TED talk by Temple Grandin

 

In a recent post I discussed Temple Grandin and a farm that uses a slaughterhouse designed by her.  Temple Grandin is considered one of the leading authorities on livestock cognitive behavior and is a consultant to the livestock industry for the design of ‘humane’ slaughterhouses.    Below is a link to a TED talk about different types of thinking particularly for autistic minds.

“Temple Grandin, diagnosed with autism as a child, talks about how her mind works — sharing her ability to “think in pictures,” which helps her solve problems that neurotypical brains might miss. She makes the case that the world needs people on the autism spectrum: visual thinkers, pattern thinkers, verbal thinkers, and all kinds of smart geeky kids”

This week is Factory Farms detox week

Factory Farm: (n) An industrial facility on which large numbers of animals are confined in unnatural conditions that prioritize production of meat, eggs or dairy at the expense of animals’ welfare, the environment, workers, consumers, communities and farmers.

Check out this link

Meet the Farmer 2 – Lilac Hedge Farms

Continuing my search for local sustainable farmers I came across a farm located in Holden, MA (62 miles from my home) called Lilac Hedge Farm. Their website has a ton of information on their practices and farming philosophies.  If you want transparency then this website should have all the information you need.

One of the most interesting aspects of the website is the transparency of killing and processing process.  You don’t find that on most websites but on this farm’s website they don’t shy away from it.  It’s a good thing to raise animals in a natural way and an even better thing to ensure that they are slaughtered in as humanely a manner as possible.  Here is the section from Lilac Hedge Farm’s website on how they process their animals (link here) – not for the faint of heart!    I won’t go into the details of animal processing here – but one of the points that caught my attention is that Lilac Hedge Farms processes their beef at Adams Farm in Athol, MA (83 miles from my home).  This processing facility is the only facility in New England to have livestock holding pens designed by Temple Grandin who is regarded as the world’s foremost authority in the humane handling of animals.  For those that have not heard of Temple Grandin, she is an autism spokesperson (she is on the autism spectrum), a leading expert on livestock cognitive behavior, consultant to the livestock industry, prolific author and Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University.  I recommend that if you want to learn more about her check out her Wikipedia page. She has worked extensively with slaughterhouses to help design a more ‘humane’ experience during the slaughter process. Below is a quote from the wiki page from Temple Grandin which resonated with me:

“I think using animals for food is an ethical thing to do, but we’ve got to do it right. We’ve got to give those animals a decent life, and we’ve got to give them a painless death. We owe the animals respect”

So one Saturday morning in September I took my eldest son to Roslindale Farmers Market (6 miles from my house) to seek out the Lilac Hedge Farms stand.  The stand was very busy this Saturday when we were there.  The women at the register said they raise all their own animals (beef, chicken, pork, lamb) and she usually worked on the farm. The photo below also shows their pricing.  For comparison, their chicken breasts are $11.99/lb compared to $14.50 on Crowd Cow plus you also have to pay shipping(here is a link to my recent article on Crowd Cow).

I bought a pack of chicken drumsticks, thighs and boneless breast (I wanted all the parts to cook a chicken curry – need to bones for the gravy!) plus a pork butt roast (which I will smoke and make pulled pork) and some skirt steak (for fajitas).

Later that day I was preparing the chicken for the chicken curry.  I opened the pack of chicken breast(s) and found that the pack was actually one breast.  I had written before about how the chicken breasts I had bought from the Marble Creek Farmstead though Crowd Cow were so much smaller than you buy from the supermarket – most likely due to the fact that they were not grown with hormones.  However this chicken breasts was much larger but not as large as a supermarket chicken breast. I looked up the websites of both farms and both state that they raise Cornish broilers for chicken meat.  I guess MA chickens naturally grow larger than AL chickens?

(BTW the chicken curry was delicious – kids ate all their dinner!)

 

Meet the farmer – DaSilva Farm

Previously I had written about my experience with a couple of mail order meat services: Walden Meat Co and Crowd Cow.  Both good experiences, customer service was excellent, meat tastes great but the extra charge for shipping makes it even more expensive.  I also thought that the good done supporting a small farm was slightly offset by the wasted resources taken by shipping chicken breasts from Alabama to Massachusetts.

