Honest Meat

Thank You Tana

It was 10 years ago today that I started this blog, June 6, 2008. So much has changed since then....

I started this blog inspired by the passionate work that I was doing at the time with my husband- trying to build a profitable business of raising animals on pasture, in harmony with the natural ecological cycles of the land. I am no longer on that beautiful patch of ground, although I am happy to report that another organic farmer has bought that ranch and is taking good care of it. For awhile, I thought I had left a part of my soul there, but now I realize they are just memories and there is no reason to hold on to the past.

I am no longer on any ground at all. In fact, I own my current domicile but the ground underneath I do not. I am not even homesteading anymore, just happy to be taking care of myself and my two human animals. I am no longer married any longer, but still very much friends with my ex and raising our children as best as we can together.

I grow a few tomatoes on my patio. I buy local produce, cheese, flowers, and meat at the farmers market. I do a little berry-picking and canning in the fall. That is about the extent of my agricultural pursuits. Even though my newish job is all about the niche meat industry, working mainly with meat processors, I am distant from the actual on-the-ground work of caring for animal or vegetable. I wrote a book three years ago about direct marketing meat, but I am no longer doing it myself.

Therefore, this will be my last blog post on HonestMeat. It has been fun, challenging, mentally stimulating, and sometimes personally trying (back when people used to comment on my blog posts).

Before I part though, I wanted to dedicate this last post to my good friend who is no longer with us. The one who helped me get this blog started, designed all of the layout, and provided numerous vivid photos for the blog. Tana Butler, who became Tana Churchill at the end of her life when she married her long-time partner Bob, was my writing muse for many years. For the first couple years of this blog, we would get together at her house for either tea or wine, depending on the time of the day, to write together. We would run ideas by each other, laugh and talk way too much, and produce original content for our blogs. Her blog, I Heart Farms, was a homage to small farms in the region of the Monterey Bay. Sadly, she was unable to write for many years due to health issues, but many farmers still remember her coming to visit them, usually with her grandson Logan in tow. She would take pictures and capture stories, and then put them magically together into a heartfelt narrative. She visited the local farmers markets religiously, even when she didn't have any money, to snap pictures of the brightly hued produce and usually lots of happy babies and toddlers. Some called her a "baby whisperer" because she could charm nearly all of them. I miss you Tana 'Banana' Butler Churchill. You have made an indelible mark on many a soul.

 

 

A Glass Half Empty

 

Reprinted from my article at LocalHarvest.com

US dairy farmers are in a crisis. Thirty percent have left the business in the last 10 years. Prices are the lowest they have been in the last three decades, yet costs of production keep inching upwards. If this pace keeps ups, we will be down to just the largest, vertically integrated mega dairies in a couple decades. There are a lot of contributing factors to this dilemma. Like fleas on a dog, it is not one flea that causes the itch, but all of them sucking the life out of the animal that makes its life miserable. There is so much despair in the dairy world that farmers are committing suicide at an increasing pace. Now when the dairy processor mails the paltry milk check to the farmer, they send a list of suicide crisis hotlines at the same time.

Why is this happening? Overproduction is part of it. We continue to breed more productive dairy cows who produce more milk. When milk prices were high in 2014, a lot of farms bought more cows. Larger herds of more productive cows means a lot of milk. Add to that trend is the growth of what I like to call “gigantiation”. The gigantic dairies in the West are getting even bigger as they figure out how to pack more cows onto a piece of land and flaunt, bend, or break local environmental laws. Take this 30,000 cow dairy that was just approved in Oregon in 2017 despite objection from thousands of citizens and several environmental groups. Now, just one year later, the Oregon State Department of Agriculture may shut them down for numerous manure and wastewater violations.

One aspect of the crisis that has been occupying my brain is the increased consumption of plant-based milk alternatives and decreased consumption of fluid milk. In just the last five years, there has been a 61% increase in plant-based 'milks' and nearly 30% of Americans consume these beverages on a daily basis. Real milk consumption has dropped 22% in last two decades. There is most definitely a relationship here, although it can't all be blamed on the rise of almond, soy, and coconut milk. Dietary fads and allergenicity are also part of this shift.

Does increasing our consumption of plant-based milks benefit US family farmers? Certainly not as much as dairy milk, which is produced by around 41,000 farmers around the country and processed at regional milk plants. Small dairy farms can be licensed to bottle and sell their own milk. I don't know of any farms that bottle and sell their own soy or cashew milk in this country, but if you learn of any, please do let me know. Most of the plant-based milks are manufactured and distributed by only a few very large corporations, such as $6 Billion dollar company DanoneWave, makers of popular Silk and So Delicious brands. They buy ingredients from some US farmers, such as California almonds, but much of the ingredients are imported from other countries, such as coconut from the Philippines, or cashews from Africa and Vietnam.

Similar to my lab meats article in January, I think about what the loss of those independent dairy farms mean in a larger context. They mean less dollars circulating in their rural economies. They mean that tractor dealership, feed mills, and even slaughterhouses that harvest the veal calves and older cows have much less business to the point of many of them going out of business. Less economic activity, fewer jobs, loss of multi-generational farms and their hard-working families. What happens to their land? In some rapidly urbanizing states on the East Coast, these picturesque farms get bought up as gentleman farms where maybe a couple horses will be kept, or they are subdivided to pay off the family debt and sold for housing.

To be clear, I am not for saving giant factory farms, and as this article clearly shows, it is not the giant factory farms that are going out of business. It is the independent dairy farm with an average herd size of 200 cows. As yes, there are issues with how some animals are raised, fed, housed, and their manure managed. Again, not the point of my article. I only want to encourage you to think about the larger and long-term repercussions of the loss of family-scale farmers, the loss of rural jobs, economic activity, and working lands. Our dietary fads have serious consequences on our food security and rural communities, ones that we rarely think of. We are putting more of our food dollars into the hands of a few corporations, which not only makes our food system less resilient (ever heard of eggs all in one basket?) but it is also like a giant vacuum cleaner sucking the life and resources from our rural communities into the hands of a few masters. It is time to democratize our food system. It is time to build the economic power of our rural communities, to see them as equals, to partner with them for the good of all. Now go get yourself a glass of milk.

What Do We Know About ‘Clean’ Meats? Not Much

Various substitutes for meat have been receiving a considerable amount of media attention lately. I am not talking about the relatively simple garden burger that you maybe tried in the 1990s, with an ingredient list mostly composed of whole grains, pulses, and vegetables. I am talking about products that tout how much they taste, smell and look like meat but are not meat. They may be grown in a lab or manufactured from a whole host of plant, fungal, and insect ingredients, but they are designed to be meat substitutes. Some companies who make them call them ‘clean’ meats, but I will just call them fake meats to not confuse you all (since I know how hard many of you work to produce and process the cleanest animal meats possible).

First, a little science on how fake meats compare to a real meat- in this case chicken.

The peer-reviewed article in The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, Meat alternatives: life cycle assessment of most known meat substitutes, Sept. 2015, by Sergiy Smetana, Mathys, Knoch, and Heinz, uses a functional unit approach for comparing chicken meat with six other meat substitutes. These products include: dairy-based, lab grown, insect-based, gluten-based, soybean-based, and mycoprotein based meat substitutes. The research compared the average cradle to plate life cycle of each product and specifically looked at 17 environmental factors and 2 nutritional factors (food energy and protein content). Since many of the meat substitutes are still in development phase, often taking place in small quantities in a lab setting rather than a manufacturing scale, the energy use can be quite high. In fact, this study found that lab grown meat had the highest overall environmental impacts (considering all 17 factors) and the lowest was insect and soy-based meat substitutes. Chicken fell in the middle. However, for food energy, chicken performed the best. Lab grown meat substitutes also performed the worst for food energy and protein content compared to the other products. If anyone wants to read the full article, I can email it to you. It is quite fascinating and one of the only studies that I could find of this nature.

The media is strongly influencing consumer perception of fake meats. One study in Meat Science by Goodwin and Shoulders, Nov. 2013, showed that the vast majority of media either discussed the problems with current livestock production or shared the perceived benefits of cultured, lab grown meats. The most common sources sites in print media in the US and Europe were cultured meat industry scientists, academia, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) or New Harvest (a private cellular agriculture research organization). Because of the sources of information and the inherent bias of the articles, consumers are likely to be more influenced to accept fake meats.

