Who wants food transparency? Go to Sweet Green

Here is another recommendation from a co-worker so I have to give him credit straight off.  The Downtown Crossing area in Boston seems to be the center of responsible and source transparent eateries.  Within a block there is Clover Food Labs, B good, Luke’s Lobster and Sweet Green all of which operate under the philosophy of being fully transparent with their ingredients and focusing on clean food.  All are chains and two have apps from which you can order ahead (B good and Sweet Green).  Why are there so many of these types of restaurants popping up here?  Is it because of the concentration of millennials that work in the city?  I am far from a millennial (about 20 years past) but maybe going through a mid-life crisis where I am concerned with the food that I have put in my body the last 40+ years.  Wonder if this group is contributing?

Sweet Green really just focuses on two main dishes – warm bowls and cold salads made with fresh vegetables and protein if you like.  The website looks beautiful – really makes you want to eat the food!  There is a lot of information on their values and commitment to connecting with the source.  This place is busy – can be a line out the door – should use the app during lunch hour.  There is a range of suggested bowls (curry chickpea – roasted chicken, hot chickpeas, shredded carrots, shredded cabbage, raisins, cilantro, toasted almonds, warm quinoa, organic baby spinach, curry yogurt dressing) and salads (kale ceasar – shredded kale, chopped romaine, parmesan crisp, shaved parmesan, roasted chicken, tomatoes, fresh lime squeeze, caesar dressing) or you can make your own.  All the produce is right there in front of you and looks great.   There are also vegan and vegetarian options.  At the start of the line is a huge board which lists all the ingredients and the farm/source down to the freshly squeezed lime juice and raisins.  It’s an amazing display of transparency for sure and apparently they update it every day.  I decided to go for the Curry Chickpea bowl with chickpeas from Timeless Seed – Organic and chicken from Allen Farms.  You can add or subtract ingredients as you walk along the line and check them out.  The bowl tasted delicious and I couldn’t wait to try out some of the others – next time I will use the app.

Under the Food Ethos section of the website they have a paragraph on animal welfare.  Here they mention that: “In each region we source from, we demand high sustainability and animal safety standards. These include:

• Chicken: GAP Step 2 and Certified Humane
• Pork: GAP Step 1
• Eggs: Cage free and certified organic
• Steelhead: Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Green Rated”

Both their chicken and pork have a quoted GAP Step which deserves some explanation.  From the GAP website:

“Founded in 2008, Global Animal Partnership (GAP) is a non-profit organization made up of farmers, scientists, retailers, manufacturers, and animal advocates, all collaborating with a common purpose: improving farm animal welfare. GAP is making a difference by creating and managing a comprehensive 5-Step^® Welfare Rating Program for farm animals, where farms & ranches are audited every 15 months by an independent third-party. Through our 5-Step^® Rating Program and labeled product program, producers and consumers can choose to support a program that continuously improves the lives of farm animals step by step.”

There is a ton of information on the website – check it out if you want to know more. They do a great job explaining what each step means in terms of the animal’s lifestyle – diet, living conditions etc.  If we look at chickens specifically – Step 1 includes no cages, but no access to outdoors through to Step 5 involves entire life on farm and pastured.  Sweet Green says their chicken is Step 2 which is an enriched indoor environment but no access to outdoors and not pastured.  Considerably better than life on a Factory Farm but still not the natural outdoors living chicken lifestyle.  A search for Allen Farm, Delaware (from the chalkboard above) comes up with an Allen Harim chicken farm in Delaware.  There is a lot of information on this site explaining how they raise their chickens – no sign of cages and plenty of mentions of no antibiotics ever and 100% vegetarian fed. But I got to say the videos of all those chickens in those huge sheds doesn’t make me feel confident that this chicken is having a great life.  A whole lot better than crammed in a cage don’t get me wrong.  Definitely the Step 2 statement on the Sweet Green website is accurate.  Also Harim Allen is mentioned on the GAP website as being Step 2 as well so everything seems to match up.

The other animal protein available is Steelhead Trout from which I had not heard of before.  The chalkboard mentioned this was sourced from Pacific Seafoods and is quoted on the website as being Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Green Rated.  A quick search shows that this is the case and this Steelhead is farm raised on the Columbia River.

Sweetgreen has to be commended on their transparency of the sourcing of their ingredients which is at a level not seen before.  I don’t feel real great about the chickens being housed inside those huge sheds at Harim Allen Farms (but no cages) but feel a lot better about the source of the Steelhead trout and vegetables. Definitely going back but will stick to the vegetables and fish.

An oasis in a desert – Stuffed Grass Fed Burger – Montclair, NJ

My recent obsession with finding true grass fed beef has resulted in spending way too much time looking for places that advertise grass-fed on their menu so that I can satisfy my cravings for burgers without feeling to guilty that I contributed to Factory Farms profits.  When I adopted this philosophy I also started to think about when I eat out and since I travel for work quite frequently I started to think about where I would eat when I travel.  One of the areas of the US that I travel to frequently encompasses a radius of about 10 miles around Newark, NJ.  This area includes town such as Rahway, South Plainfield, Florham Park – not known for its scenery – more known for strip malls and industrial areas.   One day in September I was in this area for work and had time for a late lunch and I found a place called Stuffed Grass Fed Burgers in Montclair, NJ which is about 15 miles north of Newark airport.  With a name like that I had to check it out.

