Discover the World of Artisan Beef

#MeatCamp - Cooking Head To Tail

2010-02-26T07:44:00.000-08:00

The Head to Tail philosophy of eating is, thankfully, one of the fastest growing food trends. At this week's MeatCamp(tm) chat, we held an introductory session on how to identify and cook the not-so-fancy cuts of beef, pork, lamb, and chicken, including offal.

We were joined by a few formal guests including Larry Liang (@DJPegLeg), an avid home cook and apprentice to Becky Selengut (@ChefReinvented - watch for her upcoming cookbook on sustainable seafood) and The Unknown Chef (@TheUnknownChef) of EastVillageRadio. If you don't know these folks yet, you will. Give them a follow!

As usual, participants ran the gamut from Mike Smuckers (@Tweef_32), an artisan butcher in Pennsylvania to those who love offal (@FoodiePrints) and those who don't (too many tripe-haters out there to mention). We had grass-fed and grain-fed beef ranchers, chefs, home cooks, BBQ fanatics, food activists and entrepreneurs, 4-H farmers, restaurateurs, and lots of lurkers.

Much of the comments were on beef (no doubt because that's been my main focus to date) but the principles are the same for all meats. You can read the full transcript here.

THE HIGHLIGHTS

Cuts from the front (Chuck) and back (Round), where the muscles get more exercise, can be a bit tougher than those from the middle, where the well known New York Strip Loin (Kansas City Steak), Filet Mignon, Rib-Eye, and Sirloin steaks are found.

Fortunately, there are easy ways to cook meat cuts from the front and back ends. Dutch ovens, crock pots, and learning to braise and stew are simple and easy.

DJPegLeg For beef cheeks, short ribs, and oxtail I’ll braise them. Oxtail in a chinese style braise: http://bit.ly/9hPYC4 #meatcamp -8:21 PM

DJPegLeg Sure, so braising is essentially cooking something at a relatively low temperature for a long time using moist heat.#meatcamp -8:25 PM

DJPegLeg Typically you sear your meat first to help build some flavor. Braising is good for tougher cuts of meat because it helps break…#meatcamp -8:26 PM

TheUnknownChef @carrieoliver Braising is slow low temp cookin w/moisture always present. Stewing is small pieces submerged in liquid & braised. #meatcamp -8:35 PM

TheUnknownChef @carrieoliver Roastin is dry heat 4not so tough cuts u can do MR. Moist heat is 4 tough cuts that R loaded w/collagen.#meatcamp -8:39 PM

TheUnknownChef Now Braising is ANY situation where moisture stays present. You can braise in a dutch oven with NO ADDED LIQUID & U’ll luv me 4it #meatcamp -8:46 PM

Some don't agree that Chuck & Round cuts are tougher

tweef32 @meatcamp demand is growing for the ends but I think percp is tough but totally not true. #meatcamp -8:24 PM Feb 25th, 2010

Offal is a real challenge, despite some great efforts by individual chefs and some TV shows.

CamBrownJax @andreabakes When I was little I went into the kitchen once to see a giant cow’s tongue on the counter and was horrified,.#meatcamp -8:49

masterbutcher @meatcamp tripe tastes like it smells to me: wet dog. Something I don’t care for. #meatcamp -9:00 PM

Fortunately, some people love it and there are some ways to cook it to overcome barriers.

TheUnknownChef Big flavor OFFAL needs big flavored accompaniments to BALANCE out the richness & intensity of flavor of the meat.#meatcamp -9:09 PM

DJPegLeg I became a heart fan when I had anticucho, which is a Peruvian preparation where they grill the heart after marinating.#meatcamp -8:16 PM

Feastfinefoods @iTweetMeat sweetbreads, pigs ears, lamb brains, lamb tongue, lamb liver are all top notch IMO #meatcamp -8:56 PM

The key barriers to offal include:

TheUnknownChef @carrieoliver freshness is the biggest barrier w/offal. Most often its not fresh at butcher so its even more “gamey”#meatcamp -9:03 PM

DJPegLeg @carrieoliver I think the biggest barrier is the unknown. Not knowing how to cook it or what it’ll taste like. #meatcamp -9:03 PM

tgnh Biggest barrier: not easy to find supply. Will have to make arrangements with local purveyors from farmers mrk #meatcamp -9:04 PM

winemedineme @CarrieOliver I am a bit freaked about messing it up.#meatcamp -9:04 PM

Bev_W @CarrieOliver Could be it has seeds in class struggles. Offal for the poor. With restos doing great stuff w/cheap cuts, ppl see what's poss. #meatcamp -7:27 PM

Asked how we'd make offal more hip led to some great ideas.

Herbguy Make illegal except 4 royality;) clever suggestions on how to make offal & lesser cuts hip (beyond restaurant)? #meatcamp /via@CarrieOliver -9:12 PM

cbsop @CarrieOliver just call ‘em the good bits #meatcamp -9:15 PM

nel1jack Rachel Ray could do it #meatcamp -9:20 PM

fourgreenis @iTweetMeat Took tongue to a potluck, had a great sauce and I only said it was beef. All liked it. #meatcamp -9:12 PM

Finally, some great recipe links:

DJPegLeg I really like this brisket recipe, it’s super easy:http://bit.ly/b9sb8E #meatcamp -8:31 PM

meatcamp If anyone has recipes to share, plz do so. I’ll send my mom’s beef stew. http://bit.ly/cekC6P #meatcamp -8:29 PM

andreabakes Recipe for tripehttp://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/mario-batali/roman-style-tripe-trippa-alla-romana-recipe/index.html #meatcamp -9:03 PM

Please join us every Thursday at 8pm ET on Twitter or use the #MeatCamp hashtag any time. If you have topics you'd like to see covered or would like to be a guest yourself, please contact me or Chris Raines @iTweetMeat.

MeatCamp (tm) and #MeatCamp (tm) are trademarks of The Oliver Ranch Company (tm) and The Artisan Beef Institute (tm). Twitter use is an extension of this education and tasting program designed to create an open, friendly forum in which I and Dr. Chris Raines, Extension Meats Specialist and Assistant Professor at Penn State University's Department of Dairy & Animal Science, seek to demystify meat and to celebrate the great artisan farmers, ranchers, truckers, slaughterhouse workers, butchers, chefs and home cooks who help bring it to our plates.

Mom's Best Beef Stew "Recipe"

2010-02-25T15:50:00.000-08:00

In honor of tonight's #meatcamp chat on Twitter, The Secrets of Finding & Cooking the Not-So-Fancy Cuts, I thought I'd share my mom's beef stew "recipe." The quotes don't mean that the stew isn't fabulous, it is good enough that I've served it to guests as a fancy meal. What they do mean is that there isn't really a set recipe, my mom just made it up one time and recreates it again each time - sorta - with what she has on hand that day. That's right, she just wings it and now, so do I.

For the fun of it, I'll just share it as it came to me by email a few years back. The bold italics are my comments.

"Hi Carrie - Dad said you need my stew recipe as you had lost the one I gave you earlier. I don't really have a set recipe, but here goes:

1 Pound stew meat [preferably artisan or at least 100% grass-fed]
1/2 an onion or more chopped
Two celery stalks if possible cut into 2-3" pieces
2-3 three carrots cut into 2-3" pieces
Mushrooms, as many as you want, sliced
Several garlic cloves, minced or finally chopped

[This first part is pretty standard, just wait]

Brown the meat in olive oil 'til brown on all sides. I use an old cast iron Dutch oven type, one with a good fitting lid, but any heavy duty pan/pot will do. Remove to separate plate or bowl.

Sauté or braise the vegetables in the pot and then set aside.

Add red wine and bring to boil scraping up any browned bits.

Put everything back into pan used for browning and sautéing.

[Now she's going to start winging it]

I season this whole thing with A-1 sauce, Kikko Man soy sauce, any favorite herb, Beau Monde seasoning, and of course, Lawry's garlic salt (just in case the garlic isn't enough). Add some water, and maybe some tomato sauce or canned tomatoes, ketchup or whatever, cover and simmer for about 2-3 hours. The celery makes the difference, something Samantha taught me. [Samantha is an old baby sitter of mine who grew up in the south]

Serve with noodles, rice or potatoes.

Enjoy!! Hope this helps -

Love, Mom

The secret to this stew is two-fold: good quality meat and celery leaves. If you don't have wine, use water or stock. Use up tired looking vegetables from your refrigerator. Taste the stew every once in a while and if it doesn't seem right, add a little more whatever!

Finally, a money saving tip: Buy a cross-rib or other inexpensive roast and cut it into stew meat cubes yourself. It's easy and you'll likely save a few $ per lb.

Debunking One More Myth - Tastes Like Chicken

2010-02-10T15:22:00.001-08:00

I am long overdue for a post on an Artisan Chicken Tasting with Heritage Breeds that I helped host along with Mark Trealout of Kawartha Ecological Growers and sponsored by Slow Food Toronto via my Artisan Beef Institute's (tm) sister, Artisan Poultry Institute (tm). Fortunately, there are four great articles written by people who attended the event, I encourage you to read them.

Sarah Elton writes "Heirloom Poultry, The Un-Perdue," in The Atlantic.

Rebecca Tucker writes "Tastes Like Chicken, But What Kind?" in The National Post.

Sheryl Kirby writes "Don't Count Your Chickens Before You've Tasted Them," on TasteTo.com

Laura Boyd, one of the Kawartha Ecological Growers, asks "Does All Chicken Taste The Same?"

Special thanks go to the three chefs and their teams who donated their time and incredible talents (and I must say self-restraint, they let the Texture, Personality, and Impression of each chicken stand for themselves):

David Chrystian, Victor
Donna Dooher, Mildred’s Temple Kitchen
Scott Vivian and Marc Dufour, The Wine Bar

Cowbell Restaurant - Creating A New, ProFood Culture

2010-02-02T12:07:00.001-08:00

Much has been written of late about a renaissance in butchery. I've seen demonstrations by artisan (and not so artisan) butchers of beef and pork carcasses but friends Dana and Joel of WellPreserved.ca tipped me off about a venison demonstration at Cowbell Restaurant in Toronto, Ontario.

Chef Mark Cutrara was an honored guest at one of my artisan steak tastings and he and I co-hosted a tasting in conjunction City Bites, so I was familiar with his philosophy toward meat. The intimate group on hand this Sunday was in for a bigger treat than learning the art of venison butchery, though: we were introduced to a broader philosophy that Mark and in-house butcher, Ryan Donovan, are introducing to the restaurant scene in Ontario. I am impressed.

The demonstration first. Most of us love to complain about the cost of steaks. I've written before that in a 1,150 lb. beef steer or heifer one typically sees only 80 lbs total of Filet Mignon, New York Strip Loin, Rib-Eye, and Sirloin steaks. Did you know there are only a few pounds of tenderloin (filet mignon) steaks in a 90 lb. deer carcass?

Consider the skirt steak, one of my favorite cuts. The average beef cattle might offer 3 lbs. of skirt steak, total, after aging and trimming. Look at the skirt steak in this deer. Mark spent about 5 minutes trimming this baby, he knows how precious it is.

And this is where Cowbell shines. Perhaps one or two people might be lucky enough to savor one of the two tiny skirt steaks that came from this particular pasture-raised and finished New Zealand Red Deer. Can you imagine walking into a nationally recognized steak house and asking for the skirt steak and having them say, I'm sorry, we only had two and they sold out at 6pm tonight? Well, unless you're there at the right time, you will not have the opportunity to savor this week's harvest of venison skirt steaks at Cowbell.

For someone who appreciates the focus on head to tail eating but thinks we need to move beyond the feel-good, Mark, Ryan, and team don't stop here but can go on to tell you the exact source of the meat, how it was raised, who slaughtered it how and why, and the way they butcher and why.

And herein lies the bigger idea: if we buy, cook, and savor food from different growing regions - whether our own or elsewhere - each item will have it's own signature flavor and texture and will by nature be a scarce resource. One cannot expect to have a filet mignon on demand any more than expecting to catch a sunburn in February. Food has a natural cycle, it will be available as it is available. Depending on the variety, growing region, and husbandry, flavor and texture will also vary. Let us celebrate and savor it as such.

Is it Grass-Fed or Grass-Fattened Beef?

2010-01-29T14:46:00.000-08:00

I just got off the phone with a new, exciting discovery, an Artisan Butcher named Bill McCann, from the Fresno, California, area. I hope to introduce you to him in more detail soon but I wanted to share a fabulous distinction that he made regarding grass-fed beef.

I'm simplifying this a bit but only because it feels like a great place to plant a seed for a future, in-depth conversation.

"There is a difference between grass-fattened beef and grass-fed beef."