The popular media often likes to focus on the mass investment pouring into the fake meats sector and how potentially ‘disruptive’ it could be (although rarely if ever mentioning the actual disruptions to land use and livelihoods if meat sales diminish). From the Forbes article, Why Bill Gates and Richard Branson Invested in ‘Clean’ Meat, these billionaires are investing millions into the sector for two main reasons- to disrupt an industry and to make money. They think they can capture a share of the trillion dollar meat market while creating products they believe are better for the environment and human health. Says Branson, "I’m thrilled to have invested in Memphis Meats (a maker of stem cell meat analogues). I believe that in 30 years or so we will no longer need to kill any animals and that all meat will either be clean or plant-based, taste the same and also be much healthier for everyone.”

After reading these studies and articles, I wrote my own article for Local Harvest, a large online community of farmers and consumers looking for local food. Here is an excerpt, with a link to the whole thing. It has generated a lively debate in the comments section, to be sure.

There has been considerable media hype about how different fake meat products (and all imitation animal products, such as those trying to replace milk, eggs, leather, fibers, etc) are clearly more environmentally sustainable, better for human health, and better for the animals if they don't have to die to produce your food. In reality, things are not so clear. There is significant wealth and whole organizations tied up with convincing consumers that "meat analogues" and plant-based meat replacements are the ones you should be choosing. Just to be clear, none of these organizations or investors would make any money should people choose to just eat less meat or buy better sources of meat. They only make money if consumers shift to the new processed products that they have invested in.

The fake meat industry will tout how it has a lower environmental footprint, yet there is actually almost no scientific research that shows this. Most of the fake meat industry is incredibly opaque, full of trade secrets and very little data sharing. As a result, nobody actually knows the full life cycle impacts of these products. Yet we know very well the life cycle of a beef steer, of a sheep, or of a chicken. And we know that we can make tremendous improvements towards reducing the environmental footprint of meat by purchasing it closer to where it was raised, from rotationally grazed animals, from breeds that thrive in a specific environment, and by eating the whole animal so there is less waste.

Next time you read about or hear someone touting the solution that is fake meats, ask them why they think it is a solution and what will it solve for? What data do they have to back up their claims? You will find, most often, they have nothing to say. It is just a seductive story with no substance.

You can find the full article, “Fake Meats, False Solutions” here. I would love to hear your thoughts or other research that you know regarding meat substitutes in the comment section.

May you pursue the truth using critical thought,

-Rebecca Thistlethwaite

Transparency in a Box?

There is a company that will ship you a variety of frozen meat to your door. They got their start just a couple years ago by raising funds on Kickstarter. People donated over $200K to get this company off the ground. On their Kickstarter campaign site, they said exactly this:

"Where do you source your beef from?

All of our beef is sourced from various farms in the Midwest. We have partnered with amazing farms who are revolutionizing the grass fed industry. Our beef is of the highest quality and is always 100% grass fed and finished."

On their website, they don't list where their meat comes from, but they do mention that consumers should buy from them because they use "transparent sources". You can see that in this snapshot of their website here:

 

I wanted to know more, so I initiated a chat on their website with a customer service rep named Kristin. This is the exact conversation I had with Kristin.

RDT: I have asked this question before, but I still don't see anything on your website about where you meat comes from. Is it from US farms & ranches or is it imported?
(08:11:31 PM) *** Kristin joined the chat ***
(08:12:06 PM) Kristin: Our farm names and locations re proprietary. We source from the highest quality and best price suppliers
(08:12:14 PM) Kristin: *are proprietary.
(08:12:29 PM) RDT: US or imported? You don't have to tell me the names.
(08:13:20 PM) Kristin: I understand. The locations are proprietary as well, I am unable to provide you with a more definitive answer, I'm sorry for the inconvenience.

What happened to "transparent sources" if they can't tell me anything? Then I got this follow-up email with more information. I am surprised this information is not listed on their website. I wonder why they sent it to me, but they won't put it on their website.

"Hi RDT,

We believe everyone should have access to the best quality, best tasting grass fed & finished beef available and want to make receiving this accessible to everyone by offering your meat for the month delivered right to your door. We scour the world looking for the best possible quality, and have used beef from US and Australian producers. All of our beef producers are audited for the strictest of humane standards and practices. Our US producers are from both co-ops and independent farms with stringent definitions of grass fed and grass-finished. Finishing cattle properly on grass takes a lot of land and supply is limited in the US where grass availability changes with the seasons. We source from Australia because their grassland and the quality of their beef is exceptional. Grass fed beef in Australia undergoes a stringent grading process factoring in attributes contributing to tenderness and flavor that are not considered in the US.

Niman and DuBreton, our two main pork suppliers are Certified Humane.

Chicken from SVO who we currently source all chicken from is Certified Humane.

You can read about Certified Humane here.

Beef is certified by Australian Animal Welfare Certification System (AAWCS). and information can be viewed here.

If you have any other further questions, please let me know.

All the best,"

-Kristin
Customer Support Specialist

 

So I guess the whole premise of their Kickstarter campaign (sourcing from the MidWest) is no longer valid. And I guess "transparent sources" means they don't actually list their sources and when you ask, you are told they are proprietary. If they are proud of their company and the meat they sell, they should be proud to name them on their website. It is really that simple.

I have a better idea. I know lots of real family-farmers around this country that offer meat in bulk or meat CSAs. There are too many good ones to mention. Look them up on search sites like LocalHarvest or EatWild. Many are just as convenient as ButcherBox, but are actually transparent. If we want to see a thriving agricultural economy and farmland protected from urban sprawl, we must support farmers and ranchers in this country. If we want to see more pasture-raised, grassfed, and organic proteins in this country, we have to actually buy from those producers doing it right. Here's to more honest meat.

 

A Brave New World

I'm baaack! After a year hiatus to have a baby, promote a new book, and start a new job, I think I *might* have the spare time to occasionally write a few prescient words. Don't expect miracles- probably once a month postings. But I intend to talk about the same kind of subjects with the same level of thought and research that I put into my previous work. This means no clickbait, fake news, pseudo science. If you want short tidbits, look elsewhere.

As the year 2016 comes to a close, I have been thinking about the vast amount of media and money that is now being thrown at factory foods. I am not talking about factory farmed foods, but rather foods that are developed in a laboratory and then reproduced en masse in food factories. Very different beasts altogether. One involves farmers, farmland, animals, pastures, and rural livelihoods. The other involves urban laboratories, industrial buildings, concrete, non-solar energy, workers, CEOs, venture capitalists and shareholders.

Yes, we all know that the production of animal products (meat, milk, eggs, wool, hides, etc) can and does have some vast environmental impacts, both positive and negative. But it is also a LIVELIHOOD for tens of thousands of people, mostly rural folks, around the globe. Animals, in large part, turn solar energy and photosynthesis into food. Plants of course do that too, but animals often eat the plants that we don't eat directly ourselves.

Now it is quite easy for a person almost anywhere on the globe to choose to eat a mostly plant-based diet. They can eat things like legumes, grains, nuts, fruits, vegetables, vegetable fats, and some dairy foods. I was a vegetarian for 12 years and ate my fair share of whole grains, beans, peas, olives, nuts, produce, eggs, and dairy. Most of these foods I ate in their real form or close to it. Grains were milled into flour which then are baked into bread. Beans were soaked and then simmered to be edible. Vegetables sauteed in fat. With exception of a little tofu, nearly everything I ate could be identified by name and closely resembled the original crop. Nothing was fake. I didn't have to eat a broccoli pill made from broccoli essence to get my need for broccoli. I just ate broccoli. If I needed more 'umami' flavors, I would saute some mushrooms or use seaweed flakes on my soup. But again, I knew I was eating mushrooms and seaweed flakes.

