ARE CATTLE WHAT THEY CLAIM TO BE?

I grew up around livesatock and the meat business and spent most of my life associated to some degree with them.  I don't do that anymore but I like to see what is happening in that world.

I often travel down the highways to Evergreen Marina near the Lake Eufaula Dam.  Since I'm not the driver, it is a sightseeing trip for me.  The Cross Timbers area and the ranches are naturally beautiful and the herds of cattle are very interesting.  I see Beefalo, Brangus, Brahma, Black Angus, Charolais, Limosine, Seminal, Santa Gertrudis, Hereford, mixed breeds, and even some Jersey. 

The beef breeds are all fattening and ready for the packing house and the meat counter in your store but a strange things seems to happen on the way to that counter.  Profit governs many things in the meat display and maybe its's not totally dishonest.  The difference between a New York Strip Steak and a loin club is actually a fancy name, different wrapper, and perhaps a dollar per pound.  The old seven bone chuck has obtained new names and prices on boneless cuts in the past few years.

That strange happening that has me searching for an answer is this; my meat counter says I am buying nothing but 'Ceertified Black Angus' beef.  I don't know and despite years of experience, I can't tell unless they leave a little swatch of the hide and hair attached.  I don't know how to run a DNA test.  How can the store know they are getting what is certified?  What happened to all of those other beautiful cattle I admired on my way to Evergreen?  Surely that isn't what I've been feeding my little dog? Are people getting a good product every time but are being led to believe they should pay extra for some imagined superiority that doesn't exist? 

I don't know; wish some sharp, nosey reporter would find out.