That's a direct quote, this is paraphrasing: You can get grass-fed beef any time of year. Grass-fattened cattle come from graziers who know how to fatten beef on a grass (and legume) diet, no different than others who have learned to fatten beef on a diet that includes grain. With grass-fattened cattle you typically see white colored fat and you can get more intense flavors.

If you've spoken to or read enough about grass-finishers, you'll know that in much of North America it takes a lot of talent and the right genetics to have a year round grass-fed program. I've shared a few of these producers with you before. But I personally think it's worth considering this:

Wine grapes are harvested at their peak and, when wine aficionados find a wine they like, they stock up on it (often getting a discount in turn). Why don't we apply the same concept to beef, pork, lamb, and poultry? Exactly, why don't we?

Thank you to Renee and Fredo Martin of Slow Food Madera for providing me the opportunity to meet and learn from Bill. I see a wonderful future for Bill, he can help us demystify and better understand meat, not just beef, so we can find and celebrate the artisan ranchers, truckers, slaughterhouse workers, butchers, and purveyors who today are so very hard to find.

3 Simple Steps For Better Tasting Steaks

2009-12-02T19:04:00.000-08:00

I hear every day from people across North America who want to eat better tasting, humanely raised & handled beef but don't know where to start. Here are three simple things that virtually everyone can do.

Step #1. Ask your meat cutter or butcher whether he or she carries beef from cattle raised without the use of added hormones or preventative antibiotics. Why? Many will argue against this for ethical and health-related reasons. Here's another: added hormones can lead to tougher beef and in my tasting experience, a blander flavor, too.

If they do not, thank them and say, "I wish that you would. Do you know another grocer or butcher who does?" Walk away without buying the beef.

Step #2. If the meat cutter says yes, ask them if they can tell you the name of the farm, feed yard, and slaughterhouse the beef is sourced from. If they can do this, write down the answer, give them a hug, try the beef, and let me know who they are!

If they can't (99% will not be able to answer this question), say "I wish that you did. Do you know another grocer or butcher who does?" Consider buying the beef and if it's good, let the retailer know but keep asking them to name the source.

Step #3. If you come up empty handed after Step #1 and Step #2, repeat the steps once a week and please, send me a note. I will do all I can to find you beef that meets your needs. We are bound to find you great tasting beef from a good source. We may even find an Artisan Beef rancher and butcher within your reach!

Are other questions to ask? Yes, in particular about the cattle's breed, diet, and how the beef was aged by the butcher.

But if enough of us follow Step #1 and Step #2 on a repeated basis, trust me, retailers will start knowing the answers, you will be eating better beef, and you will be helping the best beef ranchers stay in business and keep their families on the land.

ps Can you believe how good those steaks look? Photo is thanks to Jaden Hair of www.steamykitchen.com. And yes, those are some artisan quality steaks!

Ground Beef - How To Find Top Quality, Great Tasting Burgers

2009-10-17T14:54:00.000-07:00

A recent New York Times article on ground beef has led a lot of friends, colleagues, and clients to ask my thoughts on the issue.

It's great to see so many of us asking how our food system works but it is complicated territory. Most of you tell me you were disgusted to learn what goes into commodity ground beef, upset that some companies may have lax food safety standards, and looking for help. I've made it my job to develop a knowledge base on beef so let me attempt to sort through the myriad issues raised in the Times.

First, allow me to highlight an issue that is rarely raised. Outside of the sheer yuck factor, one very compelling reason to avoid eating commodity ground beef is that it has very little flavor. Per my earlier post, the reason is that large packers do not use flavor as a primary goal in the first place. Instead, their focus is cost control, to produce the lowest cost burgers that you're still willing to eat.

Why spend your hard-earned cash on a lame tasting burger?

But anyway, back to the issue at hand. The Times article raises three related but separate issues: the risk of food poisoning from contaminated meat, our inability to trace our meat back to the source, and the inclusion of "trimmings" that have been treated with ammonia.

The Bad News: With regard to food poisoning there is no fail-safe solution for any food including ground meat. Meat, vegetables, fruits... at some point all food comes from the earth and typically passes through many hands - including yours - before you eat it. No matter how carefully food is handled, there is a chance that a pathogen may get into your system.

The Good News: There is great tasting ground beef out there made from source-specific, quality ingredients and I can help you find it.

Now let's debunk a few myths.

Buy From Your Local Butcher. I am a huge fan of locally grown and processed meat. However, it's important to know that many meat cutters are buying their beef from the same sources as discussed in the Times. Also, being local doesn't automatically add up to pathogen-free.

Buy From A Farmer. Based on hundreds of taste tests I can say with great confidence that you are far more likely to get flavorful ground beef from any farm-specific purveyor whether online or offline. That's because farmers industrious enough to not only raise but also slaughter, process, and market their beef are likely to be preoccupied by flavor and texture, not just yield.

Unfortunately, knowing the farmer's name does not ensure pathogen-free meat or a fabulous eating experience. Bacteria can be introduced indirectly such as a deer walking through the field, by renting a neighbor's bull, from a truck or slaughterhouse, or through cross-contamination in your own home.

As for flavor, you might be surprised to find out just how different beef can taste from farm to farm. As with winemakers, some farmers and butchers are more talented than others, too. Trust me, you will like beef from some a lot more than others.

Grind Your Own. The idea here is to purchase whole muscle cuts such as a Chuck Roast or Brisket and grind it at home or ask a meat cutter to grind it for you. The benefit is you will at least know that there are no ammonia-treated fillers or other oddities in your burger.

However, unless you (or your butcher) are extremely scrupulous, you still run the risk of food poisoning unless you thoroughly cook the beef. This is because any bacteria on the surface of the meat, on your hands, in your kitchen, or on the grinder itself can get mixed into the beef during the grinding process.

Buy Grass Fed Beef. There are many reasons to choose grass-fed beef (I call it grass-only) including flavor and texture. Eat Wild also suggests some potential health and other benefits, too. There is some evidence that grass-fed cattle have a lower incidence of certain bacteria but it's important to note that the research is inconclusive.

Either way, cross-contamination can occur at virtually any point between farm and fork so grass-fed does not guarantee pathogen-free.

So What Is The Solution?

Outside of thoroughly cooking your ground beef? Start asking questions! We have a tendency to seek shortcuts and easy answers and sadly many companies are only too happy to comply. No Trans Fats! claims do not make potato chips healthy. All Natural! is virtually meaningless in any food category. But if we all start doing everything we can to know what is on our plates and how it got there - and walk away if the answer is not forthcoming - retailers and processors will eventually start being pickier about how they source their meat.

The benefits are numerous. While it will not eliminate pathogens, at minimum buying source-specific meat will increase the chance of having a great tasting burger made without mystery ingredients.

Look For Artisan Beef

I personally look for farmer, trucker, and butcher teams who employ artisan practices to create signature-style flavors and textures. We like to compare steaks and burgers from multiple farm teams and when my family finds one we like, we feel like we hit the jackpot and stock up. (This is a great way to save money, too.)

To find artisan quality beef I created a list of questions that I employ as a guide. Please feel free to download my cheat sheet here or, if you're feeling shy, I will screen a farm or butcher for you. I also have a list that I will publish soon and expand with time.

You Can't Find Artisan Quality, Now What?

Artisan beef is extremely hard to find but you can still increase your odds of finding great tasting beef for your family.

Look for brand name beef with a label that clearly states the cattle were raised without the use of added hormones or preventative antibiotics. You will likely find that it has more flavor and chances are higher that the ground beef is made from known sources and without ammonia-treated fillers.

If you can, order beef from several of these purveyors and compare them in a blind tasting at home. This is a great (and fun) way to find out which flavors you prefer. If you'd like to use my Artisan Beef Institute's tasting guide, which you can download here.

A step up is to find a butcher who can at least tell you the name of the farm and slaughterhouse and how he or she aged the beef. (Aging enhances flavor and texture.) Bonus points if they also test their ground beef. These are strong signs that care has gone into the making of those burgers.

Further Questions?

Have I missed information? Do you have a favorite farm, butcher, or purveyor you'd like to call out? Please leave a comment or send me an email.

In the meantime, get out there and vote with your voice and your wallet. Ask questions, good retailers, restaurants, butchers, and farmers are ready and thrilled to respond!

It's a Food Fete - Artisan Beef Institute Presents "Rare Vintage" Beef

2009-06-30T10:58:00.000-07:00

I had the honor yesterday to offer a very unique artisan steak tasting at this year's Food Fete New York. Hosted by founder Jeff Davis, Food Fete has to be the best non-trade show trade show in the food industry.

The Artisan Beef Institute (tm), which I founded a few years back, offers a series of steak and burger tastings called The Provenance of Beef (tm) (also affectionately known as #MeatCamp (tm)) to help people discover that beef is like wine - flavor, texture, and overall quality vary by farm, breed (grape variety), growing region, diet, husbandry, aging time & technique, and talent!

Those at Food Fete were treated to Top Sirloin steaks from four unique farm, slaughter, and butcher teams. While all are reasonably hard to find, I would classify two of these beefs as the equivalent of rare vintages.

First up was 100% Grass-Fed & Finished Galloway beef from the Beechy Family Farm in Elroy, Wisconsin. Discovered and offered to meat lovers by Grass Fed Traditions (whose parent company is Tropical Traditions, led by Brian Shilhavy), this beef is from a heritage breed whose heavy coat is well-suited to the growing region. Finished on a diet of native pasture including buffalo grass, switch grass, and bluestem, this beef was dry-aged 7 to 14 days by the team at Edgewood Locker.

Using the Artisan Beef Institute's tasting guide, this beef has a fabulous chew, adventurous personality with layers of flavors including notes of baked clams (think umami), and offers a light though lingering impression on the palate. I classify this beef as The Thinking Man's Date for someone seeking an intriguingly flavorful yet approachable grass-finished beef.

Next up was a beef that has never been tasted outside of the family who raises it, their close friends, and their butcher, Tracy Smaciarz. Gleason Ranch is an 800-acre ranch managed by siblings Tracey and Ted Baker in the Puget Sound Region of Washington State. Originally homesteaded in 1859, the Bakers are 5th generation ranchers who specialize in raising 100% Grass Fed & Finished Angus & Angus Cross beef.

This is another example of outstanding artisan quality grass-fed & finished beef. While I was too busy handing out samples to the wonderful people from O, The Oprah Magazine, Slashfood, New York Daily News, Ladies Home Journal and others to take formal tasting notes, I would classify this beef as Outdoor Adventure Date. Finished on a diet of native white clover, rye, and other grasses grown on the ranch and then dry-aged 26 days, this beef has a texture between like butter and nice chew, a deeply adventurous personality with earthy, rich, loamy vegetal flavors and a long luscious impression.

If you like reserved, classic steakhouse steaks this may not be your favorite but if you're like me and like complex yet harmonious flavors, this one's for you.

If you'd like to try Gleason Ranch beef, please send me a note at carrie [at] oliverranch [dot] com as a few steaks and burgers will be available in August. If you're in the Pacific Northwest, you may be lucky enough to score a 1/4 or 1/2 that will become available in Fall 2010.

The third beef we tasted was brought to us by Meyer Natural Beef and personally presented by the charming Wayne Aiello, who recently completed a launch of the company's online marketplace. Bob Meyer founded the Meyer Ranch, a 43,000 acre Red-Angus breeding operation in the Blackfoot Valley, Montana, in 1990. The first ranch to be Certified Human Raised & Handled by the Humane Farm Animal Care Program, Meyer now works with over 250 others to offer beef to retailers, restaurateurs, and now directly to consumers.

Meyer's Grain-Finished Angus and Angus Cross beef comes from cattle with provable Angus genetics [many rely on the color of the coat to determine breed] and thus offers a more consistent flavor and texture than other programs of its size. I was excited to taste this beef as I'd participated in some of the company's focus groups. I call this beef The Guy (or Gal) Next Door, the handsome/beautiful one you grew up admiring and secretly wanted to kiss. It offers a great chew and straightforward beefy flavor with some lovely roundness especially in the fat and leaves a medium, mouthwatering impression.

Last up was one of the beefs in my current home artisan steak tasting kit from The Oliver Ranch Company. This Grain-Finished Holstein-Friesian beef is a consistent crowd pleaser and offers a strikingly different profile than the other three. Raised and finished by Bob Beechinor of 3 Brand Cattle Company in California's Imperial Valley, this beef was wet-aged 21 days.

I call this beef Prom Date for its fine grained, like butter texture, elegant, reserved classic beef flavor with hints of baked potato and its short, refreshing impression. You (hopefully) have fond memories of your prom date and would love to see him or her again even after all these years. This beef would pair with just about any sauce but would be overwhelmed by jammy or high tannin wines.