In the last few years and really exploding in 2016, there has been millions of dollars pouring into new fake meat or cultured meat products (over $300 million according to this Entrepreneur article). These companies either recreate the flavors of meat altogether using things like pea flour, nutritional yeasts, and other chemical flavorings, or they grow meat from animal cells. Some are developing fake leather (don't we already have that? I am pretty sure I have had multiple pleather shoes in my lifetime) or fake eggs that don't come from chickens but rather biotechnology. All of these companies websites purport to be saving the environment, freeing domesticated livestock from bondage, and freeing up crops that should be going to feed humans instead of animals. In a nutshell, they say they are 'saving the world'. Is this the case?

Since I don't have full life cycle analysis on all of the ingredients that make up these fake animal products (most of the info is proprietary at this point), I can only go with some gut feelings based on the scientific analysis of animal production and the production of other crops. I will compare a fake meat product that is made up of legumes, grains, vegetable fats, and synthetic ingredients (such as a Beyond Meat chicken tender). I will compare that to some pasture-raised organic chicken. I know it would make more sense to compare to confinement chicken, but I think a better choice than fake meat is choosing to buy from smaller scale farmers who raise their animals on pasture.

Fake Meat Chicken Tenders	Real Pasture-Raised Chicken
Main ingredient: Soy protein isolate	Main ingredient: meat protein
Energy source to manufacture: coal/gas	Energy source to grow: sunshine fueled crops
Ingredients grown: in monocultures	Ingredients grown: mixed pastures, diversified farms, some grains grown in monoculture
Manufactured in: an industrial warehouse	Manufactured in: family-farms all over the US
Location of headquarters: Manhattan Beach, CA	Location of headquarters: farmhouse table
Location of manufacturing: Columbus, MI	Location of manufacturing: on a family-farm all over the US
Packaging: plastic bag, non recyclabe	Packaging: plastic bag, non recyclabe
Serving size: 9 ounces	Serving size: 56 ounces (3.5lb chicken)
Price per ounce: .667 ($6 package avg)	Price per ounce: .3125 (for a $5lb chicken)
Key investors: Bill Gates, Tyson Foods, Humane Society of America	Key investors: farmers, maybe a smidge of USDA loan $ from US taxpayers
Where do profits go: to investors (see above)	Where do profits go: to farmers, to farmworkers, back into the communities

 

Seriously, if you crave the flavor of meat, eat good meat. If you don't crave the flavor of meat, eat grains, beans, and vegetables. There is no need for more manufactured fake meats in the marketplace. By eating this junk, you are not only taking away power and dollars from the farmers who could be stewarding our land and rural communities, you are also getting ripped off. Compare the per ounce prices above. Even a relatively expensive organic, pasture-raised chicken prices at $5/lb. is a bargain compared to the Beyond Meat chicken tenders which are more than double the price.

I've said it before and I will say it again: Just Eat Real Food

If you want to save the planet and humanity: Eat Less Meat, Better Meat

 

5 Year Anniversary of the Grist "balls" post! Do you want a better food system?

It's been 5 years since I wrote this post. It all still rings true today. Although I am no longer raising animals for my full income (just a portion of it), I still believe strongly in supporting your local farmers and going beyond just voting with your dollar or your fork for that matter. If we want a new food system, we all must DO MORE.  What do you think is missing from this list of action items? I want to hear from you!

Enjoy!

Making a Living Raising Animals-Farmer to Farmer Podcast

Here is a recent interview I did with Chris Blanchard of the most excellent Farmer to Farmer podcast on the issue of making a living raising livestock. We touch on issues such as appropriate scale, finding efficiencies, direct markets, pricing, costs of production, and more. I think it will be an hour well spent if you listen! Many of these topics are further flushed out in our book, The New Livestock Farmer. If you want to learn more, consider purchasing the book!

The New Livestock Farmer- Coming Soon to a Bookstore Near You!

Are you thinking of adding livestock to your farming operation?

Already have animals but want to start selling them for a profit?

Currently take your animals to auction or sell to feedlots, packers or processors, but are thinking of direct-marketing your own meat?

Want to do some or all of this in a way that is more humane for the animals, gentle on the earth (or even restorative), puts money in your wallet, and can sometimes actually be fun?

Then you might want to pick up our new book! I say "our" because I wrote this one in collaboration with my husband Jim. He essentially wrote the animal production chapters and I wrote the slaughter to market chapters, but we both gave input and editing advice to each others sections. What was supposed to be around 85K words was closer to 155K words, so it's a dense book chalk full of information. There are also profiles of a couple dozen farms, meat distributors, and processors to give you ample ideas of how people are learning and adapting pasture-based livestock production and marketing in their own ways and own regions. We are pretty sure you will find this a useful book that gets pulled off your shelf many a time. There are even up-to-date, state-by-state regulations and sample cutting instructions in it to make the best use (& profit) of each animal you harvest.

Pre-order the book now direct from the publisher for $10 off the retail price (my other book Farms With a Future is also on sale there). If you want to wait until it gets to your local bookstore, June is the publishing date and it will take a couple months for the copies to get stocked on bookstore shelves, so you will have to be patient.

Thanks and enjoy!

P.S. You can follow our new book on Facebook by heading to this link.

Guest Post: Bison- The Original American Meat

                Guest Post by Daniel Christensen

 

Travel back with me about 200 years. The American Bison (or buffalo) roamed the plains, unchallenged as America’s rugged icon- from Canada to Mexico. With over 40 million strong, it would have seemed impossible to see them dwindle to 750 within just a few short decades. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened. This was one of the most tragic consequences of American greed and apathy toward our natural resources in our Nation’s history. Bison were used extensively by the Native Americans for meat, tools, and clothing. From the tip of the nose to the last hair of the tail, everything was utilized. But something has changed.

 

                Recently, the population has recovered some, but our environmental practices in some ways remain just as primitive as they were in the 1800’s. There are producers even now that sell the meat, leaving everything else to waste. But what can “everything else” actually produce? First of all, buffalo hides can be tanned into high quality leather products such as: belts, bedding, clothing, saddles, wallets, pouches, etc. The bones can create incredible works of jewelry, figurines, tools, and the like. Organic soaps have even been made with buffalo tallow. The point is- it is 2014. We really need to get our act together. Now, let’s take a tastier look at what this incredible creature has to offer.

 

                Bison meat is some of the most nutritious on the planet, even when compared to America’s second love, BEEF. It has more protein, less fat, less cholesterol, less calories, more iron, and more Vitamin B12. For these reasons, Bison meat has quickly been heralded as the go-to protein source for the health-conscious. See for yourself.

Once again, the Bison population is diminishing. Producers are running thin, leading to a seemingly irresolvable increase in the demand for this delicious meat. One possible reason is that the original producers are selling off their stock as they near retirement. The younger generation, perhaps, is not as anxious to get into the business. This needs to change. We need producers that not only take pride in sustainable agriculture, but are determined to help restore the Bison to its former glory- as America’s icon.

 

Look with me 200 years into the future. Bison herds are a common sight, they once again stretch from Canada to Mexico- not as wild herds, but in the capable hands of American farmers. Every part of the bison will be used, just as it was in the days of old. All of this can only be achieved through determination, exposure on a national level, and a few people willing to take a risk to save the American Bison- and the American agricultural way of life.

 

For more information about Bison, Bison meat, and recipes, visit blackdiamondbison.com or to learn more about raising Bison visit www.bisoncentral.com

A Fishy Dilemma

Menhaden, anchovy, sardines, herring- all what are known as "forage fish" and form the basis of the fish food pyramid (well phyto and zoo plankton are actually the base, forage fish are the next level up). Ninety percent of these harvested species are 'reduced' for use as fish meal or fish oil, another few percent for bait fish, and the other small fraction is actually consumed directly by humans.

What is that fish meal and oil used for? Well some of it does make it into human supplements, like the expensive fish oil capsules you might take to increase your consumption of Omega 3 fatty acids. But the majority is used in livestock, poultry, and pet foods. Data varies, but I found that in 2009 around 24% of fish meal/oil is used in pig production and 22% in poultry production (and another 10% in pet foods). Since both pig and poultry production have jumped drammatically since in 2009, those numbers are likely higher. I would estimate around 50% of fish meal and oil is now used for pigs and poultry feed.

