Think back on your childhood. How often were you told by your parents (or teachers, or coaches, basically anyone in authority) that you are what you eat? If you’re like us, it was a lot. At the time, you probably interpreted this statement literally, only to look in the bathroom mirror and discover you weren’t, in fact, a vanilla drumstick. Well, there is truth to this phrase, and not just to us humans. It’s also relevant to the animals we eat.
Flavour, fat content, texture, and appearance; every aspect of the meat we choose is shaped by what that animal ate across its life. This goes for every type of meat we eat, from a seared duck breast to a porterhouse steak sizzling on the barbecue.
If this is something you’ve never considered before, you’re in the right place. Together, let’s dig into the ways different feed types, from corn to grass to grains, can influence the taste and quality of meat, and how understanding the difference will benefit your values and taste buds as a consumer.
Behind the flavour: What part does science play?
We’ve already hinted at the answer: there’s more to meat flavour than just your cooking techniques. Things start at the molecular level, which is directly connected to what an animal eats. The same way a diet of processed food and soft drinks leads to an unhealthy body for us, a certain, consistent diet for, say, a chicken will affect its physical development. Think muscle tissue, think fat marbling, think any type of flavour compound that might end up stored in that chicken’s body.
Consider a herd of grass-fed beef cattle. As a food source, grass contains very little fat. Feed cattle grass their entire lives, and you’re likely to end up with lean meat, purely because of this lack of fat. Now, consider livestock with a grain-based diet. A grain-based diet contains more fat than a grass-based diet. The result? Those cattle will develop more fat in their meat, which typically translates to a richer flavour profile.
Think of all the celebrity chefs you’ve watched on YouTube and how often they preach that fat is the key carrier of flavour. They’re not wrong.
Grain, grass, and corn: 3 common feed types
Unless game meat is a regular on your family’s dinner plate, the meat you eat week to week will likely have been raised on one of these feed types:
Grain-feed
When we say grain-fed, we’re talking about an animal that subsides mainly on things like corn, soy, wheat, and barley. These ingredients tend to give the meat a higher fat content, along with more marbling. Think buttery texture and you’re on the right track.
Grass-feed
Most cattle and sheep in Australia are raised on grass; later, some have grain introduced into their diets (especially when adverse environmental conditions limit the amount of grass available). Grass-fed translates to leaner meat, with higher omega-3 levels. A word like earthy is often used to describe the flavour of this meat.
Corn-feed
Corn as a feed on its own adds sweetness to the meat, along with making the fat thicker and slightly yellow in appearance. For poultry, a corn-feed diet usually yields juicer, more aesthetically pleasing (a reason it’s popular in high-end restaurants) meat.
Case study: Corn-fed duck vs regular duck
Ducks are a wonderful example of an animal whose taste is noticeably influenced by their feed. Unlike a duck that’s allowed to feed on grass and insects, a corn fed duck will develop a meat flavour profile that responds directly to the corn. The result is a more delicate, slightly sweeter flavour, with much more generous fat layers. Corn also lends these ducks a vibrant, gold-yellow hue.
More than taste: Ethics, traceability, and sustainability
Of course, when we talk about the food we love, we talk about flavour first. You wouldn’t believe the steak I had last night, we say, salivating at the thought. Flavour is usually what attracts us to premium meats, and rightly so. But the benefits of well-considered animal diets extend beyond taste alone.
This is where things like food traceability and ethical farming come into play. With each year, we collectively grow more conscious about how food makes it to our plates.
Identify an animal that eats well, and you’ll likely find a farmer with a deep commitment to animal welfare. You don’t need to be a farmer to understand the trickle effect; animals raised on high-quality feed typically belong to food production systems that emphasise human treatment, lower antibiotic reliance, sustainable land use, and better transparency around their methods.
Also, animals that are treated right are less susceptible to disease and stress, which, in the end, always translates to better quality meat.
All this comes back to one thing: consider what you eat. It’s something we’ve been implored to do ever since we learned the importance of a healthy diet. It only takes a moment at the butcher or the farmers’ market to consider what that animal might’ve been fed during its life. Grass-fed, corn-fed, these are more than just labels; they’re signals telling us what to expect in terms of taste and texture.
It also comes back to education. The more you understand about the meat you consume, the better placed you are to make informed choices. And we’re not just talking about flavour. We’re talking about the ethics around the raising of those animals and the impact this raising has on the environment. Combine this knowledge, and you become a more conscious and confident eater.
