Beef
Beef can be prepared in various ways; cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often ground or minced, as found in most hamburgers.
Along with other kinds of red meat, high consumption is associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer and coronary heart disease, especially when processed.
Beef has a high environmental impact, being a primary driver of deforestation with the highest greenhouse gas emissions of any agricultural product.
[5] People have eaten the flesh of bovines since prehistoric times; some of the earliest known cave paintings, such as those of Lascaux, show aurochs in hunting scenes.
Upon the acquisition of grasslands through the Mexican–American War of 1848, and later the expulsion of the Plains Indians from this region and the Midwest, the American livestock industry began, starting primarily with the taming of feral and semi-feral Longhorn cattle.
[9] Beef cattle are raised and fed using a variety of methods, including feedlots, free range, ranching, backgrounding and intensive animal farming.
[19] A 2021 study added up GHG emissions from the entire lifecycle, including production, transportation, and consumption, and estimated that beef contributed about 4 billion tonnes (9%) of anthropogenic greenhouse gases in 2010.
[21][22] According to FAO, "Ranching-induced deforestation is one of the main causes of loss of some unique plant and animal species in the tropical rainforests of Central and South America as well as carbon release in the atmosphere.
[29] The ratio of feed required to produce an equivalent amount of beef (live weight) has been estimated at 7:1 to 43:1, compared with about 2:1 for chicken.
[33][needs update] A 2021 CSIRO trial concluded that feeding cattle a 3% diet of the seaweed Asparagopsis taxiformis could reduce the methane component of their emissions by 80%.
[49] Beef production is also important to the economies of Japan, Argentina, Uruguay, Canada, Paraguay, Mexico, Belarus and Nicaragua.
As per 2020, Brazil was the largest beef exporter in the world followed by Australia, United States, India (Includes Carabeef only) and Argentina.
[56]: 747 Cow-calf ranches in Southeast Wyoming are expected to suffer greater losses in the future as the hydrological cycle becomes more variable and affects forage growth.
[57] Since more variable and therefore less predictable precipitation is one of the well-established effects of climate change on the water cycle,[58]: 85 similar patterns were later established across the rest of the United States,[59] and then globally.
Other parts that are eaten include other muscles and offal, such as the oxtail, liver, tongue, tripe from the reticulum or rumen, glands (particularly the pancreas and thymus, referred to as sweetbread), the heart, the brain (although forbidden where there is a danger of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, BSE, commonly referred to as mad cow disease), the kidneys, and the tender testicles of the bull (known in the United States as calf fries, prairie oysters, or Rocky Mountain oysters).
Since the animal's legs and neck muscles do the most work, they are the toughest; the meat becomes more tender as distance from hoof and horn increases.
[citation needed] To improve tenderness of beef, it is often aged (i.e., stored refrigerated) to allow endogenous proteolytic enzymes to weaken structural and myofibrillar proteins.
Outer surfaces dry out and can support growth of molds (and spoilage bacteria, if too humid), resulting in trim and evaporative losses.
Thermostatically controlled methods, such as sous-vide, can also prevent overcooking by bringing the meat to the exact degree of doneness desired, and holding it at that temperature indefinitely.
Steak tartare is a French dish made from finely chopped or ground (minced) raw meat (often beef).
It is often served with onions, capers, seasonings such as fresh ground pepper and Worcestershire sauce, and sometimes raw egg yolk.
Spiced beef is a cured and salted joint of round, topside, or silverside, traditionally served at Christmas in Ireland.
It is a form of salt beef, cured with spices and saltpetre, intended to be boiled or broiled in Guinness or a similar stout, and then optionally roasted for a period after.
[92] Since then, other countries have had outbreaks of BSE: In 2010, the EU, through the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), proposed a roadmap to gradually lift the restrictions on the feed ban.
[101][102] Since the Vedic period, cattle, especially cows, were venerated as a source of milk, and dairy products, and their relative importance in transport services and farming like ploughing, row planting, ridging.
[106] During the season of Lent, Orthodox Christians and Catholics periodically give up meat and poultry (and sometimes dairy products and eggs) as a religious act.
[114][115] Article 48 of the Constitution of India mandates the state may take steps for preserving and improving the bovine breeds, and prohibit the slaughter, of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle.
Article 47 of the Constitution of India provides states must raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living and to improve public health as among its primary duties, based on this a reasonableness in slaughter of common cattle was instituted, if the animals ceased to be capable of breeding, providing milk, or serving as draught animals.
"[116][117] In 2017, a rule against the slaughter of cattle and the eating of beef was signed into law by presidential assent as a modified version of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.
[125] On 14 April 2021, the ban was loosened, allowing ranchers to do as they wish as long as state quotas were met and the health of the herd could be ensured.