Now you're probably wondering which beef "won" the taste test. If you know me, you'll already know that I never pronounce a single winner. The truth is, most tasters told us they enjoyed all four beefs so it was just a matter of degree which one they identified as their favorite. Plus, the tally I kept had all four beefs running neck and neck, something I have seen time and again with my live tastings and home tasting kits.

I hope to offer all four of these beefs in future tastings. Please let me know if you'd like to have a tasting in your neighborhood or be qualified by my Institute to host tastings for me!

Note: All tasting notes, descriptors, and comments are copyrighted by The Artisan Beef Institute (tm) and The Oliver Ranch Company (tm) and cannot be used without express permission. The images are copyright Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen and the respective farms, ranches, or companies listed above.

Would Robert Parker Rate A Wine On Appearance Alone?

2009-06-01T20:47:00.000-07:00

This is how we grade our beef.

When farmers participate in my artisan steak and burger tastings, they are like kids in a candy store. Why? Because in the conventional system, farmers are given little feedback on the flavor and texture of their beef.

Surprisingly, when the USDA grades beef as Prime or Choice they don't actually taste it. The basis for Prime or Choice is based instead on the perceived amount of marbling (fat speckles) between the 12th & 13th rib bone and the bone structure to estimate the cattle's age.

Here's the rub: Marbling actually only accounts for 1/3 of taste & texture. What about the other 2/3rds?

Do you love to eat absolutely fabulous beef? Are you a farmer? Do you work in a slaughterhouse or are you a butcher? I am writing a more comprehensive story on what I'm doing to help farmers get the feedback they need and the consumers the opportunity to support those who raise the best tasting, cleanest beef.

But I'm looking for feedback here - what would YOU do to help create a feedback loop between farms, slaughterhouses, butchers and those of us who eat the food? What questions, complaints, opportunities do you see?

How to Choose Your Burger Meat

2009-05-08T12:30:00.000-07:00

It's one thing to talk about artisan steaks. It's another to understand artisan burgers.

If I can give you any advice: Do not buy burger meat from your grocer.

The reason cited most often is risk of food poisoning. Please allow me to offer another reason to avoid grocery store ground beef and patties:

They don't actually taste that great! In fact, I'd say they don't taste much at all. Why else would we need to add seasonings to the beef or condiments on top?

At first glance, it doesn't make any sense that commodity burger meat is bland. Most is made from older cows or the steaks and roasts found in the front or back end where the muscles get more exercise. Exercise is one contributor to flavor.

There are two reasons that most grocery beef is bland.

1. Meat processors and grocers grossly oversimplify what drives taste, texture, and quality in beef.

We have been trained to think that USDA Grade (Select, Choice, or Prime) is the key contributor to quality, flavor, and juiciness. This is not true; flavor and texture also vary (a lot) depending on the breed, region, diet, aging techniques, and the relative talent of the grower, slaughterhouse, and butcher. This is as true for burgers as it is for steaks.

2. They are not selecting beef based on how good it’s going to taste in the first place.

To grocery stores and meat processors, beef is all about throughput and efficiency. Both industries have high capital costs but with rare exceptions do little to nothing to differentiate themselves vs. their competitors. As a result, they ultimately compete based on price and operate on very thin profit margins. In retail parlance, they literally calculate a "penny profit" - how many pennies do I make on each sale?

Rather than hand-select beef that will delight the palate, which would take time and money, most grocers select beef based on these criteria:

• How cheap it is (so they can increase penny profit)
• How much they can sell (so they can make an actual profit)
• How quickly they can sell it (so they don’t tie up cash too long in inventory)

Wait, you say, this is no different than any business, the idea is to lower the cost of inputs and sell at a profit.

To which I would respond, a company or brand that wants to say in business over time will also increase the value of what they are selling. In the case of ground beef, this means at minimum they would go out of their way to purposely offer really great tasting meat.

Where does this leave you if you want to enjoy a burger, some tacos, or nice bowl of chili?

Find a source of artisan quality artisan burgers! I use the same criteria as with artisan quality steaks, which you can find listed below.

If you’re a flavor hound, for burgers I would suggest that you look even harder for a good source of grass fed beef (just make sure you know what you’re getting, some misuse this terminology). When raised and aged properly, you’ll often find it to have a far more adventurous flavor. You will likely have also done a good thing for animal welfare and the environment while you were at it. That’s a win-win-win if I’ve ever heard one!

Finally, this post is part of Food Renegade's Fight Back Friday initiative meant to help individuals take control over what is on our plates. Every week I enjoy reading the posts of others who participate in the FBF carnival. I suggest that you take a look, too, and add your own post while you're at it!

Artisan Beef Institute® - Minimum Criteria For Artisan Quality Beef

Specific farm or producer group (source-verified).
Single breed or cross-breed.
Known growing region.
No added growth hormones (steroids, yuck!).
No preventative antibiotics (if they can't keep healthy without 'em...).
All vegetable diet, no funky stuff in there like stale chewing gum.
Low stress conditions on farm, in truck, at yard (if relevant), & at slaughterhouse.
Dry-aged or wet-aged for at least 14 days
Bonus points: certified organic, humane, grass-only diet, holistic.

Pork, The Other Red Meat (TM)

2009-05-05T11:13:00.000-07:00

I'm picky enough about pork that I've by and large stopped eating it. The only pork available in my market is indoor raised, bland, and flabby. It has a grayish color, too, or maybe a sort of dirty white or light dusty pink.

In my quest to find the secrets to truly outstanding, clean, humanely raised beef I was perusing the scintillating, fascinating FSIS/USDA Web site and look what I saw in a section called Why is Beef Called a "Red" Meat? "Other 'red' meats are veal, lamb, and pork."

Now I've long known that pork is a red meat but imagine my surprise when I discovered that the US government calls it a red meat, too.

So why should this matter? Have you heard the marketing slogan "Pork, The Other White Meat"? If the government categorizes pork as a red meat, how does this kind of advertising make it past the National Advertising Review Board?

No matter, I love pork. Bacon, chops, hams, I even tried tongue once. But here's something that's important to know: as with beef, the flavor and texture of pork is influenced by the place and conditions in which it was raised and what it ate. In fact, due to the way a pig's digestive system works, pork is probably even more reflective of "terroir."

If you care a lot about taste and texture, I suggest that you look for pork from pigs who've seen the light of day. I am developing a more detailed list of questions to ask but here's a little acid test or mini-cheat sheet, if you will.

Ask the butcher or seller the name of the farm.
Ask the breed.
Ask how it was raised.
Check to see that it is light red in color.

For the first three you'll probably be met with blank stares. If the seller can't tell you these basic things, you can be pretty darn sure he or she is selling you commodity pork. The flavor will have literally been bred out of it.

If you do see pork that has a red hue, or lord forbid some marbling, don't think something's wrong with it. In fact, you may be looking at be something that will taste absolutely delicious on your plate.

Low Stress Food Tastes Better

2009-05-01T14:00:00.000-07:00

When a tree suffers stress, you can see it in its rings. Whether drought, disease, or fire, times of stress are permanently etched and visible to the naked eye.

Have you ever thought to think the same might happen to our food?

It does.

Stress can permanently, and negatively, influence the taste and texture of our food and in particular, meat. As stress leaves its mark in trees, stress in cattle leaves the meat darker colored, dry, and mushy.

Why don't we know this?

I think part of the problem is that many, including great people like Michael Pollan, have tried to inspire people to make ethical food choices by focusing on the absence of the negatives. Put another way, we've focused on what's NOT in the beef: no antibiotics, no growth hormones, no corn, no CAFO.

Others have focused on the negative impact that industrial agriculture has had on the small family farm or the environment. Finally, much of the conversation around humane treatment has centered on philosophical arguments or man's moral obligation to treat less intelligent, sensient beings with care.

A lot of people say they care about humane treatment of livestock but let's be honest, not many act upon it. The BSE scare and a widely aired, brutal video of "downer" cows didn't materially impact the sales of hamburger meat. Is this because we North Americans are so disassociated from the source of our food that we don't connect-the-dots? Or is it just too troubling to remember that meat comes from animals?

I don't know the answer to this but what I do know is that when I tell people that low-stress conditions lead to better tasting, more tender and juicy beef, they sit up and pay very close attention. In every single artisan steak tasting I host, the questions from the audience invariably focus on this very topic.

I think it is a life-changing moment for many to discover that humane handling isn't just a feel-good thing. Whenever I'm tempted by that supermarket special - Prime Rib Roast, $5.99/lb! - I tell myself, why risk wasting your money and your moral standards, and I do my very best to walk away.

If you have friends who want to do the right thing but are still on the fence, do them a favor, let them know too, that low-stress food tastes better.

And if you like this post (or even if you don't), may I strongly encourage you to pay a visit to Food Renegade and read other posts, like mine, that are part of Kristen's Fight Back Friday carnival. Let's take control of our food!

Why I Call It Grass-Only, Not Grass-Fed Beef

2009-04-24T10:52:00.000-07:00

As part of this week's Fight Back Friday carnival, I want to share one of my most popular posts, All Beef Is Grass-Fed.

I hope you'll read and enjoy it.

As an addendum, I continue to be amazed by how confusing it is for a mere mortal to see beyond label claims, especially when it comes to meat. Government-approved claims such as "natural" or "organic" or "grass-fed" may be well intended but too many mistakenly or purposefully misuse the terms.

The "grass-fed" claim continues to perturb me (though "free range" and "cage free" are up there, too). Why? Because all beef cattle eat grass. It's the finishing diet - what is consumed in the last few months - that should ultimately determine whether the beef is "grass-fed" or "grain-fed." Grass-fed should be reserved for cattle raised on grass-only diets. However, I have seen multiple brands, butchers, or grocers mix the two up.

To wit, in November I called about 20 Los Angeles area butchers. 10 had never heard of grass-fed beef. The other 10 told me they carried grass-fed beef but after just a few questions, it was clear the beef was grain-fed. One even read to me from the brochure that the cattle "were raised on pristine green grass." But it was Dakota brand beef, which I knew to be grain-finished. The butcher was adamant he was right. I read in turn to him from the Dakota Beef Web site FAQ section. This butcher wasn't being disingenuous. But if he was confused, no wonder the rest of us are, too.

Again, here's my original post, All Beef Is Grass-Fed. And take a look at Food Renegade's site to find other great posts on how to take control of our food.

Those cattle by the way belong to Mac Magruder from Potter Valley, CA. Mac raises some of the best grass-only beef I've tasted.

Why I Wouldn't Pay More For A Prime Burger

2009-04-21T12:55:00.000-07:00

We've been trained to think that USDA Prime beef is better. So a Prime Chopped Steak or Prime Sirloin Burger - from Morton's no less - sounds like it would be better, too, no?

I am not so sure and here's why.

USDA Grade measures the % fat in a single muscle and that muscle is not the one making up your burger.

USDA Grade is not the only indicator of flavor or texture. Breed, diet, growing region, husbandry standards, and whether and how a butcher has aged the beef will all make a huge difference, too.

Let me explain a bit more, noting there are further details on the USDA site and in my head.

Point 1. USDA Grade is primarily determined by just two factors.

The % of marbling. Marbling refers to the white speckles of fat inside the muscle (as opposed to the fat trim on the edges). To determine the % marbling, the USDA inspects the muscle between the 12th and 13th rib. (This section is usually trimmed into a Rib-Eye steak.)

The age of the cattle. Younger cattle (<30 mo.) will generally produce more tender meat. The inspector is trained to review certain skeletal features and the color of the meat to determine the approximate age of the cattle.

Once these criteria are accessed, the inspector uses a roller to mark the entire cattle as Select, Choice, Prime (or some other classification). As long the cattle is estimated to young enough, the higher the marbling score, the higher the USDA grade with Prime being the highest. [For all you wonks, you can find the USDA calculation here.]

But note:

There are 11 sub-classifications between Standard and Prime grades including 3 in the Prime grade alone (Abundant, Moderately Abundant, Slightly Abundant - here are some images).

Further, the % marbling in the rib-eye does not tell you the % marbling in the other sections that are typically used to make ground beef.

Point 2. The amount of marbling and age of cattle are not the only keys to flavor and texture, anyways.

The USDA grading system does not take into account the breed of the cattle, where it was raised, the diet, or whether and how the beef is aged post slaughter. All of these impact flavor and texture.

Indeed, quoting Harold McGee from his book "On Food and Cooking," “...the current consensus among meat scientists is that fat marbling accounts for no more than a third of the variation in overall tenderness, juiciness, and flavor of cooked beef.” [Italics are mine.]

I have personally tasted burgers (and steaks) made from cattle that acheived only a Select or Standard grade - meaning they had little to no marbling - that were absolutely full of flavor and delicious.

The bottom line: The label “Prime” Burger does not tell you how much fat is in your burger nor does it tell you how that burger is going to taste.

