Because of garden season and marathon training, there hasn't been too much on the blog in the last few months about agriculture or what's going on in the world of food. But much has happened recently that's worth mentioning.
Perdue removes antibiotics from chicken hatcheries
Perhaps the most positive Big Ag/Big Food news in awhile, Perdue Foods announced this month that they have removed antibiotics from their chicken hatcheries.
They haven't used antibiotics as a growth promoter since 2007, but this move now makes it so that 95% of their animals will not receive antibiotics in their lifetimes. The ones that do receive them to treat illness, etc. This move is important, because it addresses a large public health problem - the growing threat of antibiotic resistance. While Big Ag has a long way to go until they can manage humane animal husbandry, we can't let perfect be the enemy of good. I applaud any move toward more sustainable, healthy agricultural practices.
Tyson and Hillshire merge
Tyson Foods, the largest meat producer in the U.S., has won anti-trust clearance from the Justice Department to purchase Hillshire (makers of Jimmy Dean sausage, Hillshire Farms and Ball Park hot dogs) for $7.7 billion. Yes, Tyson had to divest of its small hog division, making it an independent company until a buyer comes along, in order for the merger to gain approval. It boggles my mind that the Justice Department just opens the gates wide for these kind of mergers, with no concern whatsoever for independent meat producers, which are now few and far between.
This merger now makes a mega company even bigger, which means even less chance that the company will consider more humane practices in raising their animals. (Though Tyson is notorious for subcontracting the actual raising of the animals and then purchasing them through the farmers. It's just that they don't do anything to make it viable for those farmers to raise the animals humanely if they want to make a living at all.)
Civil Eats says it best in this short piece. More reason for me to continue avoiding meat of unknown origin as much as possible and to be more careful about it when I'm out.
General Mills buys Annie's
Ever eat Annie's cheddar bunnies or mac and cheese? Well, General Mills just did, eating up Annie's for $820 million. While not nearly as big as the Tyson/Hillshire merger, this deal represents Big Food's insatiable appetite for organic and natural foods. Many independent companies over the years have been bought out by Big Food - General Mills already owns Kashi and Muir Glen. What it means for the quality of the products sold under that name or its sourcing of ingredients remains to be seen, but it's still hard to not hum "Another One Bites the Dust" under my breath.
***
On a different note, episodes of a new series on PBS called Food Forward are available to stream. The pilot episode won a James Beard award, and I'm going to be watching them over the next few weeks and hopefully writing about them. Check it out!
Showing posts with label meat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label meat. Show all posts
Friday, September 12, 2014
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
book review: the third plate by dan barber
Now, I've read a lot of food books. A ton of books on food systems highlighting the problems with our current one and people's visions for the future. So while I expected the book to be well written, since Dan Barber's TED Talk was, I didn't expect it to really say anything new.
Well, I was wrong.
I knew after reading the intro that this book was going to be different, and I was not disappointed. The Third Plate has the audacity to challenge the farm-to-table movement - one I personally hold dear - and question what it means to support farms and sustainable agriculture. By "third plate," Dan Barber is alluding to his vision of where cuisine is going for the future. (He came up with the idea as a response to a reporter who asked him where the future of cuisine was going.) The first plate is a traditional American meal of a large, corn-fed steak and baby carrots. The second plate is a farm-to-table plate of a grass-fed steak with heirloom, organic carrots. But the third plate is a carrot steak, with a side of beef seconds (the more obscure cuts).
What in the world is he talking about?
He realized that as a chef cooking in the farm-to-table philosophy of cuisine, he was still cherry picking what he wanted for ingredients - ones that were often expensive to produce and not the best for soil management and long-term sustainability. Our food culture dictates that farmers grow what will sell - not what is better for the land. And it extends to livestock - we throw away many usable and edible parts of animals that we raise for food, all in a quest for more boneless, skinless chicken breasts and beef tenderloins.
Through four sections organized around soil, land, sea and seed, Barber profiles various farmers, fishermen, bakers, seed managers and more in an attempt to explain what is missing from our current food culture and how we can get on a path toward a more sustainable future.
Barber argues that what we need is a food system organized around the whole system of agriculture - and most perhaps most difficult for us to wrap our heads around - is that we can't always get what we want. He calls on chefs to start cooking with other types of foods that are the most important for soil management - certain grains and vegetables that return nutrients to the soil. In essence, chefs need to create the market demand for the items that the farmers need to maintain their land to sustain its health. The idea is that once the chefs start a trend, it can morph into our home kitchens. Which, if you think about it, makes sense - think about what chefs have done for pork belly and brussels sprouts.
This book has fascinating new ideas and a comfortable writing style - definitely for the person who feels like they've already heard it all when it comes to food systems and sustainability. You'll also get a healthy dose of information about international cuisines and agriculture (including the story of some of the world's only foie gras that is not from force-fed animals). It's optimistic, but logical and realistic, which was a tone I really found refreshing. Gives me hope that there are visionaries who are really getting to the heart of what needs to happen to ensure sustainable agriculture.