So I was at the Washington Tilth conference last weekend and they had a vendor expo with various non-profits, fertilizer salesman, and feed suppliers there talking up their organic and 'sustainable' products. One feed supplier was gloating about being an all "soy-free" animal feed company. I asked what they used instead of soy. They told me pea meal (fine) and fish meal. I asked if the fish meal came from bycatch or from the numerous fish processing facilities that exist in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. They said no, those products were not "consistent" enough, both in terms of supply and in terms of nutritional profile. That was when they told me they used wild caught menhaden as their fish meal source. That got me thinking- what is this wild caught menhaden and what does it mean for the planet to use wild fish to feed livestock?

Menhaden is comprised of 7 different species but two species (Gulf and Atlantic) dominate the commercial catch. Atlantic menhaden have been on a steep decline for decades (76% decline in last 20 years), so much so that in 2012 the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) instituted the first coastal wide quotas. Before it was just regulated state by state. This new quota system seems to be working as stocks have started to rebound somewhat. The Gulf states regulate menhaden state by state and their fisheries commission (which has several companies sitting on it that make their millions from catching menhaden) say that everything is fine. Despite the huge algal blooms, high water temperatures, oil spills, and enormous fishing takes each year, they say that Gulf menhaden are doing just hunky dory. It should be pointed out that not only are menhaden essential for filtering the water (that is how they feed), they are also the critical food source for rockfish, seabass, striped bass, tuna, bluefish, osprey, and many other species. They are a keystone species.

So why are feed suppliers using wild caught fish meal in leiu of soybean meal? I understand that pigs and chickens are omnivores and I can appreciate that fully. I have always encouraged our pigs and chickens to go forage for whatever moves out in the pasture or woods. Insects, grubs, small amphibians, rodents, etc. are accesible to animals that get to live outside. Contrary to what some organic purists may believe, I think that organically-produced meat scraps from species other than their own should be part of their diet. Give pig heads to chickens, give chicken offal to pigs. The FDA wants those things to be cooked- that's fine. But to send giant boats out into the ocean (our collective commons) to take wild animals that are the basis of the ocean's food web in order to feed to land animals just because we either don't want to feed them cooked meat scraps (or can't according to archaic organic rules) or because we think that feeding the legume soy to animals is for some reason wrong just seems absolutely criminal to me. We are also giving fish meal/oil to livestock to boost their omega 3 fatty acid profile (anyone ever bought "Omega 3" enriched eggs) even though we all know that animals that consume more pasture and nuts (especially with pigs) will naturally have higher levels of Omega 3s. If we just let animals do what nature intended, there would be no need to supplement with fish products.

So because a growing number of people think they are allergic to soy (even though less than .2% of the population has a bonafide soy allergy) we are now pillaging the oceans to obtain fish meal to use in leiu of soy? It turns out that people can avoid almost all the soy in their diet by just getting off processed foods. I just looked in my cupboard and scanned the few boxed items I have for any soy ingredients. I had only one product in my entire kitchen that had soy in it, and it was organic soy lecithin in an organic energy bar my husband keeps around for long runs. The little bit of soy phytoestrogens that make it into chicken eggs, chicken meat, or pork is so minor as to be insignificant. If you feel like you need to reduce soy in your diet (even though the majority of peer-reviewed scientific papers still point out the health benefits of phytoestrogens), then elimate all or most processed foods. I can guarantee you that around 90% of the soy will be out of your diet. If you hate GMO soy, then eat organic. That's pretty simple. If you insist on demanding that your eggs, chicken, pork, and other animal products come from animals not fed any soy, then you should not only consider how your demands affect the economic viability of those farmers (soy free feeds are super expensive) but also your impact on the planet. The alternative is quite often wild-caught fish.

As for me, I will continue to feed organic extruded full-fat soy as a small percentage of a diverse diet to my omnivorous species. If I have a chance to get fresh salmon fish waste from local fisherman and cook it down, I may feed that too (in small portions, never more than 5% of diet to avoid 'fishy' flavor). But I won't be using any formulated feeds that contain wild caught fish, ever. I will not contribute to the overfishing of our oceans just to appease a few opionated customers. I encourage consumers to look at the big picture- their demands are taxing the planet.

The Genesis of an Ethical Meat 'Movement'?

Dale Lasater and one of his grassfed Beefmaster cows, Lasater Ranch, Colorado during the Slow Meat ranch tour. Photo courtesy of Kendra Kimbirauskas.

 

A few weeks back I was invited to attend the Slow Meat event happening in Denver, Colorado.  Since Slow Food does everything a little different, I was considered a 'delegate' supposedly representing my area of the country and the event itself was not really a conference, but a gathering of delegates to talk about issues in the meat supply chain. There was a mixture of workshops, tasting events, networking, and facilitated discussions on a range of topics. From overuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture to bottlenecks in meat processing to lack of transparency in meat labels- there were a lot of 'meaty' discussions. Right up my alley.

I went wearing a few different hats and perspectives- first off I work as a Farm & Food Policy Analyst with The Cornucopia Institute, focusing primarily on livestock and poultry issues. Our organization has a lot of concerns over lack of transparency in the meat world, lying or obfuscations around production practices, and lack of clear policy direction from the USDA and FDA on meat, dairy, and egg production. For example, the USDA has yet to define the word "outdoors" when it comes to organic animal production and for the most part turns the cheek to large poultry producers who have no real outdoor access. A roofed, fenced in, concrete floored "porch" is not the outdoors, it is part of the building. This allows industrial organics to corner the marketplace with their 300,000-600,000 bird operations while organic family-farmers can't compete because they are actually raising their birds outdoors with lower stocking densities.

The other hats I wore were that of a meat blogger immersed in the nuances of animal agriculture and an author of a new meat production book called "The New Meat Market". I wanted to hear people's stories, best practices, challenges, and concerns. I spoke to and listened to as many people as I could, including a couple of my favorite farmers Greg Gunthorp and Will Harris, certifier staff from American Grassfed Association and Animal Welfare Approved, meat marketers Jennifer Curtis and Tom Lasater, butchers Francious Vecchio and Camas Davis, and folks working for non-profits such as Kendra Kimbirauskas and Laurie Bower. There were so many others too.

So the event was cool, inspiring, and dynamic. But the point of my post is not to rub in the fact that I got to attend- that's not important. My point is that this event brought together an important slice of the ethical meat world to begin to talk about our challenges and hopes for the future as a group. I can't think of another space where that has occured. For Slow Food USA to move beyond just being a bunch of foodie potluck gatherings into this space of the future of animal agriculture and the politics of meat is nothing less than amazing. I hope the energy continues and I will happily roll up my sleeves to help. I'm not sure if Slow Food USA is necessarily the best organization to move this forward because they don't like to engage directly in the political process, but I think it will take a multifaceted approach. Should that be a new non-profit that focuses soley on creating an ethical meat supply system or a partnership of NGOs and citizen groups such as Slow Food USA, Butchers Guild, Rural Coalition, Livestock Conservancy, American Grassfed Association, Quivera Coalition, Savory Institute, Holistic Management International, Chefs Collaborative, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, National Young Farmers Coalition, Cornucopia Institute, and hundreds of for-profit ethical meat producers from around the country. I, for one, am starting to think a new coalition might be in order.

What do you think we need to create the political and consumer will to transform our meat supply system into one that restores our natural resources, helps American family farmers thrive, humanely stewards our animals, and brings nutrient-dense, clean, quality animal products to consumers all over the country? Better marketing? More education? Policy change? Incubate new businesses? Reduce regulations? More communication and collaboration? You tell me!

 

Two more weeks until our book manuscript is due. Once that baby gets into editing and formatting mode, I will start blogging again. In the meantime, start getting excited for an early 2015 release of "The New Meat Market", a guide to raising and selling ethical meats. My husband (the co-author) and I are really hoping this book will help demystify the whole process of direct marketing meats in this country. Talk to you all soon!