This isn’t to say that such burgers might be delicious – they may very well be. It’s just that I wouldn’t pay more for one labeled as simply as “Prime.”

Congratulations, Tracy Smaciarz

2009-04-18T13:38:00.000-07:00

A lot of us are coming to appreciate the artistry of talented livestock farmers and ranchers. Long part of the mythology of the American West and representative of quiet masculinity, the cowboy is by and large to be admired and emulated where possible.

Anyone who knows me knows I have discovered there is a sub-section of meat producers - some cowboys, some not - who are truly artisans of their craft. The Elliott & Ferris families of the Front Range Region of Colorado, who've been perfecting a Charolais beef program for 50 years, are one of my favorites and not just because I love their beef (which I truly do).

Tracy Smaciarz is a more recent discovery for me. He is neither a cowboy nor a rancher. Instead, he is an artisan butcher. I'd like to briefly tell you why he's one of my new heroes.

First, funny that I met Tracy through a lady named Traca. Traca Savadogo, that is, also known as Seattle Tall Poppy. I was working with Traca, whom I in turn met through Diane & Todd of White On Rice Couple, whom in turn I met through Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen, on setting up a series of artisan steak tastings in Seattle under my Artisan Beef Institute's(r) Provenance of Beef Program (tm).

"I'm looking for an artisan butcher in the area who I can include on my expert panel at the tastings, " I told Traca in early January. A few weeks later she finds herself at the Chef's Collaborative meeting and sits down at the beef table. The next day, "I didn't have a chance to talk much with him, but Tracy Smaciarz just might be your guy."

My is he ever. An extremely personable and affable person, Tracy spent nearly an hour with me on the phone after I cold-called him one day. He may have sized up pretty quickly that I knew a lot about artisan beef but no matter, he certainly treated me as knowledgeable.

A second generation meat processor, Tracy, who's about 40, has been "slinging" meat since he was 6 years old. He told me, "I've seen it all. Different breeds on different diets. I've worked in the slaughterhouse, on the truck, I can age, cut, wrap, cure, and smoke. I can tell a dark-cutter [cattle that was stressed at the point of slaughter] by sight and why it tastes as bad as it looks."

What is his passion? "I am looking to help my customers sell more directly." Be still my beating heart, this is MY passion.

Do you know how to dry-age meat, I ask? Oh, yes, I have my own aging room where I dry-age by the quarter.

An engagement was made. Within a few minutes, Tracy agreed to be on my panel and I was thrilled.

The marriage came quickly thereafter. "I'm a key member of the Puget Sound Meat Co-Op," a new USDA certified mobile slaughterhouse unit due to come on line this spring. "I'll be certified by the USDA in mid-April and am gearing up to achieve Organic certification, too." Washington state's third such progam, a mobile slaughterhouse can dramatically reduce the stress from which livestock can suffer in transportation and when encountering new places and people at the slaughterhouse.

Tracy went on to wow the people who came to my artisan steak tasting events, including Chefs Jason Franey of Canlis Jason Wilson of Crush, food bloggers including Molly of Orangette, and several dozen meat lovers who came to learn more about artisan beef at the sold-out event.

I conducted three tastings in a row and with each, I watched Tracy, who claims to have little experience in public speaking, speak with a passion about his work in an ever more intriguing way. He can talk to audiences at all levels of knowledge and make all feel valued and intelligent. Here he is pondering what he'll say after Chef Jason Wilson presents the evening's menu. The photo, taken in Crush's candlelit underground private dining room, is compliments of the very talented Dawn and Eric Wright of Wright Eats.

There are many things that Tracy does that make him an artisan of his craft, but here are the key three things that any artisan butcher does differently than your regular butcher:

Knowledge. He or she can tell you exactly what is on your plate. The name of the farm(s), the breed or crossbreed, the diet, the husbandry practices of those who handled it, the name of the slaughterhouse.

Aging. He will have aged the beef to perfection, using either a wet-aging or dry-aging technique or both. Her eye is trained to know when meat is at its peak for flavor and tenderness.

Cutting. She will be an expert at cutting a carcass into final retail-ready portions. In doing so, he will work properly with the grain of the meat and maximize the amount of quality beef from any one carcass.

Tracy and I and others will be bringing even more Artisan Beef Institute events this summer to the Seattle and Portland markets. If you'd like to learn more about them and be included on the invitiation lists, please go to my online marketplace and sign up for my newsletter.

In the meantime, please join me in congratulating Tracy on receiving his formal approval from the USDA, which came through as expected last week. CONGRATULATIONS, TRACY. Honored to have met you.

Let's Take Control Of Our Food

2009-04-17T14:41:00.001-07:00

I've been enjoying a program inspired by Kristen aka Food Renegade called Fight Back Fridays. The purpose is to help those of us interested in eating real, clean, delicious food share our secrets and tips with each other.

This week I decided to formally join by sharing a post of mine called It's Not You, It's the Steak. I have heard too many people fret over the fact that they "ruined a perfectly good cut of steak." I used to feel this way, too, and boy did I find out that I was wrong. It wasn't me, it was the steak!

Enjoy, and definitely pay Fight Back Fridays a visit to find other great ways to eat well and thrive.

How To Avoid Mixing Things Up On The Grill

2009-04-17T12:52:00.001-07:00

Do you ever find yourself having to cook for people who have different preferences? You like your steak rare but Uncle Bob won’t eat it if it’s a shade pinker than medium. Little Johnny likes his chicken spicy but Susie can’t take the heat?

Well this clever lady, Leslie Haywood, was tired of mixing things up on the grill, decided to do something about it, and voila, she created Grill Charms (TM). I think of them as like wine charms but for steaks!

Each charm has a different design (my favorite is the martini glass whereas my husband prefers to be king for the day). As you can see here, you simply push them into whatever you’re planning to cook and then cook as you normally would.

Now, Beef Geek that I am, I had to come up with a new, clever way to use these. In this case, I took a large Sirloin steak from the freezer, thawed it in a cold water bath, and then cut it into two sections. I wanted to see if the two pieces would taste different from each other.

You’re asking, why would one section of the exact same steak taste different than the other?

One thing that contributes to flavor and texture is the amount of exercise any one muscle gets. If you look at this picture, you can clearly see a fat seam running along the top right quadrant of this steak. I wondered whether the piece above, which had a noticeably different grain, got more or less exercise than the section below. My hypothesis was that it was a section called the Sirloin "Cap."

Well isn’t that interesting, there was a subtle but noticeable difference. The flavor was the same but the piece from above the seam had a bit more flavor overall.

I asked one of my favorite artisan butchers, Tracy Smaciarz of Heritage Meats in Rochester, Washington, to explain why. He confirmed that this was the "cap" and that most restaurants and stores cut it off to make the steaks look tidier.

Well I for one won't be cutting that section off of the Sirloin steaks I eat.

ps Grill Charms come in sets of 6 and there are four versions including the Steak Collection, Pink Collection, Spicy Collection, and Charmed Life Collection. You can order them online or find them at select retail stores.

Food Blogger Playdate 2 - Artisan Steak Tasting

2009-04-16T11:25:00.000-07:00

Wondering just what happens at one of my Artisan Beef Institute (TM) "Provenance of Beef (TM)" steak tastings?

Well, now, thanks to Mark Tafoya and Jennifer Iannolo of The Culinary Media Network, you can take a sneak peek at a live tasting in this fabulous video. (It's actually fun to watch some of the world's best known bloggers arm wrestle over which farm created the best tasting steak.)

It's like a wine tasting, but with steaks!(TM)

Here's how it works. I cherry pick up to six ranchers or farmers whom I've qualified as producing artisan quality meat and then, as in a wine tasting, have participants taste a steak or hamburger from each ranch in a side-by-side comparison. It's amazing how truly great ranchers, in combination with artisan butchers, can create unique, signature style tastes and textures.

Mark and Jennifer are two of the most inspirational and generous souls I've met and they kindly invited me to their Food Blogger Playdate 2 along with Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen, Grace Piper of Fearless Cooking, Betty Fussell, award winning author of Raising Steaks (my personal hero), The Life and Times of American Beef, Olga Massov of Sassy Radish, Charles Hope of Blip.tv, and Tommy Hong (he's an ER doctor and also our very gracious host).

Also, a special thanks to Anu Karwa of Swirl Events. Anu is a real sport, she doesn't even eat beef but came to the tasting and carefully selected four great wines to pair with our delicious Rib-Eye steaks.

Look for more opportunities to join a tasting in the coming months including private wine and artisan steak pairing dinners in the New York City area with Chef Mark and Anu Karwa's Swirl Events.

And, for those who'd like to know which ranch or farm was voted #1? Well here's something different: I never look for "the winner." Instead, as you'll see in the video, we have different taste buds and priorities when it comes to buying and enjoying beef.

That said, I will share the five beef styles we did taste. Four are currently available in a home Discover Beef Experience Artisan Steak Tasting kit. Here's a short description of the farms and here's a side-by-side comparison.

We also had the honor of tasting delicious dry-aged, grass-finished Galloway beef from the Beechy Family in Wisconsin, brought to us by Grass Fed Traditions. I am looking forward to including beef from the Grass Fed Traditions network in my next home artisan steak tasting kit. If you want to try it now, pay them a visit!

McWilliams Responds to Pork Fooforaw

2009-04-15T06:39:00.001-07:00

If you enjoy thought provoking discussions about food - the good, bad, and the ugly - but haven't been reading The Atlantic's Food section of late, take a gander.

I was impressed in particular with their inviting James McWilliams to respond to those who have criticized his recent New York Times Op-Ed, in which he declared that free-range pigs carry more disease than those raised in confined quarters.

Most of the fooforaw - and McWilliams' thoughtful response to it - has centered on whether what he said was true. Without rehashing the points, he essentially admits he may have erred on a technical point and asks that his critics meet him halfway.

Absolutely, I will do this. But now that we've potentially cleared the air over the validity of his claims, let us focus on the rest of the article. My objections, listed in this post, still stand.

I sure would love to have McWilliams comment on these points, too.

Don't Eat That Pork: Trichy Words From The Prof

2009-04-11T07:42:00.000-07:00

The New York Times featured an Op-Ed entitled "Free-Range Trichinosis" from a history professor in Austin, Texas, James E. McWilliams. I initially found this article hard to respond to because I felt the author said a lot without saying anything at all. The more I considered it, the more I understood his real message and the need to blunt the impact of his words.

The author's intended take-away is clear: Free-range pork will make you sick. The science proves it.

Marion Nestle, a well-known expert on nutrition and food politics doyenne, quickly shot down this conclusion with two simple observations that call into question the author's objectivity. See below for details or this nice post over on CivilEats.

Unfortunately, Ms. Nestle's response is not likely to be given equal air time as that given to Mr. McWilliams. Further, she does not address several other things that McWilliams says directly or indirectly with which I take issue.

Issue #1: McWilliams impugns the integrity of those raising and promoting pork from free-range pigs. Indeed, he insinuates that they are disingenuous hacks because the pigs they promote aren't really free range, anyways.

Here McWilliams takes advantage of the fact that there is no single definition of the words "free range." He has a potentially valid point: the only truly "natural" pork would be that from pigs found, and killed, in the wild. He correctly notes that the pork most food connoisseurs and sustainability advocates promote is ... "ultimately an arbitrary point between the wild and the domesticated."

Yet he goes on to cynically say that "A free-range system is engineered in part to achieve a producer’s market-driven goal: protecting his squealing investments from nature’s most obvious threats while allowing them a modicum of muscle-enhancing movement... [so he can] generate flesh retailing for $12 a pound."

What makes a farmer who designs his or her husbandry program to allow pigs to move around outdoors and socialize with other pigs and even root for their own food on occasion any more calculating than the one who chooses to raise his pigs "indoors, fighting their diseases with medicine and feeding them a carefully monitored diet"?

Further, why is the farmer who charges $12 per pound any less virtuous than one who sells her pork for less?

No doubt that there are hacks out there who take advantage of ill-defined claims such as "natural" or "heart heathy" or "free range" in an attempt to snooker the consumer into paying more, perhaps even $12 per pound. In fact, one needn't look any further than one's own cupboard to find dozens of examples of specious claims.

But perhaps that farmer whose pork commands $12 per pound is providing full transparency into her husbandry practices or is loved by her customers or both. Heck, maybe she's even selling better tasting pork.

Further, if this producer selling her pork at a premium price is ultimately found to be taking advantage of her customers by selling them a bill of goods (remember White Marble Farms "all natural" pork?) she will no longer be able to charge $12 per pound because her customers will abandon her.

The truth of the matter is that there is no single "best" set of protocols for raising clean, tasty food. In my opinion, it is also impossible to create a single definition or marketing claim that perfectly encapsulates best practices. Gray areas will always exist and best practices is in the eyes of the beholder.