And it really makes me want to try a carrot steak...
the real threat of antibiotic resistance
It's been awhile since I wrote about the kinds of food issues that get me hot under the collar, for lack of a better phrase. My time for reading up on current issues is severely limited in the summer, for a lot of reasons, but primarily the amount of time spent dealing with vegetables and also running like it's a part time job in marathon training.
But at the end of July, the federal Second Circuit Court of Appeals
overturned two rulings in cases which had directed the FDA to stop the routine use of certain antibiotics in healthy animals unless drug manufacturers proved the safety of such use. (Source, Majority Opinion, Dissenting Opinion)
This means that even though the FDA admits that the use of antibiotics in healthy animals to promote growth and weight gain contributes to antibiotic resistance in humans, they can't do anything to stop producers and commercial livestock companies from using subtherapeutic drugs for healthy animals. They issue voluntary guidelines, which are about as effective as me calling Cargill's customer service department and asking them to stop using antibiotics in healthy animals.
Here's the facts.
This isn't fringe science. There's no real debate in the scientific community that this is a major public health problem. We are running out of antibiotics that are effective in treating many serious infections, and it will change the face of modern medicine if we can no longer stop common infections.
But our own government organizations - the ones that are tasked with protecting the health of Americans - won't stand up to industry and force them to reduce and eventually eliminate their reliance on subtherapeutic antibiotics. None of us want to revisit the world of our ancestors, where a scratch could easily kill you.
So what do you do? Beyond making public comments when they are open and supporting legislation that would push for stricter regulations?
Stop eating meat that comes from animals raised with antibiotics.
I realize that I'm blessed to be able to buy meat from local farmers who do not use subtherapeutic antibiotics in their feed. But I can tell you right now that if tomorrow, my sources were no longer there, I'd give up meat altogether.
More and more suppliers are producing meat that's antibiotic free, and prices are coming down as demand begins to grow. If you do one thing to change your diet to support health as well as a better food supply - do this. Save antibiotics for when you have a real infection - and not just when you're having dinner.
But at the end of July, the federal Second Circuit Court of Appeals
overturned two rulings in cases which had directed the FDA to stop the routine use of certain antibiotics in healthy animals unless drug manufacturers proved the safety of such use. (Source, Majority Opinion, Dissenting Opinion)
This means that even though the FDA admits that the use of antibiotics in healthy animals to promote growth and weight gain contributes to antibiotic resistance in humans, they can't do anything to stop producers and commercial livestock companies from using subtherapeutic drugs for healthy animals. They issue voluntary guidelines, which are about as effective as me calling Cargill's customer service department and asking them to stop using antibiotics in healthy animals.
Here's the facts.
- 2 million people in the U.S. alone are infected by antibiotic resistant bacteria each year
- 23,000 people in the U.S. DIE from these infections each year, in addition to the many who die from illnesses complicated by antibiotic resistant infections
- Leading health organizations from across the nation and the world - leading organizations and not just wacky health food hippies - have spoken out against the use of antibiotics in livestock. To name a few - the World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Medical Association, American Society for Microbiology, American Academy of Pediatrics.
- The Director General of the WHO: “Things as common as strep throat or a child’s scratched knee could once again kill. A post-antibiotic era means, in effect, an end to modern medicine as we know it. The problem arises when drugs used for food production are medically important for human health, as evidence shows that pathogens that have developed resistance to drugs in animals can be transmitted to humans.”
This isn't fringe science. There's no real debate in the scientific community that this is a major public health problem. We are running out of antibiotics that are effective in treating many serious infections, and it will change the face of modern medicine if we can no longer stop common infections.
But our own government organizations - the ones that are tasked with protecting the health of Americans - won't stand up to industry and force them to reduce and eventually eliminate their reliance on subtherapeutic antibiotics. None of us want to revisit the world of our ancestors, where a scratch could easily kill you.
So what do you do? Beyond making public comments when they are open and supporting legislation that would push for stricter regulations?
Stop eating meat that comes from animals raised with antibiotics.
I realize that I'm blessed to be able to buy meat from local farmers who do not use subtherapeutic antibiotics in their feed. But I can tell you right now that if tomorrow, my sources were no longer there, I'd give up meat altogether.
More and more suppliers are producing meat that's antibiotic free, and prices are coming down as demand begins to grow. If you do one thing to change your diet to support health as well as a better food supply - do this. Save antibiotics for when you have a real infection - and not just when you're having dinner.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
movie review: frankensteer
As far as the documentary itself, it was clearly on the low-budget side, without the polished feel of more widely released films. It's also not an American film - it's Canadian - so some of the information is geared toward Canadian governmental policies, though it does look at things from a "North American" perspective as well.
For me, the best part of the film was in its opening line - that in order to produce cheap food, we have taken a benign, naturally flatulent vegetarian and turned it into a cannibal and vampire. We push these creatures to within an inch of their life until ultimately they lose it in a slaughterhouse to end up on our plates.
The film makes its way through a discussion of the dangers of growth hormones and sub-therapeutic antibiotics, two things that in 2014 the public is demanding be removed from our food supply more than ever. In discussing the differences between government policies on these items and showing the disparity between what Europe feels is safe and what North American nations do, it occurs to me that it's amazing how we think that science and nature relate differently on this issue depending on your country's borders. I think it's safe to say that if it's not safe for a member of the European Union, it's not safe for me. Why that science cannot cross national boundaries is beyond me.
