut the steaks thinner. Others, like popular steakhouse chain Texas Roadhouse, cut the steaks to the traditional thickness, but cut bits off the edges to put in kebab or chili dishes.
With cattle continuing to get larger, Texas A&M animal sciences professor Davey Griffin says that consumers will simply have to adjust, Dewey reports.
from The Rural Blog http://ift.tt/2Acn2dR Bigger cattle are changing the way we eat steak - Entrepreneur Generations
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