Meat Mindshifts for Chefs & Restauranteurs

I wrote this is a guest post for the Chefs Collaborative, but it does not appear they are posting it anytime soon. Perhaps it was too "in your face". Regardless, I think we in the food system need to have a frank discussion about how farmers can work with chefs and restaurants in a more positive, pro-farmer way. You are all "steak-holders" in this system. This is what I wrote:

___________________________________________________________________________________________

I write a meat-focused blog called Honestmeat.com and used to raise organic, pastured pork & poultry in California. I am now writing a book with Chelsea Green Publishing called "The New Meat Market”, a production and business guide for farmers wishing to direct market ethical meats. I go to great lengths to help educate farmers on how to run viable businesses, raise animals humanely, and care for the environment while producing fantastic food. But all that will be futile if we don't have the right mindset from buyers. Here are some key mind shifts that we need from chefs and restaurateurs if they truly want to shift the meat supply in the right direction.

Key Meat Mindshifts:

1) Farmers are not banks. You have to pay them in a timely manner. They cannot carry your business. Pay c.o.d. or within 14 days at the latest.

2) Meat comes from a whole animal. Learn to buy whole animals. Save money by learning how to break down whole animals in your kitchen and use every last part. Learn how to put a whole animal on the menu and educate your customers there is more to an animal than just tenderloins. Train your employees too.

3) Don't expect fresh meat year-round. Frozen meat tastes just as good if it is handled properly. Expect to buy frozen meat for around half of the year if you want to work with farmers. Even better, buy frozen meat year-round as that allows farmers to haul larger groups of animals to the slaughterhouse at one time. Buy a freezer or rent cold storage space so you can buy in bulk. Asking for one fresh carcass a week makes no sense for a farmer logistically.

4) Care about more than “local”. Local meat can still come from a feedlot, can still be fed lots of antibiotics, can still be injected with growth hormones, can still be given feeds grown with pesticides and GMO seeds. Local meat can still be produced by large corporations or hedge-fund billionaires and not family farmers. If you want healthy meat and a healthy environment, you have to do more than 'local'.

5) Be honest! If you buy from farmers, put their names on the menu or written up on a chalkboard wall. If you stop buying from that farmer, TAKE THEIR NAME OFF THE MENU. Stop lying, stop the bait & switch. Don't just buy local, organic meat for a special event once a year and then go back to your Sysco junk the rest of the year. Don’t call yourself a “farm to table” restaurant just because you buy local produce while your proteins come from a far-off factory farm. Commit or don't, but do not lie. Until this issue is resolved, farmers will not want to do business with restaurants. Train your staff too so that they know how to answer questions correctly without lying or making stuff up.

6) Promote more than just the farmer. Promote the local abattoir, without which you would not be able to source local meats. Promote the local smokehouse, the local feed mill, the local hatcheries, etc. All the parts of the system have to be present to have local meats.

Yub- that's a side of pork, American Guinea Hog to be exact. We used the whole damn pig and what doesn't go to feed us goes to feed our dog.

A Meaty Read?

I will let you in on a little secret- I've got a new book in the works, this time collaborating with my husband on it. The book will be geared towards farmers and dreamers who want to raise and sell ethical meats profitably. Like my last book there will be discussion about a lot of different farmers around the country as well as processors, distributors and retailers who are committed to creating a new meat supply chain based on values, transparency, and quality. Before I get you all excited, the book won't be out until sometime in 2015. But I do want your feedback to make the book work better for you. If you don't mind, would folks be willing to comment on the following questions (all or just a few of them)?

1. What aspects of pasture-based animal production do you crave more information on? Be specific about the animal species you are talking about.

2. What areas of slaughter and meat processing do you need more clarity on?

3. Can you describe an innovation you have created/adapted in your meat production or sales that you want to share with others?

4. Do you want to scale up your production but are having specific difficulties in doing so?

5. Can you name some successful, creative animal producers that you think I should highlight in the book? Note: I am not looking for millionaire or billionaire farmers/farming companies that threw lots and lots of $ at their operations. I want this book to be applicable for normal people.

6. Are there other ethical processors, distributors, retailers, chefs that I should be talking to for this book? Who?

7. Would you like to serve as a volunteer technical advisor on a chapter or the whole book, and if so, what is your area of expertise?

8. Finally, what other books/periodicals/blogs do you rely on to get good information on grass-based animal production, marketing, and sales?

Hopefully I will get some interesting comments back and not just spam on this one. Thank you for your time!

Pluck N' Grit: Getting a Small Poultry Processing Facility Off the Ground

One of my personal tasks for this year is to interview farmers who are working to take control of the way in which their animals are killed, butchered, and distributed. You may say these farmers are 'vertically-integrating', meaning they are taking on some of the tasks that they normally would pay another company to do, such as the meat processing, and therefore earning more of the consumer dollar. Usually a desire to control the humaness of the slaughter and the quality of the process, while also maximizing the value of each and every animal are the driving factors in why farmers decide to build their own slaughter or butchering facilities.

Last year I met a couple of tenacious farmers, Renee Kreinbring and Mary Wilson, who were going through the motions to build a Washington State Inspected poultry processing plant in Centerville, WA. They too wanted a better, more humane option for processing their own birds, but also a place that local farmers, homesteaders, and hobbyists could bring poultry, rabbits, and even ratites (emu, ostrich) to be killed in a clean and affordable manner. At the time I met them, Renee and Mary were seeking funding from various economic development agencies, with a local agricultural lender Centerpointe Bank coming through with a loan to finish the building of this facility. In May of this year, the Little Farms Inc. poultry processing facility opened it's doors to their first customers. I had the pleasure of interviewing Renee for a couple hours on a bright, crisp fall day last week at the new plant in Centerville (near Goldendale, WA).

Renee Kreinbring welcomes customers into the small office with an intake form, hot coffee, & a warm smile.

A little background: Little Farms Inc. is made up of two indepedent, woman-owned Washington farms that have come together to co-market their meats, eggs, and value-added food products. They sell via a meat CSA and at farmers markets around the Columbia River Gorge and the Portland/Vancouver region. More nuts n' bolts about the Little Farms Inc. story will be found in my forthcoming book "The New Meat Market" (sometime in 2015). Here, however, is a snippet of Renee and my conversation (paraphrased, not verbatim):

What was the motivation and impetus to build your own poultry processing plant?

We had a horrific experience a few years back bringing our heritage turkeys to a USDA-exempt plant in Oregon. Unlike chickens where they put their heads through kill cones and slit the jugular vein, this plant stepped on the turkeys, pulled the necks, cut their throats, and then let them flop all over the ground outside. We couldn't believe our pasture-raised, heritage birds that we had come to love were treated so poorly at slaughter. We could not return to that facility. We had to make a change. Unfortunately, there were no other inspected poultry plants anywhere in our part of SW Washington that we could go to. So we began to look into building our own so we could control quality and humane handling.

What regulatory steps or hurdles did you encounter?

We had to get Klickitat County (WA) to approve the building plans and the health department to approve the water and wastewater systems. The Health Department was the most challenging to deal with- at first they did not want our wash water to be spread on our nearby pastures, calling it "industrial waste". They also wanted us to conduct expensive water testing for what they called a "Group B watersystem", testing for all kinds of minerals such as maganese and iron. Those two minerals are naturally high in our groundwater, thus we had to install a water filtration system costing over $1,000. Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) was easy to work with- friendly, clear, and responsive. They told us the only water testing needed for a poultry plant was to find out the levels of E.coli in the water to be used inside the plant. They came and inspected the almost finished plant, told us a few minor improvements we still needed to make, and approved the facility that day. Between applying and approval, it took the WSDA only 7 weeks. It took our county over two years. We still only have a temporary occupany permit good till January 2014 because we are finishing up the grading and paving of the driveway and parking lot. Washington State Department of Ecology and USDA APHIS were also involved but reasonable to deal with.

Roughly, what did all of this cost you and where did you get financing?

$110,000, not including the cost of the land which we already owned. We (Renee and her husband) did most of the work ourselves and where not paid for any of the construction costs. This price reflects the cost of materials, electric, water, and wastewater systems, and used stainless steel processing equipment. 

We initially were awarded a USDA Value-Added Producer Grant for $49,000 to pay for some of the initial operating costs. The rest of the funding came from our own savings and a business loan from Centerpointe Bank.

What is the capacity of this plant and what is the breakeven volume you need?