Frankensteer lays out all the basic reasons to avoid industrially raised beef, and in particular the health risk to humans of mad cow disease (not as much of an issue now as it was in 2006, but still nothing to dismiss) as well as E. coli and food borne illness. We shouldn't have to take a product home from the grocery store that's intended for consumption and have to treat it like toxic waste until cooked.
Frankensteer doesn't get into industrial agriculture's effect on the economy, environment or workers, but that's understandable for a film that's only 44 minutes long. Honestly, there are 500 page books on the subject that can't even cover it all. All the more reason to not eat or purchase it.
For me, I try not to eat meat at all when I don't know where it came from (as in, which farm). However, lately I've found it harder to make those choices when traveling, especially when I need protein and there are no vegetarian options that include any. While I didn't find this film incredibly compelling in and of itself, it served as a good reminder for why I don't eat industrial meat and a push to recommit to being strict about it in my own diet, even if it means making sacrifices.
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Real Life CSA: meat, month 6
Due to a scheduling snafu on my part, I was not able to take photos of the final meat CSA from Clarion River Organics, but I still want to relay what we got, because it was pretty awesome.
The chickens were all stewing hens this month, since in other months we got more roasters. We found that slow cooking a stewing hen in the crockpot produced pretty flavorful meat for us to use in salads and wraps (that just fell right off the bone with minimal work required). We'll probably do that again soon so we can boost our supply of stock again.
For beef, we got a big roast, some bones for soup, sirloin steak and the usual ground beef, as well as some all-beef hot dogs. The bones will come in handy because I'm going to need a supply of beef stock for the winter as well.
As a side note, we have saved so much money over the last few years by making our own stock. Not only does it save us money, but it allows us to control the seasoning and the portion size for freezing to reduce waste.
This month it was the pork share that really got us excited. Not only did we get more sausage, chops and ribs, but two types of bacon. I adore bacon, but rarely eat it, since it's very expensive to buy pastured pork products in the store, and we don't often have pork belly for Mark to cure some of his own. We are going to enjoy every bite of that bacon.
Last but not least, we got pork fat. Yep, FAT. And we are psyched. Why? Because you can render pork fat into lard. LARD. Real lard. From a local farm. Which we have never found in the Pittsburgh area before (unless there's some place I'm missing). I've always wanted to make a pie crust with lard. (If you haven't guessed, we're not a fat-phobic household. We drink and eat full fat dairy products. Moderation is our philosophy. Plus you can't convince me a little pork fat is less healthy than a cup of Crisco. Anyway.)
I'll probably do a post when we render the fat and share how it turns out. Our CSA email provided a link to a how-to, so that should really help. (Yet another benefit of CSAs - they have a vested interest in you being able to actually use and consume their products.)
This was the last month for the meat CSA this season. If Clarion River offers the meat CSA again next year, we will most definitely sign up. (We've now got a freezer full of meat to eat for the next 6 months!) We've made a lot of great dishes with their products and the quality is high for the price. It's also made us really conscious of using up what we have and cooking from the freezer, rather than from the grocery store shelves. It was a great experience, and I encourage anyone interested in sourcing their meat from local farms to give it a try and check out their options. (They offer the chicken, pork and beef share separately so you can order based on your preference - we just really like chicken, pork and beef.)
Also, if you want to try their meat out before you consider a CSA subscription, visit them at the Pittsburgh Public Market this winter in its new location!
Thanks Clarion River Organics!
The chickens were all stewing hens this month, since in other months we got more roasters. We found that slow cooking a stewing hen in the crockpot produced pretty flavorful meat for us to use in salads and wraps (that just fell right off the bone with minimal work required). We'll probably do that again soon so we can boost our supply of stock again.
For beef, we got a big roast, some bones for soup, sirloin steak and the usual ground beef, as well as some all-beef hot dogs. The bones will come in handy because I'm going to need a supply of beef stock for the winter as well.
As a side note, we have saved so much money over the last few years by making our own stock. Not only does it save us money, but it allows us to control the seasoning and the portion size for freezing to reduce waste.
This month it was the pork share that really got us excited. Not only did we get more sausage, chops and ribs, but two types of bacon. I adore bacon, but rarely eat it, since it's very expensive to buy pastured pork products in the store, and we don't often have pork belly for Mark to cure some of his own. We are going to enjoy every bite of that bacon.
Last but not least, we got pork fat. Yep, FAT. And we are psyched. Why? Because you can render pork fat into lard. LARD. Real lard. From a local farm. Which we have never found in the Pittsburgh area before (unless there's some place I'm missing). I've always wanted to make a pie crust with lard. (If you haven't guessed, we're not a fat-phobic household. We drink and eat full fat dairy products. Moderation is our philosophy. Plus you can't convince me a little pork fat is less healthy than a cup of Crisco. Anyway.)
I'll probably do a post when we render the fat and share how it turns out. Our CSA email provided a link to a how-to, so that should really help. (Yet another benefit of CSAs - they have a vested interest in you being able to actually use and consume their products.)