So rather than do as Mr. McWilliams has done and call one group of farmers fakes, let's encourage all producers - individual farmers, co-ops, or brands - to open their protocols to public scrutiny and let us customers vote with our pocketbooks as to whom to support.

Issue #2. The author also impugns those of us who are actively seeking an alternative to CAFO raised pork.

Mr. McWilliams seems particularly put off by the idea that people should want their food to actually taste good. "Pork lovers, supporters of sustainable meat and slow-food advocates have long praised the superior taste of the free-range option," he writes. But he then follows this with the suggestion that, because free-range pork isn't really natural, "neither is its taste." Ergo, the real reason these people want free-range pork is because they "despise industrial agriculture and adore the idea of wildness."

Sir, there may be some who seek outdoor-raised pork for sentimental, ethical, or similar reasons other than taste and texture. What's wrong with that?

Issue #3. The author suggests that if we continue to promote and eat free-range pork then we are unethical.

Since Mr. McWilliams argues that the only way to create pork that doesn't make you sick is to raise pigs indoors, he challenges those of us seeking tastier meat to look for better indoor solutions. Unless we accept this, he says, "there’s only one ethical choice left for the conscientious consumer: a pork-free diet."

Here I think Mr. McWilliams could have a fair point. It makes intuitive sense that eating genuinely wild pork (or game or whatever) carries a higher risk than eating meat raised under the watchful eye of a talented, ethical farmer.

If eating pigs raised in any outdoor conditions is ever proven to in fact dramatically increase the probability of contracting food borne illnesses, and the individual consumer cannot take reasonable measures to mitigate this risk,* then perhaps we should remove pork from our diets completely.

But then let's take that to the logical end. Note that Mr. McWilliams does not argue that CAFO-raised pork is free of bacteria that can make us ill. He simply says that science "proves" that outdoor raised pigs have a higher incidence (remember, he's done nothing to prove this). Unless we kill off all possible sources of contamination (from insects to housecats, or frankly, all animal life) or somehow sterilize all that we eat, it seems that all foods, whether plant or animal, carry a risk of making one ill.

We can't very well stop eating altogether. I ask what can we do? One key is transparency and education - let's open the books and let consumers decide which purveyors to support and why. And let's not let articles like this go unanswered.

The other thing we can do is to put the food back in meat! Countless hours and words are used every day talking about who's husbandry or land management protocols are the best, whether to use microbials or not, if organic is good or not.

Let's start rewarding people for making really clean but also really great tasting food. As long we agree to a minimum set of standards and let those who exceed them advertise themselves as such, let's celebrate the differences in flavors and textures across the breeds or varieties, seasons and growing regions. Let's remove the many layers between farm and fork so that consumers can give feedback to the producer and create a continuous improvement feedback loop.

Let's take this conversation to a new level and out of the weeds.

There are a lot of very smart, thoughtful people out there trying to figure out how to give people access to cleaner, more humanely raised, tastier food. I'd love to hear what you would suggest, too.

ps New York Times, I realize this was an Op-Ed piece but you could have balanced this piece with someone offering a different perspective. Better yet, you might have turned to someone like Andrew Martin to provide some scrutiny here.

* Such as cooking the heck out of it like we're forced to do with commodity ground beef because the processors can't be bothered to take measures to prevent contamination.

Here in short is Marion Nestle's response to Mr. McWilliams with regard to the validity to his claims on the "science" front. I've added it here at the bottom as many others have addressed this point and quite well. I instead wanted to chip in my two cents above, my personal reaction to the article as a whole.

Mr. McWilliams writes that "scientists have found that free-range pork can be more likely than caged pork to carry dangerous bacteria and parasites" including "higher rates of salmonella and... the parasite trichina."

Nestle notes that the study cited by Mr. McWilliams measured the presence of antibodies to certain diseases in the pigs' blood, not the presence of disease in the meat. In other words, the free range pigs in the study were exposed to organisms and developed immunity to them. The indoor raised pigs were not similarly exposed and thus did not develop a similar immunity.

Nestle goes on to ask why Mr. McWilliams did not clarify this point and answers her own question by pointing out that the study itself was paid for in the first place by The National Pork Board. "Sponsored studies are invariably designed in ways that produce favorable results for the sponsor."

It's Not You, It's The Steak

2009-03-24T13:49:00.000-07:00

A lot of folks blame themselves when the steak they grill comes out bland or tough. Well guess what? Time to give yourself a break. It's not you, it's probably the steak.

Seriously, you can do everything right and still have a sorry eating experience. Here are some reasons why:

Zero aged beef. North Americans like their beef to be tender. One key to tender beef is how long and how it's been aged. Aging helps break down muscle fibers to tenderize the beef. In their quest to keep prices low, most grocers and many butchers do not age their beef at all, it goes right from the processor to the store shelf. Look for steaks that have been aged at least 14 days. More on aging in a later post.

The life it led. Most don't want to think about this but raising livestock in stressful conditions can negatively influence both flavor and texture. It's actually pretty logical. Stress hormones change the chemical balance in the meat. In the worst case it can lead to drier, tougher, darker colored meat. Well a lot of commodity (grocery) beef is raised or slaughtered in stressful conditions. A good meat purveyor will be able to tell you with confidence how livestock were handled from farm to fork. Artisan beef is by defition raised with care.

Your steak was raised on drugs. A natural cattle cycle would take up to 3 years from inception to market weight. That's a long time to wait to get paid for raising the beef. Most commodity beef is raised with the use of growth stimulants, including preventative antibiotics and growth hormones, to get it ready for market faster. Both can negatively influence taste & texture.

Bad luck. Not every apple that falls from the tree tastes exactly the same. Even the very best artisan crafted beef can be an occasional miss. If most of the beef from one producer tastes fabulous but then something's not quite right one time, try to pass on that feedback to the purveyor. You never know, they might be able to use the information to improve their program!

The crap shoot. I am not being derogatory here. There are hundreds if not thousands of potential artisan beef producers but today, their beef shows up at the processor's door and comes out the other end on the retail shelf as "Choice" or "Select" or whatever simple label. In my opinion, it would be worth keeping each producer's beef separate so that you and I could appreciate the unique taste and texture of that beef.

The wrong cut. I've certainly made this "mistake." Some muscles get more work than others and exercise = flavor but also tougher meat. The four most popular premium steak cuts, the Filet Mignon, Rib-Eye, New York Strip Loin, or Sirloin, come from the mid-section of a cattle. They can be grilled or pan friend or broiled using high heat. With few exceptions, beef cuts that come from the front or back got used a lot more frequently. It's best to cook most of these cuts, such as a tri-tip or brisket, more slowly either as a roast, smoked, or braised to help tenderize the beef.

Notice that I am not suggesting that you purchased the wrong "Grade" of meat. More on that later, but I will leave you with this thought: USDA Prime beef is not necessarily the most flavorful or most tender meat.

The key to really fabulous tasting beef? Here's the short summary of my "cheat sheet." I'm working on a downloadable version, too.

Specific ranch or producer group (source-verified).

Single breed or cross-breed.

No added growth hormones (steroids, yuck!).

No preventative antibiotics (if they can't keep healthy without 'em...)

All vegetable diet, no funky stuff in there like stale chewing gum.

Treated gently on farm, in truck, at yard (if relevant), & at slaughterhouse.

Dry-aged or wet-aged for at least 7 days

Bonus points: certified organic, humane, grass-only diet, holistic.

Artisan Steak Tasting Winner (s!)

2009-03-18T13:08:00.000-07:00

OK, this will not be my most articulate and thoughtful post. Why? Well, I lost my email files last week, thanks to Outlook just disappearing - poof! - overnight. So I had to hunt and peck to recreate the list of comments, which took me a very long time, making me two days late in announcing... ah, forget the whining.

This is going to be fun. I am cheating on my own contest rules!!!

Greg Rempe of BBQ Central Show (LATalk Radio) invited this Beef Geek aka Beef Sommelier aka The Steak Lady aka Grillmeistress onto his radio show to share the secrets of artisan beef. I truly hope you all are inspired to go out an start asking these questions of me, your grocers, butchers, online purveyors, or folks at farmers' markets and CSAs.

But then right now you really want to know if you won the Discover Beef Artisan Steak Tasting kit for your home. This tasting pack includes beef from four different artisan quality ranches, each raising a different breed in a different region with a different diet and aging technique. You'll also receive instructions for conducting a home tasting, an Artisan Beef Institute tasting guide, plus a personal consultation to help design a fabulous tasting extravaganza.

Well, here's a bit of good news. I had set an internal goal of 50 or more comments on my blog. If I reached that goal, there would be two winners, selected at random by the magic random number generator machine at http://www.random.org/. Well, we did it.

So here are the two lucky winners, I hope you're excited!!

@UrbanBohemian (aka Brian) - who met me over steak on Twitter and who lives in Washington, D.C., my stomping grounds for 8 years after graduation from college. Brian was lucky #24

And....

Lucky #19 Curt McAdams (aka @cmcadams) from Ohio - a competitive BBQer and all around nice person who (whom?) I had the good fortune to talk with by phone a while back. Curt is one of the many who inspires me to learn more about the art of barbecue.

Brian & Curt, congratulations! I will be sending you an email to arrange a time to ship you your artisan steak tasting pack.

For all others, THANK YOU for participating. I look forward to continuing our dialog about artisan beef and why it's important to us and the people who bring it to our plates.

Finally, I'll be sending everyone who provided an email address a copy of my Artisan Beef Institute "Cheat Sheet" in the hopes that you find it helpful in your quest for cleaner, better tasting, humanely raised beef.

Please email me at carrie [at] oliverranch [dot] com with any questions about this contest or artisan beef in general. My goal is to help you find artisan quality beef that meets your needs. It's a win-win situation.

Want To Win An Artisan Steak Tasting?

2009-03-03T16:19:00.000-08:00

If you're reading this post you are probably a fan of Greg Rempe of the BBQ Central Show (LATalk Radio) and heard me on his radio show talking about how to find artisan quality beef. Well hopefully you were listening carefully as we have a little contest here and the winner is going to be one very happy steak lover.

We're giving away one of my Discover Beef Experience Artisan Steak Tasting packs! An artisan steak tasting is like a wine tasting but with steaks. You'll receive four 10 to 12 oz steaks, one each from four different artisan beef producers, each specializing in a different breed, growing region, diet, and aging technique. I'll also send you one of my Artisan Beef Institute steak tasting guides and a how-to for hosting a steak tasting at your home. Finally, you'll receive a personal consultation from me to make your tasting a huge success.

Now I have to admit that I'd be really grateful if you read a bit of my blog or visit my online marketplace, The Oliver Ranch Company, and sign up for my newsletter (don't worry, I don't sell or let people borrow or pay for your email address).

But, to win the Artisan Steak Tasting pack, all you have to do is leave a comment below listing one of the 8 criteria I use to help identify artisan quality beef.

When you comment, make sure to leave your email address so I can contact you if you win. Sorry, because the border police make tend to make life difficult when shipping internationally, this offer is good for shipments to the Continental US, only. The contest closes at 11:59pm EST on Sunday, March 15, 2009. I will use some whiz bang software to select a winner at random.

If you post a link on Twitter or your blog referring people back to this contest you'll automatically be entered a second time. Make sure to come back and leave a new comment with a link back to your post.

If you didn't hear the show, go back and listen to the podcast, it's great! If you're clever, you'll also find the answers on one or both of my sites.

Finally, if you want to read about a tasting, pay a visit to SteamyKitchen and read her hilarious blow-by-blow of a tasting last fall here.

Good luck, and thanks for the visit!

And On The Lighter Side of Beef

2009-02-19T07:17:00.000-08:00

This is an example of great journalism, a lightly tongue-in-cheek article in the Seattle PI about the real definition of grass-fed beef. Favorite line, "Officers scraped off the natural byproduct of cows and endured the associated odors to unbolt false panels which concealed... "

Go ahead, it's harmless and giggle-worthy and we need to help journalists stay employed *smile*.

What's Your Beef?

2009-02-18T09:00:00.000-08:00

Fabulous article by Leslie Cole of The Oregonian on how to sort through confusing marketing and label claims with beef. Inspired by the same press release that had triggered this previous post, All Beef is Grass-Fed, she offers 5 Lessons for folks looking to buy grass-fed beef.

I have a few extra thoughts but wanted to get this post up so you could see the article as soon as possible.

One bonus to reading the entire article is an interview with Betty Fussell, author of Raising Steaks, The Life And Times of American Beef.

Want Your Kids To Eat Well? Get ‘em Grilling!

2009-02-11T13:46:00.000-08:00

Rebecca Bent is a woman after my own heart – a female Grillmeister. (Actually, that'd be a Grillmeistress, wouldn't it?) Here she shares a great tip for grilling or broiling steaks – just when you think you know it all, someone shows you something clever like this.