We can process up to 200 broiler chickens a day, less with larger birds such as turkeys and geese. We are allowed to process all types of poultry, as well as rabbits and ratites (emu and ostrich). We need to process at least 100 birds a week to break even. We are doing less volume than that right now, but we just opened this summer and are still getting the word out to farmers and backyard producers. If you live in the SW Washington or Columbia River Gorge area and want humane, quality poultry processing at affordable prices, give Renee a call at 509-225-0371. Note: Oregon farmers can process their birds at Little Farms, but it will not have the USDA stamp allowing sales into Oregon. As a WSDA approved facility, the birds are only licensed for sale in the state of Washington. Little Farms may seek USDA inspection at some point in the future when the demand increases for their services. Most of their facility and quality control processes would readily pass USDA inspection.

The kill room with kill cones, scalder, and plucker

 

Farms With a Future Excerpt: Have Goat, Will Travel

From pages 266-270 in my book "Farms With a Future: Creating and Growing a Sustainable Farm Business", (Chelsea Green Publishing 2012) I feature the following Virginia goat farm in my chapter on value-added enterprises. This is one of my favorite stories...

Have Goat, Will Travel

Vanguard Ranch Limited, Gordonsville, Virginia

• Renard and Chinette Turner •

As a military kid Renard Turner moved around a lot—not the kind of life that’s conducive to witnessing the rhythms of farming, nor one that affords much of a chance to be involved in it. Nevertheless, in California, where his family settled for a few years, Renard got a chance to join his high school’s Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapter, and he excelled in the agricultural science classes the school provided. He went on to work a couple of decades in the medical field but still held the dream of farming in the back of his mind.

Photo courtesy of Natasha Bowens

After a time living in Washington, D.C., he and his wife decided to move to the country and found the verdant, rolling hills of central Virginia calling them. Gordonsville is ideally located within a two-hour drive of several large population centers—great for anybody trying to make a living direct-market farming, but far enough away not to just be an overpriced bedroom community full of unaffordable “ranchettes.” The Turners started out as homesteaders, trying to be as self-sufficient as possible and even building their own house from scratch.

Back then, just as today, credit was tight for purchasing farmland, so they initially financed the farm purchase through owner financing. Both Renard and Chinette worked full time off the farm as they were getting things started. Chinette worked during the day, and Renard worked at night so he could spend his daylight hours getting the house and farm built. Chinette still works off the farm in the legal field, but the couple’s plans to scale up the farm business a bit should afford her the opportunity to quit her day job. Renard is fully and happily devoted to the farming business now. And boy, what a business it is. The Turners embody the notion of “agri-preneur.”

Photo courtesy of Natasha Bowens

They first dabbled in sheep and even ostriches but settled on meat goats about eight years ago. The forage base was not right for grass-loving sheep, and the ostriches were mean and simply not enjoyable to raise. Their land was a mixture of pasture and forest with quite a bit of browse and weeds—perfect for goats.

Right from the beginning, Renard knew that he had to direct-market his goat meat and get the highest value for it. He simply wasn’t going to survive selling goats at auction or to a wholesaler. He stumbled upon the idea of a mobile concession trailer after a long conversation he had at the Virginia State Fair with a lemonade concessionaire. Renard learned that this lemonade man and his family spent half the year traveling to fairs and festivals and the other half of the year fishing in Florida—not a bad life. Renard figured the concept might work for him, too—spending part of the year traveling to fairs on the weekends and the other half of the year focusing on farm projects and production.

First, he got his goat production down to a science. He manages his pastures through rotational grazing, allowing the vegetation time to recover from the goat browsing and also for the parasites to die off in the soil. He does not follow the “university recommended” goat stocking density, finding that a lower stocking density allows his vegetation better recovery time, lowers the parasite load, and reduces animal stress. As a result of rotational grazing and some selective planting of specific forage crops, Renard has to purchase very little hay for just a few winter months each year, and that amount is shrinking every year as his management improves. He is working with Virginia State University on an exciting new research project aimed at eliminating the need for purchased forages altogether.

Likewise, he does not grain-feed his goats at all. His antiparasital drugs just sit collecting dust in a medicine cabinet; through grazing management and breeding, Renard can virtually eliminate any parasite problems. In addition, a combination of electric fencing and livestock guard dogs (Akbash) prevents predators from bothering with his goats and also gives him peace of mind while he travels on weekends selling goat meat.

The Turners’ goat breeding is now focused largely on Kiko and Valero maternal base (does) with Myotonic bucks. This combination is hardy, meaty, and muscular and produces great-tasting goat meat. The Turners raise around 160 kids a year for meat, slaughtering them at the fairly young age of six or seven months. Since they are not producing animals for maximum size to sell to wholesale meat markets, they focus more on taste and tenderness when they slaughter their animals. Feed efficiency and growth also starts to decline after goats are six months old anyway, and their land can only support so many animals without negatively impacting their forage base. They keep around 100 does and a few bucks for breeding.

Americans are a bit slow to pick up eating goat meat, even though it’s consumed by the majority of people in the rest of the world. Still, Renard has no trouble selling it; once people try a bite of one of the samples he often sets out, they inevitably end up buying a whole plate. Renard has perfected some delicious goat recipes that appeal to a broad swath of people, including goat burgers, goat kebabs, and curried goat. He travels to county and state fairs, food festivals, music festivals, and other events with his concession trailer. His wife often comes along and helps him cook, in addition to a couple of part-time employees who do most of the selling and money collection. Most meat producers’ jaws are going to drop when I tell you this next tidbit. When I asked Renard what an average pound of his goat meat sells for after he transforms it into these value-added meals, he remarked, “Around $36 to $38 a pound, on the conservative side.”

Photo courtesy of Renard Turner

Buying and outfitting a food concession trailer, however, is neither cheap nor easy. Renard had to take food-handling classes, get his trailer licensed and inspected, and perfect his goat recipes so his meals would sell. Now the Turners are quite proficient at running the trailer, and the lines of eager customers form easily. Future ideas include organizing a solar-powered summer concert series at his farm to bring the customers to him instead of his having to travel so much. He also likes the idea of connecting more people to where their food is grown while entertaining them with good music from around the world. Each concert could have a different ethnic theme with goat recipes to match. He also dreams of adding an on-farm restaurant someday but knows that he can’t do it all or he would risk spreading himself too thin.

Renard is emphatic that to be a good farmer these days you have to reinvent how you do business. A small or mid-scale producer can’t compete on volume and prices typically, but you can compete on quality. If you don’t love marketing, you can’t do what he does. The Turners’ innovations have been recognized through numerous awards, including “Innovative Farmer of the Year” at the 2010 National Goat Conference at Florida A & M University and 2011 Farmers of the Year from Minority Landowner magazine.

Renard and Chinette are also serious about sustainability; they built a passive solar geothermal home, grow organic gardens, and chose an animal enterprise with a small carbon footprint and one that suited their land the best. With support from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service cost-share program, the Turners recently installed a large hoophouse to grow organic vegetables year-round both for home consumption and for the ready-to-eat meals they sell out of their concession trailer. They also sell some of their excess vegetables to three food distribution hubs and a local grocery store. They have specialized in more obscure varieties and vegetables, utilizing locally adapted seed from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. The Turners are crafting a life and a business that supports their love for the earth while feeding people healthy, delicious food.

Renard and Chinette’s advice for new farmers?

• You have to have an entrepreneurial spirit; you have to control your marketing.

• Research and read as much as you can about the enterprises you have interest in. Then figure out a way to market those things. Part B (selling and marketing) is equally as important as Part A (growing and raising things).

• You have to be a master of many things—you have to be much more sophisticated these days to be a successful farmer.

• You have to become an expert at legal issues as well.

• Farming is not for the faint of heart—you have to be committed, self-motivated, and focused.

 

Thank you Turner family for sharing your story!

Swine Time

We are back in hog heaven, having been 'animal-less' for nearly 3 years now. We missed having piggies in our lives. Of all the animals we have raised (cattle, sheep, goats, poultry, dogs n cats), we like the swine the best. They are inquisitive, unpredictable, industrious creatures that also happen to be easy to fence in if you know what you are doing; and they are efficient little meat producers, having the highest carcass yields of any 4- legged meat animal. We used to raise hundreds of them each year but have now moved to a much smaller scale due to our new land situation, lack of local markets, and general disinterest in slinging pork year-round.