This was the last month for the meat CSA this season. If Clarion River offers the meat CSA again next year, we will most definitely sign up. (We've now got a freezer full of meat to eat for the next 6 months!) We've made a lot of great dishes with their products and the quality is high for the price. It's also made us really conscious of using up what we have and cooking from the freezer, rather than from the grocery store shelves. It was a great experience, and I encourage anyone interested in sourcing their meat from local farms to give it a try and check out their options. (They offer the chicken, pork and beef share separately so you can order based on your preference - we just really like chicken, pork and beef.)
Also, if you want to try their meat out before you consider a CSA subscription, visit them at the Pittsburgh Public Market this winter in its new location!
Thanks Clarion River Organics!
Monday, October 14, 2013
Real Life CSA: meat, month 5
I can't believe we've been getting these meat shares for 5 months now. Our freezer can believe it - we're growing a stockpile to get us through the winter. If Mark gets a deer, we're going to have to have a winter cookout!
Very happy for a big beef roast this time around. I love how a house smells after a roast with veggies has slow cooked all day. Also just in time for colder weather, beef bones for soup!
Three roasting chickens this share. One of them was fresh, but we needed to freeze it because of our meal schedule. From this point forward we'll probably be roasting a chicken a week! If you've got good ideas for spice rubs, leave them in the comments. I get bored if it's the same thing every week.
Lots of sausage this week - breakfast sausage for Mark, plus both sweet and hot Italian sausage. I didn't really grow up liking spicy foods, but now? The hotter the better!
Also got a big pork roast, which I'm dreaming of making with apples or squash or some delectable combination of autumn produce.
October Simplified update: Sold six books already; organized my way through the guest bedroom, bathroom, master bedroom and vestibule. The house gets significantly more cluttered the closer I get to the basement. It's like making your way through a level of Super Mario Brothers and the basement is the big King Koopa at the end...
Very happy for a big beef roast this time around. I love how a house smells after a roast with veggies has slow cooked all day. Also just in time for colder weather, beef bones for soup!
Lots of sausage this week - breakfast sausage for Mark, plus both sweet and hot Italian sausage. I didn't really grow up liking spicy foods, but now? The hotter the better!
Also got a big pork roast, which I'm dreaming of making with apples or squash or some delectable combination of autumn produce.
October Simplified update: Sold six books already; organized my way through the guest bedroom, bathroom, master bedroom and vestibule. The house gets significantly more cluttered the closer I get to the basement. It's like making your way through a level of Super Mario Brothers and the basement is the big King Koopa at the end...
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Real Life CSA: meat, month 4
I can't believe we're already on our fourth month of the meat CSA from Clarion River Organics. It snuck up on us to the point where we had to "emergency can" two batches of grape jelly from juice we had in our chest freezer to make room for the meat delivery. We did it, and now we have some more room for this month's meat share.
The three chickens were all roasters this time. We also found out from the farm's update email that last month's share had three roasters as well. The last share will be three stewing chickens, but that's good as we'll be getting into chili and stew season anyway!
Pretty excited about the beef share too, seeing that we got my favorites: burgers and steaks.
We got four premium steaks this time - beef loin rib steaks, and beef loin T-bones, as well as 20 quarter pound burger patties. We always make our own patties from ground beef, but Mark and I both are happy to have some of the convenience of pre-formed patties in the freezer (without having to worry they will end up recalled for e.coli!).
While the steaks and burgers were pretty exciting, the greatest discovery (and biggest preparation challenge) this time was in the pork share.
We've got our regular sausages, ground pork, and pork chops, plus some country style ribs. But take a look up at the top right. What have we here?
Pork jowels.(Cheeks.)
Oh yeah, and a pork heart.
I felt like a zombie, reaching into the box and pulling this baby out in particular. I mean, look at it. It actually kind of looks fake, like a Halloween prop!
This is when you start practicing what you preach with eating farm raised meats - everyone loves steaks and chops and Christmas hams, but what about the other parts of the animal that are perfectly edible, but that can make us shudder at the thought of consuming?
I'll admit. I don't know the first thing about how to prepare pork jowels or pork heart. Mark thinks from the look of the jowels it's something that will be cooked low and slow. As for the heart, I've had beef heart before, so I'm wondering if it will be similar in texture, if not taste.
We're going to do some research on preparation, and I'll report back. I'm looking forward to the challenge!
The three chickens were all roasters this time. We also found out from the farm's update email that last month's share had three roasters as well. The last share will be three stewing chickens, but that's good as we'll be getting into chili and stew season anyway!
Pretty excited about the beef share too, seeing that we got my favorites: burgers and steaks.
We got four premium steaks this time - beef loin rib steaks, and beef loin T-bones, as well as 20 quarter pound burger patties. We always make our own patties from ground beef, but Mark and I both are happy to have some of the convenience of pre-formed patties in the freezer (without having to worry they will end up recalled for e.coli!).
While the steaks and burgers were pretty exciting, the greatest discovery (and biggest preparation challenge) this time was in the pork share.
We've got our regular sausages, ground pork, and pork chops, plus some country style ribs. But take a look up at the top right. What have we here?
Pork jowels.(Cheeks.)
Oh yeah, and a pork heart.
I felt like a zombie, reaching into the box and pulling this baby out in particular. I mean, look at it. It actually kind of looks fake, like a Halloween prop!