This then lead me to look for local farms in the Massachusetts or New Hampshire area where I could purchase from directly, saving money on shipping and saving the environment by not putting meat on plane.  I quickly found that there are a lot of farms in the area that practice sustainable farming for all types of meat and eggs.  Many are within a couple of hours drive from my house as well.  Even better was that I found that there are some of these farms at some of the local farmers markets close to where I live.

One of the farms that I found was DaSilva Farm located in Portsmouth, Rhode Island – 60 miles from where I live.  Their website states that they pasture-raise their poultry and pigs, chemical and antibiotic free.  Even better they have a stand at the Braintree Farmers market every Saturday – only 5 miles from where I live! Checks all the boxes for feel good meat – responsibly raised, local small family farm that doesn’t have to be shipped – there is also a cute photo of the farmer and his family– how can you not support them!  So one September Saturday morning I took my oldest son to the Braintree Farmers market as we were on our way to soccer.

Sure enough manning the DaSilva stand himself was the farmer Joshua DaSilva (I recognized him from the photos from his website).  He mentioned that he was short on produce right now but would be completely re-stocked in 3 weeks – so I bought a pack of maple pork breakfast sausages, a 4lb pack of bone in pork chops and some ground beef.  I packed them in the cooler I brought (everything was frozen) and went to soccer feeling pretty good that I supported that nice family farm.

When I got home I couldn’t wait to try some of the DaSilva farm meat that I bought.  Something I noticed was that the meat was processed at Northeast Kingdom Processing from St Johnsbury, Vermont.  Not unusual that a small farm wouldn’t process their own meat but it should be noted that this meat did travel from Rhode Island to Vermont and back to Rhode Island (500 miles).  Definitely not the same magnitude as factory farm meat which can me shipped from the midwest or even Australia.  I also noticed from the website that they didn’t mention that they raised cows (only poultry and pigs) but they sold ground beef – makes me wonder did they raise these cows themselves?

 

 

Pick your mail order meat – Crowd Cow

Recently I wrote about our experience with Walden Meat Co.  Overall a great experience and the meat tastes great.  The one problem is that you don’t get to pick exactly the cuts of meat that you want – although close with the custom option.  Let’s say you only want to eat chicken breasts or ground beef and don’t know how to cook brisket (which is delicious smoked by the way).  So I started looking around for a delivery service that would sell specific cuts of pasture raised and/or grass-fed meats from small farms.

I didn’t have to look too hard to find – Crowd Cow.  They market themselves as supplying exactly what I was looking for:  “Craft Beef”, “Heritage Pork” and “Pastured Chicken” from small independent farms.  They do a great job of introducing you to the farm and the farmer and their philosophies, almost to the point you feel like you know them after reading their web page.  You can pick the exact cut of meat that you want and order small quantities (as little as pound) but you may have to wait a few weeks until it is shipped but they will tell you when the shipment will happen so you have to plan ahead.   They usually have one maybe two farms per animal type (chicken, beef, pork) at one time and the farms are located all over the US – Virginia, Alabama, South Carolina, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania I have seen so far.  I was specifically looking for chicken breasts which were already sold out at the time but I signed up for a notification by email when they would be available again.

About a week later I get an email:

“Good news! Items you are interested in are now available from Marble Creek Farmstead”

I buy 6lb of Chicken breasts from Marble Creek Farmstead in Alabama (https://marblecreekfarmstead.com/) and at around $13.70/pound is quite expensive but was looking forward to my shipment. How could I resist a product description for chicken like this:

“(Approximately 6 lbs) Six pounds of protein-packed, lean chicken breast like you’ve never had before. Treat your body to chicken that spent a life outside foraging for grass, bugs, seeds, and worms. This share includes 6 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breast.”

About a week later I got the shipment after plenty of emails notifying me of the shipment.  It was packed in a box with dry ice and completely frozen. Each pack of around a pound was marked with the farmer’s name and the farm address.  What I did overlook at the time of ordering was the shipping charge – at an additional $12.99 we are now looking at around $15.33 per pound!