See if her story is similar to yours. I sure relate to it.

Like me, Rebecca adopted the grill at an early age. She was first drawn by the sheer theater, watching her father and Uncle Henry squabble over who was in control, swatting each other with their spatulas, laughing it up on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay.

She later realized tending the grill was a position of power. “Everyone’s watching and waiting for you…. There are some very basic rules to follow and if you master them, you are worshipped.”

The other thing she loves about grilling is that “Unlike cooking rice, grilling is interactive, it’s always a thrill, every detail - whether the meat, the wind, who will be eating it and their preferences - makes a difference.”

Finally, for Rebecca, cooking for others is not only a privilege – parents this is the key – it is also just plain fun. I just love the fact that Rebecca gets her girls out there with her in the kitchen doing prep or tending the grill (in the snow, too!)

So get out there with your kids, teach them what real food is (meat, vegetables, fruit are all great when grilled) and give them a respected skill on the way. If it takes a little extra coaxing, do what Rebecca does: make them heroes, today’s technology makes it easy – inexpensive digital cameras and free photo and video sharing sites are your friends.

Finally, Rebecca’s number one tip for perfect grilling:

“The biggest mistake I see people make is to touch the meat too much. Don’t flip or fidget with it. Put it down and leave it. Use a timer to tell you when to flip it and whatever you do, don’t try to scrape it off, you’ll lose the crust!”

Find her on Twitter @RebeccaBent and http://rebeccabent.blogspot.com

The Higher the Calories, The Cheaper the Food?

2009-01-25T12:55:00.000-08:00

A Los Angeles Times article from November caught my attention. It seems food policy and obesity experts are worried that as our economy sours, we will buy more highly processed foods, most of which are very unhealthy for our bodies and the land. When money is tight, we trade off fresh fruits, vegetables and meats for cookies and chips. And while we spend less, we get fatter.

Why? We're not stupid. It's about bang for the buck. Processed foods (chips, candies, mac & cheese), on a calorie for calorie basis cost less than low calorie, more nutritious foods (broccoli, apples, salmon).

But where's the logic there? How can machine created foods cost less than something that comes pretty much straight from a tree?

One reason is that with manufactured foods, one can add preservatives to extend shelf life and keep costs low. Think less waste. A second reason is that the government subsidizes the main ingredients, such as corn, wheat, rice, or soybeans.

Here's how this connects to beef, or just meat in general. If we collectively substitute boxed food for fresh food, my fear is that the good folks who actually produce fresh, clean, great tasting meat will be forced economically to return to producing commodity food e.g. beef laden with growth hormones or cheap feed or both.

Troubling.

We can't ask people to spend money they don't have.

But here are some thoughts on how you might be able to keep clean, well-raised meats in your diet and support good farmers, humane treatment, and sustainable practices while you’re at it.

We've been successful at keeping costs down by buying even fewer packaged goods than before and maintaining our purchases of high quality meat and fresh fruits and vegetables.

Buy meat in bulk and freeze it or, far better, buy meat that's been professionally frozen to begin with. Today's blast-freezing technology freezes meat so quickly that it prevents the formation of ice-crystals that can lead to freezer burn or a loss of liquid during thawing.

For steaks, do what many restaurants do, buy a whole piece, e.g. the entire Strip Loin, and have it cut into steaks and vacuum-sealed for you. You can also save by choosing Sirloin or Flat Irons or other less expensive cuts or eating smaller portions – a 12 oz New York Strip Loin steak can easily feed 2 or even 3 people.

For stew, try a cross-rib roast and cut it into cubes yourself.

If you have a food processor or meat grinder, buy a whole brisket and use this to make delicious homemade ground beef.

As long as the cattle were raised with care and without the use of artificial growth stimulants (hormones, antibiotics) and the beef has been properly aged - at LEAST 7 days (and ideally 14 days or more) - you can get great, flavorful, tender meat. By being smart about the way you buy it, you can also get it for a very good price.

If you have further tips to share, please let me know, I’d welcome guest posts.

Or, if you’re looking for more tips, please send me a note at Carrie [at] oliverranch [dot] com.

All Beef Is Grass-Fed

2009-01-05T22:28:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Caron Golden, a San Diego based food writer and radio host (@carondg on Twitter), on December 29, I was alerted to a news story covering a taste test in a Portland, Oregon-area elementary school comparing burgers from grass-fed vs. grain-fed cattle.

I found the story disheartening, so much that I’ve spent the last week trying to track down the author or other participants in the study to clarify what I saw as significant flaws. Today I spoke with Cory Schreiber of the Oregon Department of Agriculture – what a great person - who confirmed some of my fears.

The two-part study, funded by the USDA but managed by Oregon State University, had two key findings. The first was that the school children could tell the difference between the grass-fed and grain-fed patties. The second was that about half (45 of 91) preferred the grass-fed burgers.

Based on these results, the school district elected to stick with commodity beef, with a representative explaining, “For now, since there was not a strong preference for the grass-fed patty, and it is more expensive, we will not be able to afford to serve the grass-fed patty on a regular basis."

So what’s wrong with this picture? Too many things to count but let’s just focus on the big one.

These kids were NOT, I repeat, NOT comparing grass-fed with grain-fed beef.

Actually, the burgers were both created using grain-fed beef. The article even says this up front, citing the "grass-fed" beef supplier as saying: “[The patties are] made from Angus steers in Oregon and Washington that are raised on grass, but for the last four months of their lives are fed grain and corn to fatten them up.”

How could the journalist get this wrong?

Oh wait, it gets worse.

The study was not set up to determine the relative merits of grass-fed vs. grain-fed hamburgers in the first place. The grant program that funded it was created to help interested parties evaluate the merits and costs of investing more into locally produced food.

It’s simple and unfortunate. This is a complicated category of food and there are a heck of a lot of fuzzy definitions floating around out there (and frankly, a fair amount of obsfucation, too, but that’s a whole other conversation). However, if you’re a reporter covering this news, I think it’s worth taking the time to ask questions, to clarify and confirm. And then keep an eye out for any editing that might inadvertantly change the meaning of the story.

Unfortunately, this story is being widely circulated. Not only is this hurting the prospects of those who do produce grass-fed or naturally raised beef, but it also underminessupport of the promotion of locally sourced products in our nation’s schools.

How can you help? Help others understand the differences between grass-fed and grain-fed beef. Here's something easy to remember:

ALL Beef Is Grass-Fed.

Yes, all. It’s just that some beef is fed only grass right up to their last day. The other 98 percent or more may be fed grass early in life but are finished on a diet of grasses and grains. This is an important distinction as the diet has a huge affect on taste and texture. In addition, a grass-only diet is a more natural diet for cattle and a proper grass-only program can keep land healthy and even help fight global warming.

If you know me at all, you know that I am a strong proponent of grass-fed beef. But I take a practical view, knowing that it will take years, even decades, to transition the industry to a grass-fed only system. So, I’m willing to support top-notch grain-finishers who meet or exceed my company’s minimum (and quite high) standards, thinking of it as like supporting a farm in transition to organic. But, there is a difference and consumers (as well as journalists) should know and understand this.

If you want the benefits of grass-fed beef -- Eat Wild is an excellent reference -- ask your butcher or grocer or farmer or online purveyor if it is GRASS-ONLY beef.

Don’t be surprised if the seller doesn’t know what you’re talking about but ask anyway. We need to create transparency in this category. Consumers have a right to know what exactly they’re eating and sellers should be more interested in providing consumers what they want, as well as educating themselves. It’s their business after all.

ps Sorry for the more strident tone. Perhaps I'll be smart enough to come back and edit this at a later date ;-)

Tag - 7 Strange Things About Me

2008-12-16T13:17:00.000-08:00

Jenna at Food With Kid Appeal (@KidAppeal) has tagged me! The general idea behind "Tag" is to help great people discover blogs worth reading and I have several folks to introduce you to, how exciting. But first, I'm to tell you several "strange" things about myself.

To be honest, I find it awkward to invite people to learn more about me. But I really, really want to change the meat industry -- I want people to be able to find and support ranchers and truckers and slaughterhouse workers and butchers and others who do the right thing. Please consider joining my cause, and definitely look up the folks I'm tagging below - they are worth your follow.

1. Having encountered a few of them, I believe in ghosts. Have never (knowingly) seen one but have definitely felt their presence. Each time, there was at least one other person who shared the experience. Life is interesting that way.

2. Just out of college, I literally put words in the mouth of The Vice President of the United States (George Bush, Sr.). Was asked by the head of the Economic Policy Council to boil down a 30-page document into three bullet points & put on index card. The VP was to announce that the US was filing an unfair trade case against Japan for their business practices in semiconductors. He read the card verbatim on live TV. I learned a quick lesson in diplomacy – the word “retaliate” was a no-no. Ooops!

3. A New York Times journalist misquoted my boss in a prominent article on US-Japan trade relations. I was not only there during the interview but I had it on tape. The newspaper would not correct the record. Became a skeptic then and there.

4. Arrived at a staff meeting and the big boss says, before we start, I would like to know which one of you was written up in The Washington Post Federal page. All 20 people look at me. Much to my surprise, my recent promotion had been announced right next to a story about then-Senators Robert Byrd and Kit Bond. Big boss was upset – said I got more coverage than he – this was THE place to be in that paper. Called the reporter to ask what happened. He asked what I thought. I said “Slooooowwww news day in Washington.” I think I heard him fall off his chair, that it was! Lesson in the power (serendipity?) of timing.

5. Moved to Toronto from San Francisco, sight unseen, in November. I must have been in love. Still am, fortunately.

6. First car I ever drove was a scaled down Model T that had a lawnmower-type engine. I was around 4 years old. Second car was a 1928 Buick Roadster, I sat on my father’s lap and steered while he worked the double clutch. Might have been about 10? I love to drive.

7. I was a pom-pom girl in high school. Tried to make up a dance to the Grateful Dead. Settled for the Rolling Stones.

And so now I tag the following:

ChezUS and not just because Denise has the same Coach purse but because she is a lovely person and a genuine food maven, self taught since she was a wee little gal. Check out her post on Montana beef to see what she's all about. And encourage her to have her favorite food critic, Laudalino, bring his voice to the blog.

Cooking By The Seat Of My Pants a delightful food blog by a guy named Jerry who is a passionate, caring work-from-home dad who juggles multiple blogs (including a beautiful one about his autistic son Lil 'B) and an online t-shirt shop. His wife is in the military so they're currently living in Texas, though he's from the SF area. He keeps asking me if I've had Longhorn beef which, sadly, I have not. At least not knowingly.

Coconut & Lime is the work of Rachel Rappaport who delights us with her own completely original recipes. I'm wondering when she's going to bundle them into a cookbook - wouldn't that be great? Check out her recipe for homemade dog treats, they look delicious. For your dog, of course.

Wild Idea Buffalo is new to me, discovered via Twitter and @CurlyBill. Raising pastured buffalo to regenerate the prairie grasses. Great example of how livestock can actually nurture the land and environment. Some day, I'd like to try their meat - never found buffalo (or beefalo) raised on grass-alone.

Food Woolf from Brooke Burton, a screenwriter and one very cool cat who I had the great pleasure to meet in Los Angeles last week at one of my artisan steak tastings. She and fellow blogger Leah (see below) blew me away with their knowledge of food, food politics, and wine. I would love to spend a week following Brooke around, maybe some of the magic will rub off on me. I'm just a simple Grillmeister, lots to learn.

Spicy Salty Sweet is as full of energy as the creative genious behind it, Leah Greenstein. This funny lady is a wine buyer (she favors barnyard to fruit bombs) and farmer's market addict. She has her finger on the pulse of the food community and rumor has it that she and Brooke are about to share their secrets in a whole new and exciting way. Follow them!

The White on Rice Couple Todd & Diane have to be two of the nicest, most interesting people I've met in a very long time and they have one gorgeous blog. As someone who has long wanted to learn "Asian" cooking, it was a thrill for me to have the two of them show me how to make hand made Vietnamese spring rolls. And Todd grew up on a cattle ranch and has a dad that whispers to horses, so I also get to learn more about how to raise great beef.

Lessons From Argentina, Walking Away from GrassFed is Bad

2008-11-22T08:03:00.000-08:00

Allan Nation, the man when it comes to pastured finished livestock, blogs about Argentine farms in a perfect storm situation. I encourage you to go to this page and choose "Click Here for Allan's Blog" and read the short note entitled "Argentine Farming In Melt-down."

If you don't have time (it's a really short, easy read) the basic issue is this. Traditionally, Argentine ranchers rotated their grain crops with grassfed beef every few years. This allowed the ranchers to grow grain without the use of added nitrogen as the cattle naturally fertilized the pastures in the off years.

