Beef, it's what's for dinner. Grass-fed beef, that is.

Click here to listen to a podcast of Kurtis talking about grass-fed cattle

Click here to listen to Kurtis recite a snatch of dialog from the movie "The Legend of Ron Burgandy," which he narrated.

When hunger strikes, it's not unusual to shove the key into the ignition, roll down to the nearest fast food joint and list off items. Within minutes, a stressed worker plops a slab of meat on a bun, crams it into a paper bag and viola: dinner.

In order to afford this convenience, however, the cows used to make the meat are typically jammed into lots and filled with corn-feed.

But feedlot cattle aren't the only options for dinner. Bill Kurtis-- a well-known journalist and KU graduate-- and his company, Tallgrass Beef, offer a viable alternative: grass-fed cattle.

It's not a new idea. In fact it's the traditional diet for cattle, and for the past few decades farmers have tinkered with reviving it.

However, it seems to have been a battle between convenience and health.

To keep up with the demand for beef, ranchers try to fatten cattle quickly, preparing them for slaughter and ushering them onto your dinner plate in a timely fashion.

But, corn-fed beef are usually high in saturated fat, which is linked to heart disease. They're also typically low in Omega 3s, which can combat heart disease by lowering blood pressure.

The trend isn't hard to spot: it's tasty and fast, but not very healthful.

Kurtis claims the switch from corn to grass is a healthy event for both the cow and the consumer. He describes the process as "moving ahead by traveling backward." And Kurtis's cows don't taste gamy like other grass-fed beef because the stock of cattle used have the right genetics, he says.

Kurtis and Michelle Martin recently compiled a collection of recipes, many designed to make grass-fed beef a normal rotational meal item.


But Kurtis doesn't anticipate a massive chunk of consumers to flock forward for grass-fed beef. He thinks there's an audience, but it's just a small slab of the beef-eating pie.

"We're decaf coffee," Kurtis said. "We're the alternative."