The restaurant is in a small strip mall and would be easy for you to drive by and not notice.  The seating area is small and casual, the menu clearly states:  100% Grass Fed Beef, Antibiotic and Hormone Free.  Their thing is that they stuff the burgers with cheese and that is the default option so if you don’t want that you have to ask.  I ordered a plain cheeseburger with the fixings (I learned my lesson to keep it simple if I truly want to judge the taste).  After I ordered I asked the young guy behind the counter (who I believe was the owner’s son) where they get their beef from. He replied that it all comes from Australia, when I asked why Australia he replied that it is cheaper and he thought it tasted better than US grass fed.  Fair enough.

Didn’t take long for the burger to arrive – cooked to order, you can see the kitchen.  My first bite ejected a stream of molten cheese into my mouth which burned like the fires of hell.  Was painful too.

After the burn subsided and I could taste again, I have to say it tasted very good – could defiantly taste the difference.  They had a bunch of other interesting burgers on the menu – apparently they are well known for their Bacon Jam burger (Seasoned Grass Fed Beef, Stuffed with Havarti Cheese topped with Bacon Jam) which I would get next time.  They also have a Berlin’s Donut Burger which is as it suggests a burger with a glazed donut instead of a bun – that to me sounds disgusting but I can see how it would be popular.   I was kicking myself later on after looking at the menu more carefully that I didn’t get the Bacon Jam fries.  They also have a grass fed hot dog topped with grass fed chili (get the point!) which should make feel better about eating one of the most unhealthy foods you can think of (except the donut burger).  Sounded delicious to me.  I left feeling quite satisfied with my choice and felt as though I would definitely come back if I was in the area.

Later on I thought about the guy behind the counter comment about Australian grass fed beef.  I quick search came up with an article from NPR titled: ” Why lots of grass fed beef in the US comes from Down Under” – sounds like a good place to start.  The article confirms that Australian beef is less expensive and says why.  In Australia the weather allows cattle to graze on grass all year round.  Also there is a lot more open land which is in less demand than the US.  It really comes down to the price of grass.  In Australia pasture-raised cattle is the norm, its cheaper to feed a cow grass than grain there.  In the US there is a big push to support local farmers and the import of overseas grass fed beef is frowned upon with purists.  The question is how can US farmers compete with overseas prices?  A common dilemma in many industries.  We should also consider the environmental costs of shipping food all the way across the world.

Oh and I bought this t-shirt too (not kidding)….

Fresh Food Generation Food Truck

I got to give my co-worker credit for this one (I know he is reading).  My office is on Beacon Hill in Boston and there is a plethora of places to eat in the area.  Now with my new obsession with finding sustainable food I am on the look out for these places to have lunch.  Every Monday and Thursday from 11-3 pm there are food trucks on the Boston Common (not sure when they will end) and one of them is called Fresh Food Generation. Their website mentions that they do catering as well as the food truck and  they have a cafe.  Their theme is ‘farm to plate catering’, using local ingredients, supporting local farmers and sourcing sustainably grown produce.  Sounds good to me so I thought I would check it out one lunch time in September.

The menu is simple :  3 main rice plates (2 chicken, one vegetarian) and a choice of 6 sides.  All dishes are Caribbean ‘inspired’.  I chose the Jerk Chicken with the Sweet plantains and red bean stew – my mouth was watering as I waited for my food.  While I was waiting I noticed a printout in the window about Sentat Poultry.  It mentioned that their chickens were hormone and antibiotic free, free of GMO and pesticides, humanely raised and free roaming.  They were also awarded the Best Tasting Chicken Award from Bon Appetit in 2009.  Now my mouth was watering even more!  I asked the woman working in the truck if that was where the chicken came from, ‘She said yes they had been using them for some time’.

The food was delicious, little on the spicy side (they did warn me on the menu) which made me break into a sweat on this warm day as I sat in the Boston Common.

Later that day I did a little digging on Sentat Poultry.  Their website states that they are raised in Lancaster County, PA and processed on NJ (as does the sign above).  They are not really a local farm to MA and not on the list of farms on their website.  They list a farm in RI (Baffoni’s Poultry Farm) that also checks all the boxes for sustainably raised chickens – wonder why they didn’t use them since they were more local? Particularly since the main theme is to source local.  A Google search for Bon Apetit’s Best tasting chicken award (I was curious since I wanted to know who has won recently) did not come up with anything. Is there such a thing? Everything else about Sentat Poultry looks great (below is an excerpt from the website):

They do state Certified Humane above but could not find them on the Certified Humane website as an approved producer.

