Wednesday, November 17, 2010
My baby eating a porkchop from the Meatshare!
I recently participated in a Meat Share hosted and planned by Melissa McEwen. Melissa developed a relationship with B&Y Farms up in the Finger Lakes. We met in Secaucus, NJ early in November to meet the farmers and pick up our meats. I came home with 3 pastured chickens, 20 pounds of pork and 2 pounds of lamb.
Judy, our farmer, showed us pictures of the animals where they were raised and educated us on the breeds (Tamworth for the pigs; Tunis for the lambs). Our meats were butchered by a Mennonite butcher and we were able to enjoy some Mennonite Sausage Recipes (Pork Apple Butter Cinnamon Sausage is heaven on Earth).
Shares with farmers are a very important part of supporting humane farming practices and ensuring we get to eat the best quality foods. Industrial farms feed their animals lots of grain, corn and other cheap products in order to fatten them up for the lowest dollar. Hey, this is America and industrial farms want to make a profit too, right?
Small farms, like Judy's B&Y farms, treat their animals with respect and allow them to graze in the environment they were intended to. The Tamworths spend most of their youth grazing in the woods. They ate tons of apples, pumpkin, and whatever other sustenance they could find on their land (i.e., no grain, they were not stuck in a pen with hundreds of other pigs).
Their farm is located near Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes Region. I'm hoping to visit their farm this summer to see the animals that we will get to eat next harvest.
If you would like to see a take of "Stealing a porkchop from a baby" please go to hunter-gatherer.com
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2 comments:
That was the funniest video! Uncle Nick and I laughed our rear ends off! I hope she enjoyed what little porkchop she had before it was snatched!
I guess I am a little out of it when it comes to healthy food. I remember the first time I went to Whole Foods with Nicholas. He had never been to one either. As soon as we walked in the door he turned to me and said "You do not want to shop here" I said "Oh, but it is so clean and new and everything looks great, lets just go down the next aisle where the regular food is" Nicholas replied "This is the regular food. Nothing in this store has MSG, therefor you will not want to shop here". Well, he was mostly right, I like to think the food I eat comes from a store not an animal (I know, sounds stupid, but the thought of an animal dying so I can overeat just does not seem right and if I give it too much thought it makes me sick, not rational-but cannot help myself). I like the bakery in the store and some of the grains and they have really nice cards.
But I am glad to see you have an open mind and can enjoy the farm and learning all about the animals. Do not get me wrong, I would rather eat something that was not treated badly, but I do not think of it that way as I explained above.
I am really proud of you for going and hope you teach Lily and Aurora how valuable all this is. They will appreciate it later in life and you all will be healthier.
That was the funniest video! Uncle Nick and I laughed our rear ends off! I hope she enjoyed what little porkchop she had before it was snatched!
I guess I am a little out of it when it comes to healthy food. I remember the first time I went to Whole Foods with Nicholas. He had never been to one either. As soon as we walked in the door he turned to me and said "You do not want to shop here" I said "Oh, but it is so clean and new and everything looks great, lets just go down the next aisle where the regular food is" Nicholas replied "This is the regular food. Nothing in this store has MSG, therefor you will not want to shop here". Well, he was mostly right, I like to think the food I eat comes from a store not an animal (I know, sounds stupid, but the thought of an animal dying so I can overeat just does not seem right and if I give it too much thought it makes me sick, not rational-but cannot help myself). I like the bakery in the store and some of the grains and they have really nice cards.
But I am glad to see you have an open mind and can enjoy the farm and learning all about the animals. Do not get me wrong, I would rather eat something that was not treated badly, but I do not think of it that way as I explained above.
I am really proud of you for going and hope you teach Lily and Aurora how valuable all this is. They will appreciate it later in life and you all will be healthier.
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