Beef and beefburgers in the USA – a short history

Fri 16 Jan, 2015

Beef and beefburgers in the USA – all you need to know in a small bite!

One of the most popular and globally well-known foods of all time is the ubiquitous beefburger. It has been said that a Texan named Fletcher Davis invented the beef sandwich, a succulent hunk of beef nestling between two pieces of bread, in the late 1800s, but many other claims to the idea were made around the same time. It quickly became an extremely fast, popular and easy way of eating on the go, and today demand remains at an all-time high with hundreds of variations on the beef and hamburger theme. 

Although it originated in the US, to begin with the Americas had no cattle. Columbus brought the first herds to the country on his second voyage and soon after, other explorers followed, with England transporting the most. Herds quickly grew and the Spanish missionaries boasted enormous ranches with over 400,000 heads!

Today, ranches and farms that breed cattle for beef purposes are spread across the US – a mind-blowing 30,000,000 cattle over 55,000 ranches – and many of these are small-scale ranchers!

The demand for beef continues to increase and the US ranchers today are the highest producers of this nutrient-rich meat. And now, as more concentration is placed on breeding steers in an environmentally safe manner and in more hygienic conditions, the beef industry is sure to see a new wave of growth.