In short I love the concept, food tastes great and the transparency is admirable.  Just wish they used a New England Farm for the chicken since ‘local’ is all over their website.  Guess it depends upon your definition of local.

Search for grass-fed beef – BRED gourmet

Recently I wrote a post about the definition of grass-fed beef.  Now that we are (sort-of) clear on the definitions, where can we find grass-fed beef at a restaurant?  Well you won’t have to look too hard to find the term grass-fed on a menu.   Very few restaurants state the actual farm they get their meat from (there are some exceptions, stay tuned for future posts) but there are plenty of restaurants that will state grass-fed beef on their menu, particularly for burgers.  So how can can you know for sure?

One day I was home with the kids (school holiday) and we went bowling in the morning to kill some time and get them out of the house on rainy day.  I was looking for a place to take them to lunch and I found – Bred Gourmet, a burger place in Lower Mills Dorchester, close to my house.   They had “grass-fed beef”  all over their menu and good reviews on Yelp, and a kids menu!  We were there at lunchtime and it was not that busy.  They had a small eat-in area and the menu looked interesting –  three grass-fed burger options, a hormone-free turkey burger, bison burger, salmon burger and a veggie option and you can also add a free-range egg.  Lots of the right terms being used here for sure.  I decided to go for the Maui burger, the combination of grilled pineapple,  plantains and BBQ sauce was intriguing to me, but I decided to omit the ham.  Kids got a plain cheeseburger.  Everything was made to order and while I was waiting I asked the young lady behind the counter, where did they get their grass-fed beef?  She replied that she couldn’t tell me, I said ‘can you not tell me or do you not know?’  Turns out she didn’t  know – fair enough.

The burgers were delicious, you could taste the quality for sure.  I wish that I got a plain cheeseburger after tasting my kids’ burgers so that I could really appreciate the taste of the beef.  The flavors of the Maui burger were awesome but I have found with good grass fed beef you don’t need too many other flavors.  The real taste test was the kids, I asked whether the liked BRED burger or Wendy’s and they overwhelmingly said Bred – must say I was a little surprised since they loved Wendy’s (which is now off the list by the way).

When I got home I did some research on BRED – there is a good video on Youtube with a review by Phantom Gourmet.  They show most of the menu and they look so good! In this video they mention that the meat is from Maine Family Farms.  A search came up with a website that mentioned that they buy grass-fed beef from farms throughout Maine.  I emailed them to ask if all their beef is pasture-raised and grass fed and got a prompt reply that is was.  I also emailed BRED gourmet to ask if they still use Maine Family Farms for their ground beef since the video was a few years old (still waiting for a reply).

Also found this article on the founder Tambo Burrow.   I like that he is a young guy from the neighborhood that is trying to make a difference making good food.

Why eat grass-fed beef?

Cows aren’t meant to eat grain and corn – they have evolved to eat grass.  Seems logical right?  Then why is it so hard to find true grass-fed beef?  Factory Farm cows are fed a complex mixture of ingredients that are far away from a cows natural diet of grass.  I won’t go into the whole story of what goes into this feed but here is a link if you want to know more.  What I will say is that in order for factory farms to trick a cows digestive system to eat a diet based on grains they need to be pumped up with drugs and you can imagine what that does to their digestive systems and overall health.  I used to get serious heartburn from drinking coffee (I used to drink 5-6 cups a day) and one day I asked my doctor what I could do to stop the heartburn.  He said, ‘I am not going to prescribe a pill to stop your heartburn, if you want to stop your heartburn stop drinking coffee’. Good point.  So I stopped drinking coffee and haven’t had a cup since.  If I would have taken Zantac to keep drinking coffee my stomach would have been ruined.  This is what is happening to factory farm cows we are giving them drugs to enable them to consume foods that are making them sick so they can produce meat and milk.  Why would we want to eat sick cows?

So it seems that it would be preferable to eat a cow that was fed its natural diet – cows don’t only eat grass they eat a mixture of vegetation here is a link that explains.  How do we find beef from such cows?  Not as easy as you may think. It should be noted that all cows begin their lives in more or less the same way – they all start out living on a farm, pasture-raised, as natural as can be.  It’s what happens at around 3-4 months that makes the difference.  Factory farm cows gradually get switched to a grain based diet in order to put on as much weight as quickly as possible.  A number of other possibilities exist for the grass-fed cow.  Firstly, they can be grass-fed but still on a feedlot in cramped conditions similar to a factory farm cow.  Diet is much better but living conditions are not.  This leads to another commonly used term, pasture-raised.  All cows begin their lives pasture-raised.  Factory farm cows are then shipped to these farms and gradually transitioned to a grain diet.  Also cows can be grass-fed, pasture-raised but grain finished – for the last 2-3 months of their lives they ate grain to fatten them up.  It is also very difficult for cows in colder climates (eg. New England) to have a 100% pasture-raised, grass-fed diet, they often need some grain supplement – which leads to another term – organic-grain or non-GMO grain diet.  Confused yet?