This is when you start practicing what you preach with eating farm raised meats - everyone loves steaks and chops and Christmas hams, but what about the other parts of the animal that are perfectly edible, but that can make us shudder at the thought of consuming?
I'll admit. I don't know the first thing about how to prepare pork jowels or pork heart. Mark thinks from the look of the jowels it's something that will be cooked low and slow. As for the heart, I've had beef heart before, so I'm wondering if it will be similar in texture, if not taste.
We're going to do some research on preparation, and I'll report back. I'm looking forward to the challenge!
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Book Review: The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
I wanted to read The Jungle because it's a classic piece of the American literary canon, and also because I was interested in early food journalism. I didn't realize that it also qualified as creative non-fiction, being centered around a fictional Lithuanian immigrant named Jurgis Rudkus who moves with his family to Chicago, following the promise of a better life. There, he gets a job in "Packingtown" at one of the meatpacking houses. And basically? It all goes to hell from there.
The horrid conditions (and I mean horrid) that Sinclair describes through Jurgis and his family caused public outcry. Sinclair himself worked undercover in the meatpacking plants for weeks, doing research. The book was originally published as a serial in a socialist newspaper (Sinclair was an active socialist), and he eventually paid to publish the first edition of the book on his own. Ironically, his goal was to further his political agenda - to expose the plight of the working man. But what the public cared about was the impact the book had on how they saw their food.
Though the government denounced his book because of his socialist agenda, President (Teddy) Roosevelt commissioned a report that confirmed Sinclair's claims. Public outcry eventually led to the passage of the Meat Inspection Act (required mandatory inspections of livestock, postmortem inspections of carcasses, sanitary conditions in slaughterhouses and housing plants, and USDA monitoring of facilities) as well as the Pure Food and Drug Act, which established what would later be called the FDA, and carried penalties for mislabeling and adulteration of products, which at the time was rampant - and frankly, foul.
For all of the issues that I have with modern industrial agriculture and confined animal feeding operations, this book put into perspective how much worse it actually was 100 years ago. While there are still additives in processed food that I don't want to eat, it is because of modern food production that we can buy milk that isn't 50% chalk, and if we buy a carton of rancid yogurt at the store, we can return it for a full refund. While people still do die of food poisoning, and I'm not making light of that, the mortality rate from adulterated food is drastically lower today than it was 100 years ago, thanks in part to the legislation passed after The Jungle was published. We can definitely thank Sinclair and the other muckraking journalists at the time for that.
It's worth noting that Sinclair was disappointed that people cared more about the food they were eating than the plight of the working man, but that is sadly an issue that hasn't gotten much better today. It's important that we eat pesticide free, organic produce not just because of the danger of pesticides to our own health, but because the exposure to farm workers is orders of magnitude worse.
I wonder what Sinclair would say if he could see what his book began - and how far we still have to go.
Friday, August 16, 2013
Real Life CSA: meat, month 3
We're on our third month of our meat CSA with Clarion River Organics and our freezer is officially full! Thankfully some of the items we got this month won't last long.
Let's start with our chickens - two roasters and one stewing chicken. (That's water on the island, not chicken goo. No worries.)
The beef share has some interesting additions this month. Four pounds of ground beef, beef liver, beef cubes for stew, flank steak and round steak. When I pulled it out of the box I was a little taken aback by the dark color of the liver. I can't recall ever having beef liver before, so this should be a new experience for me!
The pork share didn't disappoint either. Two packages of sweet Italian sausage, plus a gorgeous BONELESS HAM and some PORK SPARE RIBS. Capitals for emphasis, obviously. I mean, those are our favorite uses for pork, next to bacon of course.
Also, we are traveling this weekend and will not be able to pick up our produce CSA for week 11, so we opted to donate it to the food pantry. That's a great part of the CSA set-up - they never let things go to waste!
Let's start with our chickens - two roasters and one stewing chicken. (That's water on the island, not chicken goo. No worries.)
The beef share has some interesting additions this month. Four pounds of ground beef, beef liver, beef cubes for stew, flank steak and round steak. When I pulled it out of the box I was a little taken aback by the dark color of the liver. I can't recall ever having beef liver before, so this should be a new experience for me!
The pork share didn't disappoint either. Two packages of sweet Italian sausage, plus a gorgeous BONELESS HAM and some PORK SPARE RIBS. Capitals for emphasis, obviously. I mean, those are our favorite uses for pork, next to bacon of course.
Also, we are traveling this weekend and will not be able to pick up our produce CSA for week 11, so we opted to donate it to the food pantry. That's a great part of the CSA set-up - they never let things go to waste!
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Real Life CSA: meat, month 2
We picked up our second meat share of the summer from Clarion River Organics yesterday, and we were really pleased to see some of our favorites, and some new stuff as well.
The chicken share is the same each time. Two whole roasting chickens and one stewing chicken. The roasting chickens were 4 and 4.5 pounds and the stewing chicken was almost 3 pounds.
The beef share had some interesting stuff in it this time too. In addition to the three pounds of delicious ground beef, we got a pack of beef short ribs, a T-bone, a Porterhouse, and some loin rib steaks. We are big steak fans at Next Gen House, so I'm already drooling thinking about that Porterhouse.
