Top Chef All Stars - Season 8

I also don’t know the quality of the end result (i.e. the meat), but I can tell you the difference between corn-fed and grass-fed animals. Thanks to large subsidies in the agricultural industry, corn is wildly overgrown. That makes it cheap and plentiful and cheap. Did I mention cheap? So it’s used for all sorts of applications including as a food product for cows.
The problem is that cows don’t naturally eat corn. They eat grass. So (often times), you’ll have to inject them with different hormones and chemicals to ensure they keep all that corn product down. They become bloated and can sometimes choke on their own internal gasses as it’s not released properly. I have no doubt that Tom buys all his beef with the assurance of no hormones or other chemicals. But there’s another reason why cows are fed corn: it’s a lot faster. If you feed a cow grass, it’ll take 4 to 5 years to have her obtain the weight that you can get in just a year and a half to two years on a diet of corn and grains. Right there, you’re cutting both the time and the turnover rate in half which means your profitability skyrockets.

It’s the cheap product and the increased profitability of faster turnover which makes every large scale cattle production in this country based on a diet of corn and grains. So when Tom wishes to buy large amounts of beef, he has no choice. It’s expensive, low quantity grass-fed or cheaper corn-fed beef that can meet his supply demands.

All good info. I’ll add though that the primary emotion of the topic usually stems fromt he fact that grass-fed cattle are usually let out to graze, while corn-fed live horrendous penned-up lives being basically force fed. The fact that they fatten up quickly makes their lives mercifully shorter, but it’s a really, really disgusting corner of the industry.

Elia should either have planned to back down, or had an intelligent response ready and rehearsed. As it is she just looked stupid and did a disservice to the cause she was trying to support.

I agree also that Padma had more than just alcohol in her. She’s gonna pull a Britney here soon. . .

There are also major taste differences between grain-fed and grass-fed beef. Here’s an article that was on CNN.com recently. Apparently, there’s much less fat, which is better for you, but which also provides a lot of flavour.

StG

I haven’t rewatched the show, so I am going from memory here, but I think the gist of the corn-fed beef argument was:

Elia claimed that she was told somewhere by someone (by Tom?) that Tom’s Craftsteak steakhouse in Vegas served only grass fed beef. When she ate there she saw on the menu and was told by staff that they serve only corn fed beef.

Tom responded that of course they serve corn fed beef and always have. It’s a steakhouse - if they served only grass fed beef no one would come.

And he’s right - grass fed beef does not have the marbling that defines prime beef. The general public expects prime grade, well marbled beef at a steakhouse, which you don’t get from grass fed cows.