I decided to explore the transformations in corn growing, cattle raising, feed lots, dairy farms and beef consumption by interviewing my grandmother to see if she could actually recall the subtle shifts in beef.
Beef was leaner and more red. It tasted "meatier" and, interestingly enough, was much drier. One did not pick up beef in a styrofoam and cellophane package dripping in bloody water but from the butcher who would wrap up your cut in parchment paper. I have not heard to much about this but my grandmother insists that they must be adding the water to the meat when they package it to inflate it and that beef takes longer to brown and shrinks significantly when cooked, which apparently did not used to happen.
The culture of eating beef and meat was also different but this was growing up on a farm during WWII so one has to keep that zeitgeist in mind. There were at least two meatless days per week in the household. When meet was cooked, it was not huge steaks so everyone could have their fill. Only the perfect amount was cooked and it was sliced and doled out with great attention and care. The patriarch got the biggest piece, the aunts and the grandmother got slightly smaller and the kids got even smaller pieces. You got your one piece and had to make it last through the meal there were no seconds or leftovers. I could not help but be reminded of Mintz's novel, Sweetness and Power where the industrial British men monopolized the "costly protein foods" and left their wife and children with the cheaper/filler alternatives even though they had to work too.
The differences in taste and culture may be a bit shocking for those in Generation Y but it seems that this is the direction we are heading. Grass-fed beef and two meatless days a week sounds pretty sensible to me.
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