Definitely some new and exciting stuff in the pork share this month, which I'm probably the most excited about of the three. Two pounds of ground pork, two packages of pork chops, a big hunk of bacon, breakfast sausage links, sweet Italian sausage, hot Italian sausage and a pig heart. That pig heart will be a challenge, but we'll find something to do with it! I'm also thinking about a pasta sauce with the hot Italian sausage. Another round of dan dan mien noodles with the ground pork is in order as well. The next time I make it, I'll be sure to post it. It's fantastic when you want Chinese takeout but don't want to pay for it or eat a load of MSG!
We're really happy with the variety and quality of our meat shares so far. We are trying to commit to only eating the meat from our shares (with limited exceptions) to make sure we're taking advantage of all of this great stuff before the next round comes in August.
The chicken share is the same each time. Two whole roasting chickens and one stewing chicken. The roasting chickens were 4 and 4.5 pounds and the stewing chicken was almost 3 pounds.
The beef share had some interesting stuff in it this time too. In addition to the three pounds of delicious ground beef, we got a pack of beef short ribs, a T-bone, a Porterhouse, and some loin rib steaks. We are big steak fans at Next Gen House, so I'm already drooling thinking about that Porterhouse.
Definitely some new and exciting stuff in the pork share this month, which I'm probably the most excited about of the three. Two pounds of ground pork, two packages of pork chops, a big hunk of bacon, breakfast sausage links, sweet Italian sausage, hot Italian sausage and a pig heart. That pig heart will be a challenge, but we'll find something to do with it! I'm also thinking about a pasta sauce with the hot Italian sausage. Another round of dan dan mien noodles with the ground pork is in order as well. The next time I make it, I'll be sure to post it. It's fantastic when you want Chinese takeout but don't want to pay for it or eat a load of MSG!
We're really happy with the variety and quality of our meat shares so far. We are trying to commit to only eating the meat from our shares (with limited exceptions) to make sure we're taking advantage of all of this great stuff before the next round comes in August.
Monday, June 17, 2013
Real Life CSA: month 1, meat and poultry
I've discussed before why we subscribe to CSAs at Next Gen House, and there I mentioned that we decided to join a meat/poultry CSA this year through Clarion River Organics. We've always been big fans of their stands at local farmers markets and the Pittsburgh Public Market. After reading Peter Singer's book The Way We Eat, I wanted to commit even more to sourcing meat carefully and with an eye to morality. While we haven't purchased "regular" meat from a grocery store in almost two years, we still would purchase a lot of our meat through Whole Foods (what we didn't get from our bulk purchases of meat from Weatherbury Farm).
While I definitely support purchasing meat at Whole Foods, with its Animal Welfare rating system and the fact that they don't even carry meat or poultry without a minimum standard (no hormones, antibiotics, cages or gestation crates, etc.), I felt like we could do better. I wanted to get closer to the farm for all of the meat/poultry we purchase - for the welfare of the animals, the stewardship of the land, the quality, health and taste of the meat we consume, and the economic value to our community. Even if meat from Whole Foods takes into account the first three factors, I am a believer in sourcing food as locally as possible, to reduce the length of the food chain from farm to consumer and also to put my money behind sustaining these local resources.
Enter Clarion River Organics. We attended a local food conference this year on a whim, and while we were touring the vendor booths, I noticed a sign that said Meat CSAs. We learned that Clarion River offers different shares for pork, beef and chicken, as well as a combination of those if you would like multiples. We definitely wanted to get full shares for each. We get a share once a month from June through November, at one of many pick-up locations. You can find more details here.
We picked up our first share last week, and this is what we got.
Beef: steaks, ground beef, stew meat and short ribs (~ 8 lbs. total)
Pork: ground pork, handmade parsley parmesan sausage, ham steak, pork chops (~ 8 lbs. total)
Chicken: 3 whole chickens (two 4+lb. roasters, 1 2+lb. stewing chicken)
(Stewing chickens were formally laying hens - their muscle tissue is flavorful, but different from chickens raised for meat. We're looking forward to using it for soup or stew, or braising it.)
This will last our family of two through the month until our next share, definitely. Everything is well marked and packed so as to last a long time in the freezer. I'm already planning some bolognese sauce for next week! (I'll pass along my recipe when I make it!)
I also have to note what most impressed me about this share. When we received our update email telling us the first share was ready to be picked up, it also told us that some of the pigs were not fed entirely organic grain because they ran out at one point and had to be fed conventional grain (still non-GMO) in the winter for awhile. I appreciate so much this transparency on their part. It is the mark of a business that has nothing to hide and that engenders trust and respect between the provider and the consumer.
I'm proud to be a customer of theirs, not only because of the quality of their products but because of the way they run their business. We are very blessed in our area to have trusted options to choose from for sourcing ethically raised, nutritious meats.
Thanks, Clarion River (@ClarRvrOrganics)! Can't wait for next month!