 

There real question is of course: ‘How did it taste?’  The first thing to note is how small the chicken breasts seemed – but in reality this is the size of a chicken breast that wasn’t jacked up on hormones to grow an abnormal sized breast.   I dusted them with some BBQ seasoning and cooked them on the grill.  I cooked them to an internal temperature of 160F and let them rest for 10 mins – as I always do.  They tasted good, not great but good – to be honest I couldn’t really tell a whole of difference.  But I did feel better about myself.  Glad I got something good out of the experience since that meal (with some leftovers but not enough for a full second meal in my family of 5) was $46 just for the chicken alone!

 

Picking Sustainable Sushi – it’s not easy….

Sustainable and Sushi – almost an oxy-moron you would think.  Most people associate sushi with Tuna and Salmon – both of which are fished with some of the most irresponsible fishing practices imaginable.  I love sushi and have eaten it since I was a teenager – I have sought out sushi restaurants in cities that I have traveled to and lived – Boston, San Diego, San Francisco, Basel, Brisbane, London – and eaten almost everything on the menu from Sea Urchin gonads (that’s what you get when you order Uni, it’s the edible part of sea urchins) to live shrimp and firefly squid.  And loved it all.  So now I face a problem with this new approach to seeking out sustainable food.

Finding sustainable seafood at a restaurant can be difficult since very few are going to tell you that whether their seafood was caught responsibly or even where it was caught – some may not even know themselves.  So how can you eat out at a sushi restaurant (particularly if you love the taste of raw fish like myself). I thought I would go through the menu of a sushi restaurant (Zen Sushi on Beacon St) that I know which I would rate a ‘good’ sushi restaurant – not excellent but solid.  The gold standard used for judging sustainable seafood is the the Monterrey Bay Seafood website (http://www.seafoodwatch.org/).  On the website you enter the name of the seafood and it will come up a rating of whether it is the ‘Best Choice’, ‘Good Alternative’ or ‘Avoid’.  There is a lot of information needed to assign a correct rating such as where it was caught and the method used to catch – most restaurants are not going to have this information.  I went through the Sushi a la carte section of  the menu and attempted to rate according to the Monterrey Bay Seafood website.

Ebi (shrimp) – Usually Ebi is cooked and this shrimp could have come from anywhere.  Most shrimp is not from a sustainable source therefore – AVOID

Kanikama (Imitation Crab Meat) – I avoid this, this is why …(https://www.businessinsider.com/imitation-crab-meat-ingredients-explained-2017-5)

Maguro (Tuna) – There are many species of tuna that are in danger primarily from the world’s love of sushi. The most popular Giant Bluefin Tuna is very much in danger and should be avoided.  Albacore and Bigeye tuna seem to be good bets but only if caught by handlines or pole-and-lines in certain regions.  A generic ‘tuna’ without knowing where and how it was caught therefore should be avoided.

Sake (Salmon)  – Like tuna, salmon is one of the most popular of sushi fish.  Also, like tuna many species are in danger due to irresponsible fishing but there are certain regions and fishing methods that have a Best Choice rating. Questions is can you find out that information?  And are you willing?  The best choice seems to be Alaskan salmon.

Saba (Mackerel) – This looks good!  Particularly North American

Suzuki (Sea Bass) – Mostly looks good except those caught in the NW Atlantic by Bottom trawls (how do you find this out?)

Hamachi (Yellowtail) – Looks pretty good except if it is from Japan

Ikura (Salmon Roe) – Thumbs up!

Tobiko (Flying Fish Roe) – probably not? From Iceland they are OK, Japan they are not (https://www.outsideonline.com/1914601/sustainable-seafood-myth)

Kaibashira (Scallop) – Looks good unless they are from Peru

Tako (Octopus) – only from certain counties and methods of catch so probably avoid to be safe

Hokkigai (Surf Clam) – Looks good!

