I live in Australia near our mountain pastures. The meat supply is a mix of local grass fed and finished beef and lamb, and grain finished beef from up north

The grass finished meat has a healthier fat balance and tastes better

I always ask butchers where my meat was raised and how it was finished as that affects the ethics and flavour. I agree with you that meat raised on grain is wasteful.

Where's the waste in what I buy? They drink from mountain streams, they eat grass. Most of their meat goes to human food, most of the rest goes to pet food, the skin becomes leather

When I cook more meat than I can eat, the extra goes in the fridge and I eat it for the next meal

On the relevant subreddit (which hasn't moved to Lemmy) I have heard it's easy to get grass finished beef in the US too

[–] LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.one 6 points 1 year ago

I live in a ranching state (South Dakota) where beef is processed locally, and it's nearly impossible to get grass-fed meat. Sure, some of it is labeled "grass-fed" with a drastically higher price point (unsustainable for most people), but the whole industry is so corrupt and ethically bankrupt that it's a meaningless label, just like almost anything else you buy here.