While I definitely support purchasing meat at Whole Foods, with its Animal Welfare rating system and the fact that they don't even carry meat or poultry without a minimum standard (no hormones, antibiotics, cages or gestation crates, etc.), I felt like we could do better. I wanted to get closer to the farm for all of the meat/poultry we purchase - for the welfare of the animals, the stewardship of the land, the quality, health and taste of the meat we consume, and the economic value to our community. Even if meat from Whole Foods takes into account the first three factors, I am a believer in sourcing food as locally as possible, to reduce the length of the food chain from farm to consumer and also to put my money behind sustaining these local resources.
Enter Clarion River Organics. We attended a local food conference this year on a whim, and while we were touring the vendor booths, I noticed a sign that said Meat CSAs. We learned that Clarion River offers different shares for pork, beef and chicken, as well as a combination of those if you would like multiples. We definitely wanted to get full shares for each. We get a share once a month from June through November, at one of many pick-up locations. You can find more details here.
We picked up our first share last week, and this is what we got.
Beef: steaks, ground beef, stew meat and short ribs (~ 8 lbs. total)
Pork: ground pork, handmade parsley parmesan sausage, ham steak, pork chops (~ 8 lbs. total)
Chicken: 3 whole chickens (two 4+lb. roasters, 1 2+lb. stewing chicken)
(Stewing chickens were formally laying hens - their muscle tissue is flavorful, but different from chickens raised for meat. We're looking forward to using it for soup or stew, or braising it.)
This will last our family of two through the month until our next share, definitely. Everything is well marked and packed so as to last a long time in the freezer. I'm already planning some bolognese sauce for next week! (I'll pass along my recipe when I make it!)
I also have to note what most impressed me about this share. When we received our update email telling us the first share was ready to be picked up, it also told us that some of the pigs were not fed entirely organic grain because they ran out at one point and had to be fed conventional grain (still non-GMO) in the winter for awhile. I appreciate so much this transparency on their part. It is the mark of a business that has nothing to hide and that engenders trust and respect between the provider and the consumer.
I'm proud to be a customer of theirs, not only because of the quality of their products but because of the way they run their business. We are very blessed in our area to have trusted options to choose from for sourcing ethically raised, nutritious meats.
Thanks, Clarion River (@ClarRvrOrganics)! Can't wait for next month!
Friday, April 5, 2013
Ag-Gag Undercover
Perhaps what I want the most from our industrial food system is transparency. I think if everyone knew how our food gets to us, and how the system works from the inside out, we would be able to stand up and demand more of these companies.
But how do people know what is happening if it becomes illegal to show what goes on there by taking photographs or videos? How do we know what is happening when a worker would have to risk going to jail to expose the conditions in which he/she works?
Laws are being considered by many states, Pennsylvania included, that would make it a crime to "interfere with agricultural operations" by taking still images or video recordings inside industrial agricultural facilities. Some of these laws would also make it a crime to share them, so media organizations would potentially face felony charges as well. They are called Ag-Gag laws, since they aim to silence anyone who tries to show the hard truth about what happens in these confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and industrial farms.
No federal laws exist governing animal cruelty when it comes to agriculture, and any state laws are typically very weak (having been watered down by lobbyists from the industry). Finding no help in the law, many people take to hidden camera investigations and publish the findings, hoping to try the factory farms in the court of public opinion.
In a country that zealously guards its rights to free speech, how can we consider punishing someone with felony charges for telling the truth? How can the federal government subsidize through the Farm Bill an industrial food system that isn't open to public scrutiny and in fact does everything it can to keep its operations behind closed doors?
I recently came across this article in The Atlantic concerning Ag-Gag laws, by someone who took undercover footage while working at a pig farm right here in Pennsylvania. I followed the link to the video that the author published through Mercy For Animals.
I'm going to be perfectly honest. I have seen documentaries and undercover footage from industrial farms before. It's what got me to start considering the realities of what I was eating. But each time I see these videos, I have to pause them after a minute or two to close my eyes and wish I hadn't seen it. Because once you see it, you can't forget it. To think that we let this happen simply so we can buy cheap bacon.
I've embedded the video below. Watch what you can. Sadly, there are hundreds more just like it.
The next time that you hear of an Ag-Gag law being proposed where you live, call your government officials and spread the word to anyone that will listen that we have to stand up to protect the truth.
But how do people know what is happening if it becomes illegal to show what goes on there by taking photographs or videos? How do we know what is happening when a worker would have to risk going to jail to expose the conditions in which he/she works?
Laws are being considered by many states, Pennsylvania included, that would make it a crime to "interfere with agricultural operations" by taking still images or video recordings inside industrial agricultural facilities. Some of these laws would also make it a crime to share them, so media organizations would potentially face felony charges as well. They are called Ag-Gag laws, since they aim to silence anyone who tries to show the hard truth about what happens in these confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and industrial farms.
No federal laws exist governing animal cruelty when it comes to agriculture, and any state laws are typically very weak (having been watered down by lobbyists from the industry). Finding no help in the law, many people take to hidden camera investigations and publish the findings, hoping to try the factory farms in the court of public opinion.
In a country that zealously guards its rights to free speech, how can we consider punishing someone with felony charges for telling the truth? How can the federal government subsidize through the Farm Bill an industrial food system that isn't open to public scrutiny and in fact does everything it can to keep its operations behind closed doors?
