TexasBill, thanks for that exception. :classic: You'll know that aging the meat is a simple thing to do .. but what I've seen in the depths of the meat industry in the DR, is that there simply is not the cold room infrastructure to hang and age properly.
In terms of being grass fed, on asking the meat producer that I consulted for, why they don't bring the animals in off the grass earlier, it is simply a question of cost of feed. All supplement feeds are imported and mixed in the DR to a mix that promotes the best and fastest growth.
You're right in terms of cutting. The cuts are wasteful and totally strange to my eyes. It is more like hacking!
In terms of growth hormones though, we're on different sides. There is a groundswell of action against this. Reason is simple, kids are getting sick, girls develop earlier (from my own family, cousins, sisters etc., and lots of info in the press). For myself, if I eat meat treated with growth hormones or even injected for all kinds of infections, I get sick. So, perhaps some people can tolerate this better than others.
You know that I come from the meat industry and my family have been in meat and farming all their lives. I grew up visiting at least two auctions a month and can estimate the weight and slaughtered weight of an animal with the best of them. But, the meat industry that I grew up in, did not use hormones and additional feeding was restricted to corn and corn products for fat and eventual marbeling of slaughtered meat. Animals were 'free-range' and not confined to cattle pens for force feeding.
So, nowadays we have hormones to make the animals grow faster. It is affecting the health of ourselves and our kids - and no, for me it is not a movement, it is a physical reality. I feel it in my bones man!