If youre looking for a great steak these days, youre not only looking for succulence but also a piece of meat with premium nutrition that didnt come from an animal-abusing, earth-polluting factory farm .

Grass fed beef , from animals that only grazed on grass their entire lives, is unique because it provides all of these qualities in every cut. This is why the market for grass fed beef has been soaring with double-digit growth over the past several years, according to industry sources.

So, while its still uncommon, grass fed beef is easier than ever to find in grocery stores. However, the premium price for beef in the grass fed market, which reached $480 million this year, means that some marketers are labeling their product as grass fed when it really isnt. Short of going to the farm yourself, how are you supposed to know whats real and whats not?

Fortunately, there are simple ways to cut through the marketing bull. Heres what you need to know next time youre shopping for a grass fed rib-eye.

What Grass Fed Really Means And Why

Genuine, grass fed beef comes from animals that lived on pasture, foraging on nothing but grasses, from birth to harvest. According to the strict standards of the American Grassfed Association , which offers a certification program for producers, thats the main requirement.

Simple, right? But the beef supply system gets complicated. You see, almost every animal raised for beef is grass fed for most of its life. But its the last few months, the phase called finishing, that makes a difference.

Nearly all beef cattle in the U.S. 95% are finished on rations that include food waste, silage and grains in feedlots known as concentrated animal feeding operations. The remaining 5% of grass fed cattle remain on pasture eating fresh or stored grasses. The American Grassfed Association discounts hard numbers about the size and value of the grass fed market because no one tracks authentic all-grass fed all the time versus beef labeled grass fed, according to executive director Carrie Balkcom.