Our new 5 acre homestead has around 2 acres of tillable ground with mediocre topsoil and 3 acres of pond, wetlands, and oak woodlands. Given those land constraints, we opted to raise a small bodied pig breed that would be lighter on the land and not require lots of feed. After falling in love with a herd of American Guinea Hogs while visiting Green Gate Farm in Austin, Texas, we decided to find a similar pig in our neck of the woods. We ruled out Kune Kunes because their prices are inflated due to the 'pet' pig trade. We almost bought a few Idaho Pastured Pigs (IPP) that have 1/3rd Kune Kune in them, but the price did not fit our budget. Then we found 4 American Guinea Hogs nearby via Craiglist, went to see them, and brought them home in a large dog crate. One advantage of small pigs is the easy transport!

Normally we fence pigs using two strands of woven polywire wired to an electric charger. Now that we own a patch of ground and have installed a heavy-duty deer fence around the whole property, our fencing is a little different. We (actually my husband did all the work) opted to install an electric offset wire on the inside of the deer fence, mostly to keep the pigs from damaging the fence, using pig-tail offsets from Premier Fencing Supplies. We then divided up our oak woodlands into three areas using two strands of polywire, all of it electrified with a plug-in charger in our shop. No more need for solar-powered chargers, which are less powerful and close to three times the price of a plug-in. Here are a few pictures of this set-up here (sorry you gotta turn your head for these ones, can't get my blog interface to rotate the pictures!):

We planted a huge garden this summer and I have been running a small farmstand in my little town in Oregon. Instead of throwing the leftover veggies into the compost pile we thought we would feed it to our pigs, as we always have in the past. However, these guinea hogs seem to have no interest whatsoever in any feeds other than acorns. Thankfully it is a good acorn year. We have even started paying our daughter a penny an acorn to pick them up from other places that the pigs aren't allowed into, a fun job for an 8 year old. The guinea hogs do root a bit, but very lighltly compared to larger bodied pig breeds. It's more like turning over the top 2-4 inches, bringing up new seeds that will germinate in the spring. I can't wait to see what our wildflowers look like then. Here is a picture showing how friendly they are, taken by my 8 year old, hence the poor quality!

Stay tuned for more pig tails!

The Mobile Poultry Slaughterhouse Book Review

I found this book to be highly approachable for a subject is very technical, regulated, & virtually unheard of. As an agricultural writer myself, I understand the difficulty in presenting a subject in depth while also making it understandable to the masses. Ali Berlow has done this. She has also written a very enjoyable, sometimes even lyrical book about the subject of legal chicken slaughter. That too is hard!

If you have every thought about starting up your own poultry business or working to help others do it, this book is indispensable. Easing the slaughter bottleneck in our country is important, thankless work. I thank Ali for rolling up her sleeves and diving into it, despite not having an agricultural background.

The only additions I would like to see in this book are a pictorial of the poultry slaughter process rather than just the narrative and drawings. There is also quite a bit more to the evisceration process that aren't described in the book such as what to do with the oil gland, pulling out the organs without rupturing them, leaving the interior body fat intact. I also found the method of killing the birds to be unlike I have seen on most exempt poultry farms. When we raised poultry by the thousands ourselves, we would put the bird in the kill cone first to keep it confined, then pull the head down making the neck taught and then slice the carotid with a sharp knife. I am not sure why the book suggests holding the bird while cutting, which seems messier and potentially more stressful on the workers and the birds. Also, perhaps a short section on other mobile slaughter models around the country for both poultry and four-leggeds would be a nice addition for readers to be able to seek out more information.

Other than those details above, this is a fantastic resource on planning, implementing, and sustaining a legal mobile slaughter unit. You can buy it here!

Made Simple: Buying Meat in Bulk

Two sides of beef, chillin down on the farm.

Since we have been "animal-less" for the last two years, we have practically become vegetarians. Turns out that buying good meat at retail prices is a bit tough on our meager incomes. It's ok- we have become pros at cooking beans, rice, quinoa and other affordable foods. We don't have any food waste anymore either, except for our coffee grounds, which get composted anyways. We turn all our veggie scraps into soup stock and if we do eat meat, all of the bones and extra fat go to the stockpot too. But I digress...

So being animal-less has meant being more or less meat-less. But now that we have a firm place to call home and thus a place to store food, we finally plunked down for a side of pork. We have sold hundreds of sides of pork, but never been a customer ourselves. It used to be quite common for Americans to buy "locker beef" or sides of pork directly from a neighbor, relative, or farmer who lived nearby. It was economical and assured a steady supply of protein through thick and thin, especially wintertime when you maybe couldn't get to a store for a couple weeks. People would can, cure, dry, smoke, and freeze the meat in various ways so that it would last for months and be consumed in smaller quantities. This method of food purchasing sort of fell out of fashion for 30 or so years, at least in the rapidly urbanizing regions of the country where most Americans live. It still was quite the norm in rural America to buy a quarter steer or half pig, as it still is today. Luckily, this trend is reversing. You can find sides of livestock all over the country- see www.localharvest.com to find a local producer in your area.

Buying meat in bulk like this has many advantages- the per pound price is considerably cheaper than buying cuts of meat at the store. You get steaks and chops at the price of ground meat. The meat is usually fresher than store bought and quickly frozen. You can have it cut to your specifications- like thick pork chops? Like bone-in roasts? Like your ground meat a little leaner? Like your beef dry aged for a couple weeks to make it more tender? When you buy meat in bulk, you usually get to make those choices. The other big advantage to buying meat like this is understanding a bit more how the animal was raised, who raised it, and even the quality of the slaughter and butchering. You deepen your relationship with the meat supply chain- it become less anonymous and opaque. Maybe that makes you feel like the meat is safer, more wholesome, and perhaps it is. The other advantage (some would consider this a challenge) is that buying meat in bulk encourages you to eat a variety of meat cuts and expand your culinary prowess. I remember the first time I butterflied a boneless pork loin, stuffed it with sauteed apples, bread, nuts, and butter and then tied it back up to be roasted. I was beyond proud when that roast wowed my family. That would never happen if I just bought the same ol' cuts at the store that I knew exactly how to prepare (in the same boring way). Best of all, in my opinion, is that buying meat directly from the farmer/rancher will better keep them in business. Keeping the folks in business that take good care of our meat animals is the best way to assure humane livestock production and good land stewardship. It's a win-win. You save money and the farmer makes better money. Direct dollars, less middlemen.

The disadvantages of buying meat in bulk is usually the large price tag you have to bite off all at once, where to store it, and then figuring out what to do with it all. I don't get intimidated by 100 lbs of meat sitting in my freezer- indeed it gives me a great feeling of security. But for others it may cause stress for meal planning thinking about what to do with all that meat. Agghh....the stress of privilage.

Drawing from our recent pork buying experience, here is some advice:

1) Find the right farm raising the animal how you like it- we spent about a year trying to find a farm within a 100 miles of us that was raising heritage breed pigs (we like their fat and flavor over modern breeds) on pasture and feeding organic grains. We found plenty of pastured pigs, but most of them were blue-butts (York/Hamp crosses) that are too lean for our tastes. Or when we did find heritage breeds they usally had been fed conventional feeds. I was willing to relax a bit on that issue knowing how extremely high organic feeds have been lately, but whenever I did, my husband would just remind me of the evils of Monsanto and GMOs, and I would sulk off, porkless. We did finally locate that local perfect farm with a pasture-raised, heritage-breed, organically-fed pig. Phew! Here was our Berkshire pig from High Roost Ranch of Glenwood, Washington.

