Referring to a point made in a August 2003 article on vegetarian foods (page 23), which touched on conversion rates of grain to meat, Joe Regenstein, a professor of food science at Cornell University, notes that cattle are not moved to a feedlot until their weight hits more than 600lbs. Until that time, they are primarily grass-fed, not grain fed. In some countries, the animal is slaughtered after ingesting only grass. “So an explicit statement that it takes 7 lbs. of grain to produce 1 lb. of beef is quite misleading,” he writes. Thanks to Joe for clearing this up.