Ika (Squid) – Again unless you know where and how it was caught should probably avoid

Unagi (Fresh Water Eel) – The website is quite clear about this one: “Buyer beware! Eel (“unagi” in sushi) is very popular, but also on the “Avoid” list. Eel ranks among the worst seafood choices from an environmental perspective”

Uni (Sea Urchin) – Good as long as its not from Maine

Large Ama-Ebi (Sweet Shrimp) – Good to go! And one of my favorites!

Saku (White Tuna) – should avoid this is why: http://www.foodrepublic.com/2016/08/02/what-is-white-tuna-and-is-it-safe-to-eat/

Smoked Salmon – could be from anywhere so avoid

Therefore the options seems to be limited but some possibilities. : Definite – Saba, Ikura, Ama-Ebi, Surf Clam; Maybe: Sea bass, Yellowtail, Scallop – ask where it is from.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walden Meat Company -responsible meat delivered!

Where to start in my search for sustainable meat?  Google of course!  One of the first places that pops up was a site called Walden Meat Co. (https://waldenlocalmeat.com/).  I am guessing this came up as a top search since I live in the Boston area and this company is marketed towards local farms in New England and New York and they are based in the Boston area.  They even have a butcher shop in the South End neighborhood of Boston.

The website does a great job explaining their standards which tick all the boxes:  “grass-fed and finished”, “raised outdoors on herbicide and pesticide-free pasture”, “never received antibiotics or hormones”, “humanely handled without the use of electric prods”.  There are a lot of options to choose from ranging from just ground meat to picking what meat and cuts you want (to some degree will explain later).

The Just Grind, Basics and Complete Options they pick what you get as described.  The Custom option you have a lot more control over what you get.  I went for the custom option.  Based on their recommendation for our family (I only counted 4 people since our 3 kids don’t eat a full serving) they recommended  20-21 lbs per month which are about to 10 meals (according to the website).  Around 2 lbs per meal sounds right. For the custom option, you need to make selections from each of the following: Base Cuts (pick at least 2), Middle Cuts (pick at least 5) and End-Cuts (pick at least 5).  There are a lot of options.  You will not get all of your choices, you will get a selection of your choices depending on what is available.  For example, you can’t just load up on ground beef and chicken breasts to fulfill your 20 lbs.

Got to say I was a little excited to see what I would get with my delivery.  The box above arrived exactly as expected – everything was packed in dry ice.  We ended up getting: ground beef, sausage of the month, hot Italian sausage, pork chops, beef sirloin steaks, beef brisket, beef roast, chicken legs.  I also got the bacon, eggs, and butter as an add-on. Each was well packaged and labeled – the meat like the steaks and chicken were also labeled with the farmer and farm where it came from – this was a big selling point for me since the transparency of knowing that it comes from a farm that has good practices is important.  For example, the chicken leg quarters were from Ben and Ruth Kane from Alton, NH.  A Google search for them comes up with their blog and website (http://crunchyfarm.blogspot.com/).  Great, they are a real local farm and all of their values look to be well represented.

However, when I looked at the ground beef I didn’t see a farmer or farm name listed.

So I decided to email Walden and ask them for a list of farms that they work with by product.  This was their response (very rapidly):

Hi David,

 Thanks for your question! Because the list of farms we work with changes often, we don’t publish a list. However all of our products with the exception of ground beef, sausage, ham and bacon will have a farm of origin listed on the packaging! Please let us know if you have any further questions!

Best,

Ceilidh

Not exactly the answer I wanted.  Would be good to know that their ground beef is also coming from a particular farm that is doing the right thing.

Onto the next, very important, question – How does it taste?  In my opinion, this meat is some of the best tasting meat that I have cooked myself.  You can definitely taste the difference.  How much of this is placebo effect…

In summary, this is a great service but may not be for everyone.  You have to be open to getting some cuts that you may not usually buy – could be a good thing since you will end up cooking meals that you wouldn’t usually cook – if that’s your thing.  It’s also quite expensive, 21 lbs/$234=$11/lb.  Also, this covers about 3 meals per week – for the rest of the meals you either need to supplement with other sources of meat or eat vegetarian.  Or you need to double the amount you order which gets very expensive.  But it will be some of the best tasting meat you have ever cooked and you will feel good about yourself.