2) Check your bank balance and figure out the numbers- when you buy a quarter, half, or whole animal direct from the farmer, you usually pay a price based on the hanging weight. That is the weight of the animal after it has been killed with head, guts, and blood removed. Some farmers charge by the live weight- the weight of the living animal- if they have a manner to weigh the beast. I see this happen with lambs quite often when they are sold at around the 100-110 pound live weight range. If you are paying for the live weight, you should ask about how many pounds of usable meat will come off that animal and then do the math to see if that makes sense for you. With our Berkshire above, we paid only $3.50 a pound hanging weight, which is a steal for an organically-fed pig. I truly hope the farmers can stay in business with those prices. I did not pick this farm because their prices were so low, but rather for the breed and their animal husbandry practices. But I can't deny being delighted with my final bill of $318.50 (91lbs hanging weight x $3.50/lb.) for a half pig. On top of that, we paid for half the cost of the custom mobile slaughter fee of $60 since we just bought half of the pig. Slaughter costs for a steer will run much higher, up to $150. If you are just buying a half or quarter beef, you will pay 1/2 or 1/4 of that fee, so factor that into your costs. Around the country, you may pay anywhere from $3.00-6.00/lb. hanging weight for beef and pork. Goat and lamb usually run a bit higher because their carcass sizes are much smaller, around 40lbs hanging weight for a whole animal. I usually see goat/lamb prices around $6.00-8.00/lb. as a side or whole animal. Still all considerably cheaper than buying good quality meat at a grocery store, which may run $7-24/lb. depending on the cut.

3) Pick the butcher and give instructions- Often the farmer will give you a couple choices of where to have the animal butchered. You can even elect to cut it up yourself at home, which can be fun and educational or a giant pain in the butt if you don't have the right tools. Our farmer gave us two options for butchery and we choose the butcher that had a better reputation for quality. All they had to say was "their bacon is divine" and that sold us on Mayer's Custom Meats of Vancouver, Washington. A bit further for us to drive, but their reputation was excellent. If you are buying that much meat, you want it to be processed well. Once you choose the butcher, the farmer arranges to get your animal there somehow. In our case, the mobile slaughter guy took the carcass directly to the butcher. Once the carcass arrives at the shop, the butcher gives you a call and asks you how you want your side cut up. We received a pleasant phone call from a very nice woman and I ran down the list of cuts that I wanted. After years of raising pigs and selling pork, I know how I like my pork cut up. However, if you are new to this, ask either the farmer or the butcher to give you sample cutting instructions (here is one for pork). You will have to decide how thick you want steaks/chops, how big the roasts, whether or not to leave bones in the meat, spice flavorings for sausage, and other details. Don't be intimidated if you don't know everything- feel free to ask the butcher what their favorite ways to prepare certain cuts or what sausages they like best. If MSG, nitrates, sugar, salt, dextrose or other preservatives are a big deal for you, make sure you tell them to leave certain things out. Also, if you prefer paper-wrapped or plastic vacuum sealed packaging, you should make that known. You may not have an option, but if you do, I would suggest vacuum sealed because your meat can last longer and it is easier to see what you got inside the pacakge. However, if you are going to gobble up all the meat within 3-6 months, paper wrapping is just fine.

4) Find the space- a lot of people fret about having enough freezer space to buy meat in bulk. It turns out that you can fit half a pig or a quarter beef in a regular size top-mounted freezer space, as evidenced by this picture below. We even have a few other things crammed in there too, like turkey stock, frozen tomatoes, and other odds and ends. Our 91 pound hanging weight pig turned into about 70 pounds of meat (we left the bone in all cuts to get a better efficiency) and that all miraculously fit in our freezer. For the time being, we don't have to go out and buy a stand-alone chest freezer. But you can buy something decent for a bit over $200 and fit a half steer or whole pig if you so desire. The new models are so energy-efficient you should hardly notice a blip in your utility bill. I even have off-grid friends who just bought a chest freezer they can easily power with their solar panels. However you store your meat, just make sure it is good and frozen. Check the door seals and for ice build-up, which may indicate a leakage of cold air and you could get freezer burn on your meat. Chest freezers are better sealing than stand-up freezers and have less problems with ice build-up.

Here is our freezer with a half a pig.

Here it is with the meat plus all the other crap we had in it- frozen bananas, frozen tomatos, turkey stock, vegetable trimmings we use to make soup, etc.

5) Get the meat, pay for it, take it home quick- self explanatory. But usually the customer is responsible for picking up the meat from the butcher, paying for the butchering costs (separate from the price paid to farmer), and then transporting it home. Bring some coolers and some ice for that. Butcher costs run between $.50-1.50 a pound, depending on what you have done to the side. Simple cutting is on the lower end of the price scale, grinding may cost a bit more, and then sausage-making and curing will cost the most. To save money, keep the fancy sausages at a minimum. You can also do bulk sausage instead of linked sausage to save a few dollars too. We ended up having our pork belly turned into bacon, hocks smoked, and our ham roasts and trim turned into 2 types of bulk sausage in addition to all the regular cuts. Nothing too fancy and our total bill for a 91 pound pig was just $72 for all the butchering and packaging (I expected it to be closer to $100, so was pleasantly suprised!). So add those costs into your budget as well. This put our total pig costs at $420.50 or $4.62/lb. on the hanging weight. Realize that your final packaged meat weight is going to be less than the hanging weight. With pork, you can expect 60-80% of the hanging weight (more if you ask for all the bones, fatback, etc.) and with beef, lamb, and goat you should expect closer to 55-75% usable meat from the carcass. If you want to get your money's worth, ask for all the soup bones and trim. You can use that to make stock or feed to your dogs, but you might as well get it if you can.

6) Start cooking!- Start out with some of the easier cuts that you have familiarity with and then start adding in some new ones. Open up a cookbook or search the cut on the Internet. Type in "top round roast" and see what delicious recipes pop up. Start experimenting- brining or marinating your meat, smoking it, barbecuing, braising, roasting, stewing, pan searing, dry rubbing and enjoy the journey. Your palette will be greatly rewarded, even if you screw up a peice or too. Your pocketbook will thank you. Your friends will start popping up unannouced at dinnertime more frequently. Your "what should I cook for dinner" conundrum will start to ease itself. You will know a farmer and you will honor a specific animal that gave up it's life for you. That may bother you, but more than likely it will give you a special reverance for your food and make it that much more enjoyable.

Look at those nice thick slices of bacon, made exactly how I like them! Plus look at all the fat- no lean pork for us. Get the kind of meat you want when buying straight from a farmer.

Now go find a farmer and make the call!

Kickstarting a Meat Revolution!

I am posting this Kickstarter campaign for my friend Camas Davis of the Portland Meat Collective. Please read on to see how you can support meat education efforts around the country:

As you may know, the Portland Meat Collective is a one-of-a-kind meat school and culinary resource that has changed the way citizens of Portland, Oregon think about their food, their community, and their local economy. For each Portland Meat Collective class, local farmers sell whole animals to students who in turn learn from local butchers and chefs how to transform those whole animals into everything from pork chops to bacon. Students go home with a lot of good meat and a lot of very rare knowledge. Chefs and butchers have the opportunity to share their art. And farmers are able to sell their animals directly to consumers who truly appreciate their humane and sustainable farming practices. The result? A growing community of informed omnivores who are rethinking meat consumption and production in America.

The Portland Meat Collective has been a successful business and educational model for over three years. As we’ve gained attention in the national media, word of our model has spread. As a result, each week we receive requests from people living all over the country requesting a Meat Collective in their town. We think the Meat Collective model could and should thrive in many towns across America. It’s clear others feel the same. We're not talking about franchising, here. Nope. Instead we want to empower other folks to start Meat Collectives in their home towns.

 

Our Kickstarter page has a video and bullet points on why the Meat Collective model is so unique, as well as detailed plans for how we’ll spread the model across the country. You can check it out here:

 

http://kck.st/YTa3XQ

 

We think our Meat Collectives Across America campaign could be a great story for your readers because:

 

1) Meat Collectives Across America represents a unique type of Kickstarter campaign.  We’re not asking people to back a product. We’re asking them to back a movement that could change the way their community thinks about food.

2) Consumers are increasingly more informed (and concerned) about where their food comes from. The Meat Collective model offers consumers hands-on, direct education about how meat gets to their tables so that they can make informed decisions about the meat they choose to eat.

3) The Meat Collective model is a flexible model that could be adapted to many different communities, both urban and rural. As it is adapted to different locales, the meat education movement as a whole will gain strength in its diversity.

4) The Meat Collective model helps to build alternate, local economies of meat production and consumption in America.

 

Here is the Kickstarter link once again- http://kck.st/YTa3XQ