I recently came across this article in The Atlantic concerning Ag-Gag laws, by someone who took undercover footage while working at a pig farm right here in Pennsylvania. I followed the link to the video that the author published through Mercy For Animals.
I'm going to be perfectly honest. I have seen documentaries and undercover footage from industrial farms before. It's what got me to start considering the realities of what I was eating. But each time I see these videos, I have to pause them after a minute or two to close my eyes and wish I hadn't seen it. Because once you see it, you can't forget it. To think that we let this happen simply so we can buy cheap bacon.
I've embedded the video below. Watch what you can. Sadly, there are hundreds more just like it.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
resolved - 2013 is the year of sustainable seafood
In a previous incarnation of this blog, on January 1, 2012, I wrote the following:
Amazingly enough, with a only few exceptions of personal weakness, I was able to stick to this resolution for 2012. Now it feels like a way of life, not a resolution that I have to struggle to incorporate into my life. While in some ways it feels like this resolution is designed to stop directly and indirectly giving money to CAFOs, I have realized how much it actually had a positive economic impact. My money this year supported local farms, grocery stores that provide humanely raised meats, and restaurants willing to make a commitment to sustainable, humane and local meats in their establishments.
Many of these same restaurants also have a commitment to local farms for produce and dairy as well as meats. And while I don't mind giving my money to Whole Foods (which is a post in and of itself!), I am happy that much more money went into my local economy as a result of my "resolution."
I've even discovered some new vegetarian dishes that I never would have ordered before I restricted the type of meat I eat. I also ate more seafood than I would have previously (and am now enjoying more types of sushi than I ever did before!)
But this brings me to my next area of research - sustainable seafood. I'm going to explore this more this year, after being inspired by a report on NPR about what a "sustainable seafood" label really means. I am worried about what this means for the sushi delights I discovered in 2012, but if I can cut out problematic chicken, beef, pork, and other meats, I can do seafood too.
Before I got really serious about food, both physically and philosophically, I always made new year's resolutions that would last for about 6 weeks if I was lucky and then fade away, only to resurface again the following year. The "lose weight" and "get more sleep" variety. Last year I made only one new year's resolution, and I stuck to it: to stop eating chicken. More specifically, to stop eating chicken from unknown sources. If I didn't know for sure that the chicken came from a specific farm or a store that only sells chicken up to my standards (Green Circle Farms, Whole Foods, etc.), I wouldn't eat it. We don't cook with CAFO-raised chicken (or any CAFO-raised meat for that matter) at home, but the biggest change was at restaurants. No more chicken nuggets, no more chicken dishes at all, except for a small handful of restaurants who have taken a stand against industrial agriculture.
At first it was brutal. I always wanted the buffalo chicken dip when I'd be out someplace, or a chicken panini or pasta. But the more I got used to it, the more I discovered other menu items I liked, and realized that over the course of the year, it really added up to something. When I think about how much chicken I would have consumed outside of my house the year before, that's a significant number of chickens saved for just one person. I like to think sticking with the resolution made a difference.
Which brings me to my first resolution of 2012. I'm going to expand the chicken resolution to encompass all meats (including beef and pork in all forms). If I don't know where it came from (and consequently how it was raised, what it was fed, and where it was slaughtered and processed), I'm not eating it. I will be eating like a vegetarian (or pescetarian if I know the fish was wild and not farm-raised) at all restaurants and as many occasions as I can outside of the house.
This is going to be brutal at first, I'm sure. Sister loves her bacon and particularly hamburgers and steaks. But real change sometimes comes at a cost. I'm not going to be party anymore to a system that negatively affects so many parts of our lives. Cheap meat has a very high cost: a cost to the environment of which we are to be stewards, a cost to the animals involved, a cost to the workers who are put in danger every day in slaughterhouses across the country that have minimal to no government oversight both in workers' rights and safety, a cost to communities and small farmers when we source everything we buy from somewhere other than home, a cost to the person who gets poisoned from e. coli or salmonella or even staph simply from eating a hamburger at a summer picnic.
Amazingly enough, with a only few exceptions of personal weakness, I was able to stick to this resolution for 2012. Now it feels like a way of life, not a resolution that I have to struggle to incorporate into my life. While in some ways it feels like this resolution is designed to stop directly and indirectly giving money to CAFOs, I have realized how much it actually had a positive economic impact. My money this year supported local farms, grocery stores that provide humanely raised meats, and restaurants willing to make a commitment to sustainable, humane and local meats in their establishments.
Many of these same restaurants also have a commitment to local farms for produce and dairy as well as meats. And while I don't mind giving my money to Whole Foods (which is a post in and of itself!), I am happy that much more money went into my local economy as a result of my "resolution."
I've even discovered some new vegetarian dishes that I never would have ordered before I restricted the type of meat I eat. I also ate more seafood than I would have previously (and am now enjoying more types of sushi than I ever did before!)
But this brings me to my next area of research - sustainable seafood. I'm going to explore this more this year, after being inspired by a report on NPR about what a "sustainable seafood" label really means. I am worried about what this means for the sushi delights I discovered in 2012, but if I can cut out problematic chicken, beef, pork, and other meats, I can do seafood too.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)