Last year, many looked at soaring grain prices and sold off their cattle to switch to grain-only.

Well, grain prices have dropped and it now costs more to grow the grain crops than the crops are worth. Combine this with some odd-sounding government policies to keep domestic beef costs artificially low and you have a real problem.

Allan doesn't come right out and say this so I will. Pasture finishing livestock can make soil healthy and reduce carbon footprint (and even sequester it). We should be encouraging this and remember this point when others suggest instead that we should stop eating meat altogether.

The Next Artisan Butcher - New Reality Show?

2008-11-18T14:05:00.000-08:00

Great article out of West Cork, Ireland, about traveling artisan butchers.

Why might this matter?

One of the first things I learned while becoming an official Beef Geek (aka The Steak Lady): You can do everything right on the farm but the moment that cattle walks onto a truck, a lot of things can go wrong.

First, no sharp corners, no slippery ramps, no cattle prods or yelling. Spooking cattle is not only ethically wrong, it = tough, dark, dry beef. No kidding, stress directly impacts taste and texture.

And bruises hurt and also ruin the beef - the bruise shows in the meat and has to be cut out.

Second, at the slaughterhouse itself, very special care must be taken. Cattle are herd animals, they're okay with their group but you cannot introduce them to another herd in the yard. A good slaughterhouse will be specifically designed to minimize stress and likely come with a stamp of approval from Temple Grandin.

Bottom line: one of the most important things that influences taste and texture is low-stress handling.

Now these totally cool traveling artisan butchers in Ireland offer a fabulous solution for minimizing stress. The slaughterhouse comes to the farm, no trucking needed. There are a few pioneering folks trying to do the same thing here in North America, but I think what's intriguing is that these folks are real butchers - they know how to age and cut beef, too.

How might we support these folks? I say we should create a new reality show, America's Next Artisan Butcher!

Just What Is Angus Beef - Part 2

2008-11-12T16:27:00.000-08:00

By the way, that black hair gene is pretty dominant. In other words, most cattle crossed with a Black Angus will come out 51% or more black haired.

Some estimate more than 80% of cattle in North America could qualify.

Intrigued? Here's a bit more (linking to Just What is Angus Beef - Part 1).

Just What Is Angus Beef - Part 1

2008-11-11T11:42:00.000-08:00

The answer might surprise you, especially if you're a wine aficionado.

To be marketed as Black Angus* beef, the USDA requires one of two things:

The cattle must have at least 50% provable Angus genetics -or-

Have at least 51% black hair

There are some minor exceptions but for the most part, the good folks on the slaughterhouse line can check each cattle’s papers as they pass on by, call in CSI to do a DNA test, or eyeball the hair color.

By comparison, a US winemaker must meet three criteria in order to label his or her wine as a particular varietal, such as Cabernet Sauvignon.

Grapes from a designated appellation (i.e. Napa Valley) -and-

At least 75% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes -and-

The entire 75% grown in the designated appellation

Now, I think most people would agree that said wine with 25% Merlot grapes would taste different than said wine with 25% Pinot Noir grapes.

So with wine, at minimum, place, grape variety, %’s matter.

Heck, wine drinkers have been known to argue mightily over vintages that come from the same appellation and grape variety but are grown in different pockets of that appellation. Have you ever read the Squires / eBob board (as in Robert Parker)?

Why wouldn’t we celebrate the fact that 50% Black Angus – 50% Limousin beef might have a different flavor and texture than 50% Black Angus – 50% Hereford? With the right paperwork, they’d both qualify as Black Angus. But they'd surely taste different. Especially if they were fed different diets in different regions.

I for one think it would be great to have folks be arguing as passionately about beef origin and style as they do about wine.

Why? At minimum, if we actually know what's on our plate, we can choose the style of beef we like best.

Even better, the very best beef -- artisan beef -- comes from producers, truckers, and butchers who raise cattle in low-stress, clean, drug-free conditions.

It's the next logical step in the move to support natural and organic, humanely raised meat.

* The Certified Black Angus program is more stringent than the USDA criteria. You can check out their additional requirements, here.

ps The cattle in that photo are 75% Black Angus - 25% Limousin cattle from Peace Valley Ranch in the Hills of the Headwaters region in Southern Ontario.

pps Special thanks to three charming gentlemen on Twitter @mmWine, @eljefetwisted, and @randyhall for helping me find the wine criteria from the Tobacco, Tax, and Trade Bureau.

Why Does Filet Mignon Cost So Much?

2008-11-10T15:14:00.001-08:00

Don't be shy, this is a really good question.

Take a look at this photo of a whole tenderloin, compliments of Australia Produce.
Notice that it's shaped like an elongated cone - starts big at one end and tapers almost to a point. And the big end has this, well, flap thingy thing.

Now look at how Filet Mignon aka tenderloin steaks are typically cut.

That's right, to get the pretty round steaks we're used to seeing in fine dining establishments the rancher can lose as much as 50% of this meat - the tenderloin tips and that flap - to trim!

Trim usually ends up in hamburger meat, which we expect to be really inexpensive.

A talented, conscientious artisan butcher can salvage the two ends by making tenderloin tips or bacon-wrapped Filet Mignon.

If you want unbelievably tender meat for a beef bourguignon or stew, or love the idea of combining bacon and steak together, look for tenderloin tips and bacon-wrapped filet mignon / tenderloin steaks from top quality farms and ranches.

They're not only inexpensive, when they come from artisan beef ranchers, they taste amazing. Plus, buying them helps artisan beef producers stay in business.

Grass-Fed Beef & Droughts Don't Mix

2008-11-09T17:28:00.000-08:00

A lot of people have asked me why grass-fed (what I like to call grass-only) beef is more expensive, given that the ranchers / graziers don't have to give the cattle growth hormones or preventative antibiotics to improve their, er, ability to get big fast.

Well, that's one of the points, grass-only beef takes longer to get to the delicious stage - typically 24 months vs. 12 to 14 months for commodity beef. For a farmer, it's kind of like working really hard but not getting paid until 8 months later.

Here is one more reason: grass is not only seasonal, it's really fickle.

And a long drought can be devastating.

If you raise beef cattle and there's no green grass during your growing season (which varies around the country), you either need to 1) rely on dried grasses or fermented dried grasses (aka silage), 2) sell your calves and/or 3) unbenownst to me until I saw an article by Terence Chea via AP , sell your cows to a feedyard or slaughterhouse.

A few years drought = no dried grasses.

Guys, it takes a very long time nurture a female calf into a calf-producing cow. (As I understand it, minimum 2 years and that's after a 9 months gestation period.)

And cattle finished on dried grass or silage will taste different.

My best wishes for a good, balanced rainy season to the good people raising and processing and aging natural and organic beef in California and environs.

How To Have a Successful Artisan Steak Tasting

2008-11-08T10:01:00.000-08:00

My company's advocacy arm, The Artisan Beef Institute, held a fabulous steak tasting extravaganza with Jaden Hair aka SteamyKitchen a few weeks back. A lot of folks are wondering now how to have their own artisan steak tasting parties.

Okay, moment of shameless self-promotion, try one of our Discover Beef Experience Artisan Steak Taster Packs from The Oliver Ranch Company! We'll send you steaks from 4 specific natural or organic beef ranches, each representing a different breed, growing region, diet, and aging technique (some dry-aged, some wet-aged). You'll also receive a copy of our Artisan Beef Institute tasting guide and tips on hosting a home tasting.

Compare ranches, see which you like best, order more of your favorite. Voila!

Now, if you'd like to go it alone, that's fine! Please just follow these guidelines to make sure your artisan steak tasting is just that. Consider this a cheat sheet for success.

First rule of thumb is to only use steaks or burgers from known producers! These are our minimum standards.

Specific ranch or producer group (source-verified).

Single breed or cross-breed.

No added growth hormones (steroids, yuck!).

No preventative antibiotics (if they can't keep healthy without 'em...)

All vegetable diet, no funky stuff in there like stale chewing gum.

Treated gently on farm, in truck, at yard (if relevant), & at slaughterhouse.

Dry-aged or wet-aged for at least 14 days

Bonus points: certified organic, humane, grass-only diet, holistic.

You can try this with commodity beef, too, from your supermarket or butcher (this is how I did it the first time 3 years back). However, please note that you might set yourself up for disappointment. Why? Because they don't keep track of where the beef is from let alone its breed, diet, etc.

Why does this matter? Just like with wine, different breeds raised in different regions on different diets taste different. You need to know what's on your plate. Otherwise, you won't be able to repeat the experience!

Plus, isn't it better to support the farms and processors who DO do the right thing?

Know what's on your plate.

Beef Industry Needs To Focus On Consumer

2008-11-07T13:31:00.000-08:00

This headline's from today's www.CattleNetwork.com. What a great idea!

Let's see if the recommendations, from marketing specialist, Tad Schroeder, make sense. He starts with 5 errors the industry makes (my comments in italics):

Defensiveness about criticism. "All that does is feed the fire." A tad vague, no comment.

Too much secretiveness. "We need to be open and honest about what we're doing." Could not agree more. Tell us exactly what's on our plate and how it got there. See this for a start.

Camouflaging through labeling gimmicks. For example, Schroeder said, "The word 'natural' in the meat case means almost nothing." Hallelujah!

Assuming "consumers are stupid." "They're not stupid. They're very savvy, and they have lots of information." And I'm trying to make them smarter.

Scare tactics. Eh?

And follows with 5 tips:

Give 'em what they want.

Show and tell our story.

Invest in new technologies that are aimed at consumers.

Coordinate and share information within the industry, rather than keeping it secret for what may be a short-term competitive advantage that hurts the industry in the long term.

Give 'em your 800 number." Encouraging consumer feedback sends the message, "I'm proud of this. Come talk to me about it."

Hmmmmmmm... These are a little vague, so let me try.

This is what we care about.

We care about supporting good farms and workers.

We care about protecting our families from bad stuff in the beef.

We care about happy cows.

We care about keeping our environment clean.

We care about great taste and texture.

Bottom line: Tell us exactly what's on our plate, where it's from and how it was raised and aged. Then let us decide if we want to buy from you or the other guy.

Finally, do not snooker us into believing that USDA Prime tastes better than Choice or Select. Admit it, marbling is just one factor. Different breeds raised on different farms on different diets and aged with different techiques will taste different from each other - even if they score the same USDA grade. And this is a good thing, my gosh, imagine tailoring different beef styles to each individual's personal taste buds!

If you have any doubts, please call me, I will send you an artisan steak tasting kit to prove it.

Now That's What We're Talking About

2008-11-06T12:47:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Wordle (visit them!), we're able to see what I've been talking about. Really hoping that others will join this conversation and help us change the world of beef as we know it.

ps Need to get Steak Tasting in there more often :-)

Artisan Steak Tasting Goes to Tampa!

2008-11-05T14:55:00.000-08:00

Okay, meat lovers and sustainability advocates, it's time to change the world.

After three successful steak tastings in the San Francisco area this summer, we're taking The Oliver Ranch Company's Artisan Beef Institute(r) "Provenance of Beef(tm)" program on the road.

First stop was Tampa, Florida, where Jaden Hair aka SteamyKitchen helped gather fellow food writers and enthusiasts for a tasting of 6 different styles of natural or organic artisan beef. Read her hilarious and insightful write up, also part of www.FoodBuzz.com 24/24/24 blog series. (That's her photo, too, she's amazing.)

Other than the delicious beef, the big hit of the evening was our tasting guide. Host a steak tasting in your home and you'll soon find that we just don't have a lot of words to describe a steak. Beefy, meaty, juicy, tender, and maybe gamy come to mind but not much else.

Also, your beefy might be my gamy, which can be very confusing.

So the guide is meant to help you evaluate which style of beef you like best -- which ranch or combination of breed, growing region, diet, and aging technique appeals most to your taste buds and why.

While we're not quite at the Robert Parker or wine wheel stage, nor do we want beef to be as complicated as wine, we'd love to share our tasting guide. Just email me carrie [at] oliverranch [dot] com.

We'll also send you the tasting guide with any order from our main marketplace, The Oliver Ranch Company (www.oliveranch.com).

How will this change the world?

Truth is, simple labels such as grass-fed or grain-fed or for that matter USDA Select, Choice, or Prime don't come close to telling you what the beef will taste like or how tender it will be, let alone whether it will suit your personal palate.

While marbling is important, flavor and texture can also vary considerably by breed, growing region, diet, age of cattle, the particular husbandry protocols of the rancher or lot operator, low stress handling, and the aging technique (if any) used by the butcher.

The industry doesn't want us to know all this stuff matters because they want to keep things simple for themselves.

But if YOU know it and YOU find it important to know what style of beef is on your plate and who raised it and how, then we can collectively support ranchers or processors with best practices.

