We formed Brandon Natural Beef to bring the taste of Colorado's traditional grass-fed, small ranch beef to discriminating Consumers  and Chefs in the San Francisco Bay Area (and beyond). Our cattle are never fed growth hormones or antibiotics. They spend their entire lives on pasture and never are sent to a feed lot. At Brandon Natural Beef, we believe there are many benefits to grass-fed beef.

Tastier Beef:  100% pastured raised beef provides a more complex and interesting tasting beef. No longer is the taste of the beef defined by marbling. Rather, 100% pasture raised beef has real taste. Like a fine wine, grass-fed beef is nuanced. It varies depending on where the cattle have fed. You will remember with pleasure the flavor of grass-fed steaks and ground beef. Brandon Natural Beef cattle are superb tasting because they have grazed in high alpine mountain pastures of the Wet Mountain Valley in Colorado. Our beef has a unique taste.

Healthier Beef: Humanely raised and processed, pasture fed beef is a more healthy product for you than grain-fed cattle from concentrated feedlots.  The concentrations of the pathogen e-coli in the internal systems of grass-fed cattle are much lower than than for those cattle finished on a grain intensive diet. Keeping cattle on pasture their entire lives promotes a more balanced body chemistry for the animal which not only  keeps them healthier but is better for you.

Enhanced Respect for the Animal: Grass is the natural food for cattle. By  allowing our cattle to roam freely and forage  on grass their entire lives, the cattle live more humane and healthy lives. We believe this is more respectful of the cattle.  We buy from one rancher, who is commited to our grass-fed beef program. Since she raises them until they are ready to be slaughtered, so she is connected to the well-being of our cattle.  This is a far cry from how most beef is raised.  Most cattle are trucked to concentrated feed lots where they are packed into dense areas and fed highly processed grain. The industrialization of cattle management disconnects the cattle from ranchers and their natural food in order to supply the marketplace with low cost beef. This comes at a price in quality, health and environmental impact. Movies such as Food, Inc and books such as TheOminvore's Dilemma have highlighted the worst of these practices. By supporting ranchers who commit to a 100% grass- fed program, we are supporting a more healthy way to raise cattle that benefits the cattle, the environment and our enjoyment of beef. We also create a symbiotic respect between consumer, rancher and animal as we know know it's origins, how it was fed, raised and brought to the end of its life.  

There are many who have explored these issues more fully. We commend to you several of them:

 www.eatwild.com created and managed by author, Jo Robinson, is a comprehensive site on  all things grass fed, including the health benefits of grass fed beef of grass fed beef.

www.csuchico.edu/agr/grassfedbeef/health-benefits connects to the Grassfed Education Website, sponsored in part by California State University, Chico Agricultural Research Initiative