So let’s talk about it.

• If the package doesn’t say what the cow ate:

If they won’t talk about it, you need to worry about it.

Agribusiness keeps cows penned up, hip to hip, all their lives. Their lack of mobility means their muscles–our steak–doesn’t amount to as much as it should nutritionally.

And the lack of information on the package often means the cow’s diet includes the remains of slaughtered cows, which could lead to mad cow disease. Fortunately, that’s rare. But left to their own choices, cows don’t eat meat. At all. It’s hard on them. Why take any risk?

Also, factory farms don’t want cows hanging around for very long, so they shoot them up with hormones to spur growth and get them to market at warp speed. And we get to “enjoy” those hormones. We don’t grow though; we just put things in our body that don’t belong there. Estrogen dominance anyone?

Plus, hip-to-hip living is hard on marginally healthy cows. They get sick easily. Hundreds of sick cows is not a pretty sight (the mind boggles), so here come antibiotics into the feed. And we get to become antibiotic-resistant without so much as taking one pill. That’s not exactly the stuff dreams are made of, but that’s the deal.

You’ll see some labels saying the cows haven’t received hormones or antibiotics for some weeks before slaughter. Sounds good, but nobody knows if the hormones and antibiotics are actually gone in the time allowed.

And still the beat goes on. Amazingly, the beef we eat has even more problems than meat offal, hormones and antibiotics: Cows were never meant to eat grain. Let’s talk about that next.

• When the package says the cows ate only grains.

You certainly have to call this good news because it eliminates any chance of mad cow disease.

And the package may even say that no antibiotics or hormones were used. (Be careful, though, with wording that says no antibiotics or hormones ‘were added.’ That can mean anything.) Count it a plus if the cows never received any antibiotics or hormones.

But that still leaves us with a problem. Cows aren’t designed to eat grain; they don’t do well on it. Plus, the grain is soy and, sometimes, corn. Both are genetically modified, which forces us into a giant medical experiment. GMO foods damage human DNA; twenty years or so down the road, we’ll get the results.

Besides the involuntary GMO science experiment, soy and corn change the composition of beef. Grain-fed beef has less saturated fat (omega 3), which our bodies need, and more vegetable fat (omega 6), which creates problems.

I know, I know. Poobahs have been denouncing saturated fat for years now. And if they mention omega 3 fats, they always talk about fish. Well, when you’re wrong, you’re wrong. Beef does a body good.

Not grain-fed beef, though. Grains increase the bad vegetable fat (omega 6) in the meat, and we end up getting more of that and less of the saturated fat that’s so good for us.

Why is this a problem? Vegetable fats cause inflammation in our bodies. Inflammation is a leading cause of the dread diseases. Cardiovascular disease, for instance. Cancer, too.

Yet you’ve probably never read an article or seen a news report that even mentioned this huge problem. You’ve only heard reports–shouted at top volume–blaming saturated fat for everything bad.

My guess is saturated fat got a bad reputation because the people doing the research never considered (or perhaps even knew) the negative results of feeding cows grain.

• When the package says meat comes from grass-fed cows

Grass provides cows with their natural diet. But, to agribusiness at least, grass-fed cows take up too much room and require too much effort. They also take too long to get to market.

But their meat contains more nutrition because the cows get to use their muscles. And the saturated fat hasn’t been diminished, so our bodies don’t go down the inflammation road. This is beef the way it’s meant to be.

Usually, grass-fed cows don’t get hormones or antibiotics, but checking the label–or asking the farmer–is a good, just-in-case idea.

As you can see, it matters a lot what cows eat.