We get cleaner, more flavorful, even personalized meat. Ranchers can stay on the land. Workers can have safer jobs. The land can get healthier.

It's a win-win-win no matter how you look at it.

Putting Some Pasture Into Organic Milk

2008-11-04T17:13:00.000-08:00

Okay, another off-beef post. According to the Washington Post, the USDA may be closing an unfortunate loophole / gray area in the organic regulations for milk.

The new requirement, in the proposal phase, would require that dairy cows be allowed to graze on pasture for about 1/3 of the year. Now, presumably, that pasture must be technically organic.

Sam Fromartz seems on board, which sounds good. A step in the right direction (think: not all climates can support year-round pasture grazing).

Okay, on a beef-related topic, Mac Magruder and now Amazin' Grazin' in Florida seem to be onto something. They are selling younger cattle finished on pasture on a combination of cow's milk and pasture or cow's milk only and selling the beef as (genuinely) naturally raised veal. I am trying to learn more about this as I will not eat veal unless it's served to me in such a situation where refusing would be very rude. I can't abide with crate-constrained, anemic calves being served up as a specialty food. But maybe I can support Vitellone, Vitello, and Vitellini, raised with care.

Know what's on your plate.

Okay, Let's Talk Pork!

2008-11-03T09:13:00.000-08:00

No, not pork barrel. The good and tasty kind.

I don't know nearly as much about how to properly raise pork but I do know enough to be at least a little dangerous. And it's fun to find good stories, such as this one about the Flaherty family in Iowa.

Same as with raising beef cattle, breed, growing conditions, diet, and generally low-stress husbandry and proper slaughter can make a huge difference in taste and texture. Indeed, because of the way pigs digest their food (only one stomach vs. a cattle's four), the finishing diet can have an even stronger influence than with cattle.

Some key things to look for when buying pork.

Outdoor raised.

Appropriate breed/crossbreed for growing region.

Pink meat. Sorry, pork is not the other white meat, that was engineered.

All vegetarian diet. And no weird stuff e.g. human leftovers, garbage, cookies.

Certified humane. Not a must but preferred. I prefer AWI standards (Animal Welfare Institute).

And talk to the farmer or brand folks and find out if anything special was added to the finishing diet. For instance, some of the world's most famous pork forages acorns in the forests in Spain.

Finally, give your farmer feedback, good and bad, so they can continue to improve.

Dear Supermarket Manager

2008-11-02T10:24:00.000-08:00

Mexico, Canada, or the United States" is not a helpful answer when I ask where your beef comes from.

C'mon, give me a break.

Are your inventory systems (and those of your suppliers) really that lame?

Melamine On A Plate Near You?

2008-11-01T08:15:00.000-07:00

What won't we stop at in the pursuit of cheap food?

Experts are now worried that melamine, a "toxic industrial chemical," may have been used in a wide spectrum of Chinese-produced foods shipped to consumers across the world.

Recap: food and chemical industry folks in China have been found to have knowingly included melamine as a protein-booster in pet food and in feed for dairy cows. While scientists can't fully explain why, the chemical can cause kidney failure - oh, and death - in humans and pets.

At minimum these actions were morally bankrupt. But does it stop there?

Apparently not. According to the New York Times article (free subscription required), local officials are said to have commented that melamine "has been used for years in fish feed." Now, there are investigations into whether it's also being used to supplement feed for livestock including pigs and chicken. And in vitamins.

Okay, that means I've probably eaten melamine-laced food from China. You, too.

Now, I suppose it's possible that the source of this information is not unbiased. For instance, maybe some other food company would benefit if the spigot of cheap food from China were turned off or slowed.

And if you talk to enough people in the meat production industry in North America you know that lots of disturbing things go into animal feed here in a desperate attempt to keep prices low.

But I for one have stopped buying any food items from China. That is, at least I think I have. Come to think of it, manufacturers are not required to list the source of the multitude of ingredients that go into our packaged goods and probably livestock feed, too.

At minimum, no more edamame (that's right, look at the label).

Know what's on your plate.

A Welcome Headline

2008-10-09T11:46:00.000-07:00

Looks as if a lot of very large and influential companies (including Hain, Smithfield, and Campbells) are saying NO to meat from cloned animals.

This is great!

Though why is it I'm learning this from an Australian food news source?

Hmmmmmm.

2008-09-18T17:33:00.000-07:00

The FDA annouces a new "legal framework" with regard to genetically engineered animals and their use in food or to incubate/develop medicines for humans.

The framework is meant to "resolve such questions as whether the altered animals are safe for human consumption and pose no serious environmental risks."

According to the New York Times (free suscription required), examples include cattle that can resist mad cow disease.

What, so we can go back to feeding them cattle?

The Provenance of Beef - Let The Steak Tastings Begin!

2008-08-15T13:06:00.000-07:00

Sometimes dreams do come true, and this one was mine.

60 people were on hand - we sold out twice! - as we formally launched our Artisan Beef Institute to the public in tandem with the highly regarded Commonwealth Club of California's 3rd Annual "How We Eat" series.

In the planning for nearly 3 years, The Artisan Beef Institute's(r) "Provenance of Beef(tm)" series combines an interactive expert panel discussion and comparison steak tasting.

Now mind you, this wasn't about tasting different cuts of "Choice" or "Prime" steaks. Designed to appeal to those seeking to support great ranchers and sustainability, this was something entirely new, was one heck of a lot of fun, and as one guest commented, "made me smarter about beef than anyone else I know, how cool is that?!"

The evening began with an interactive expert panel discussing how individual ranchers, butchers, and chefs influence the taste and texture of beef to create connoisseur quality on the plate.

Then, participants were taken through a blind taste test of four different “styles” of beef from different natural ranches, each representing a different breed, region, diet, and aging technique. Guests were encouraged to use a brand new tasting guide developed by ABI (let's face it, meaty, beefy, juicy, and tender pretty much sums up our vocabulary when it comes to beef).

Q&A with members of the panel follows along with a full four-course meal, including wine pairings from Napa’s Atalon Vineyards.

Importantly, panelists stressed how low stress management techniques and sustainable land management aren't just the right things to do, they contribute directly to beef flavor, quality, and texture. (I argue that connoisseur quality beef is by definition raised with care and respect.)

The main takeaway? Relying on USDA Grade or labels such as organic or grass-fed is not enough. No different than with wine, to enjoy genuinely natural or organic, connoisseur quality beef, you need to know the source and to know the details of what is on the plate: the breed, diet, growing region and the husbandry, harvesting, processing and aging techniques.

The other fun takeaway? I just love this as I’ve seen it anecdotally over three years of blind steak tastings but this was a big enough crowd to gauge the statistical probabilities.

When asked to vote for their favorite, the scores were evenly distributed between the four ranches / beef styles.

So there you have it: There is no such thing as the perfect steak!

But there IS a perfect steak for you.

Here are the styles we tasted. Three are in our marketplace www.oliverranch.com and the other, from the fabulous Mac Magruder in Potter Valley, CA, can be found at Café Rouge in Berkeley, Woodlands Market in Kentfield, and on the menu at Oliveto in Berkeley.

Dry-Aged Charolais, grain-finished, Elliott & Ferris Families, Front Range Region, CO

Dry-Aged Black Angus-Shorthorn Cross, grass-only, Mac Magruder, Potter Valley, CA

Wet-Aged Wagyu-Angus Cross, grain-finished, Kobe Beef America, finished in Holdrege, NE

Wet-Aged Holstein-Friesian, grain-finished, Bob Beechinor, Bakersfield, CA

Equity in Humane Treatment

2008-05-29T10:47:00.000-07:00

Meating Place (free registration required) annouces today that the USDA is expected to announce new (draft) regulations requiring those vendors who participate in the federal commodity purchase program (e.g. National school Lunch Program) to be able to prove they treat livestock humanely.

Shouldn't this apply to all USDA approved facilities? Does it already?

Yes, But How Does It Impact Flavor?

2008-05-21T19:10:00.000-07:00

This probably isn't fair but I'm going to say it anyways.

Now that higher grain prices have make it more expensive to finish beef cattle on corn and other grains, The University of Arkansas has a new facility dedicated to R&D (research and demonstration in this case) on alternative feed ingredients for cattle. According to a press release from the Southwest Research and Extension Center, ingredients being evaluated include "distiller's grain and other byproducts of bio-fuels production, corn gluten, rice bran, cotton seed cake, soybean hulls and hominy from corn milling." They are testing the ingredients in feedyard environments and as feed supplements for cattle on pasture.

I am all for efficiency.

But if they're not already doing so, I really encourage the team to consider the impact on flavor and texture, not just weight gain, marbling, yield and costs. All these things matter but they are not the only drivers of taste and quality and sometimes, other factors should come into play.

At minimum, let's start thinking about beef as food, not throughput.

When The Beef Crumbles

2008-05-08T12:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry, it's been a while since my last update. But then today I see this headline in Meating Place: "Chatel Farms launches new beef crumbles." (free subscription required)

Apparently, "beef crumbles" are flash frozen ground beef pieces that come in resealable packages. They are ready-to-use, you don't need to thaw them before using the crumbles in your favorite dish.

At first pass, my thought was, are we really that pushed for time that we can't crumble our own ground beef when making, say, Hamburger Helper or even a scratch recipe?

Wearing my industry hat, I also thought, are these simply the scraps left over in the machinery when ground beef bricks or patties are made? An efficient use of otherwise unusable beef? Or yet another potential food safety hazard from mixing together meat from many different cattle?

I dunno, one would certainly save time using these "crumbles." (Cute name, BTW.) Defrosting ground beef can take some time. Also, unless it was professional blast frozen before it made it to your freezer, ground beef doesn't freeze particularly well at home; ice can form during the slow freezing process and lead to watery meat when thawed.

A quick search shows beef crumbles have been around for a few years (Tyson had them in 2004, proving I still have a lot to learn about beef!). Will have to reach out to others and learn the scoop as to how these came about. Intriguing.

Chatel Farms is a brand name for a privately held beef processor in Augusta, Georgia (the company's site says it's the largest privately held fully-integrated beef processing facility in the Southeast.)

The Song Has Begun

2008-03-25T13:29:00.001-07:00

Can you see it? Look closely.

Hint: It's THE harbinger of Spring.

Okay, here's a close up.

Indeed, it's a beautiful Robin, the very first of spring, seen on Monday, March 24th in the tree outside my home. While there are still several feet of snow on the ground, this happy bird was telling us, look, spring has arrived, get out and celebrate!

What a cruel irony that the weather today looks like this! (Yes, that is snow falling.)

ps We're grilling up some beautiful Ontario spring lamb, anyways.

Too Much Anxiety

2008-03-24T16:43:00.000-07:00

Because I read a lot of blogs on food and occasionally write a related one myself, just about every day I learn about someone anxiously trying to make intelligent decisions about what food to feed him or herself and family. Buy local? Organic? Grass-Fed? Vegan? What is my carbon footprint?

I am personally thrilled that this conversation is taking place and believe it will eventually lead to a more balanced playing field, resulting in better tasting, better quality, even personalized food for consumers, recognition and more equitable financial rewards for top-notch producers, and a cleaner environment.

What troubles me is the tone I see emerging from all sides of the debate, a sometimes subtle and sometimes overt air of self-righteousness or moral superiority.

Most of us are pretty new at this and many haven’t yet entered the discussion. People need to feel safe while they learn and make decisions. Plus, there is so much information about food and health, much of it conflicting or emphasized at the the expense of others by one group or another to support their own bias.

Let’s cut people a little slack and act as mentors to each other rather than critics. Transparency and courtesy are a great place to start.

Jay from TheLinkery in San Diego set a perfect example in his response, titled "The Opposite of Universal" to a blog by the founder of WoolyPigs, farmer Heath Putnam, in a blog titled "The Opposite of Universal." Heath had expressed a few counterpoints to the local food movement that proved relatively, er, unpopular. In short, he expressed disappointment that his hand-crafted heritage pork had been turned away from some restaurants or markets because it wasn't deemed "local" enough (he is from Washington, he speaks of some restauranteurs in California).

In my view, what's inane is eating raspberries from California in Toronto and then seeing raspberries from Toronto for sale in California later the same week. Jay takes the conversation to a new level by providing a definition of local that transcends geography and instead supports the idea that eating local means eating food that "comes from somewhere, that introduces you to someone." I like that kind of thinking.

Anyone Know How To Fix That Image?

2008-03-24T13:52:00.001-07:00

Why won't the photo in our logo area above align to the left? It used to look just fine but now, well, it's off to the right. If you can help, I'd be grateful :-)

Here's the original photo - 75% Black Angus, 25% Limousin (pregnant) cows from Peace Valley Ranch.

Aren't they gorgeous?

What's The Point If You Can't Have Fun?

2008-03-09T20:06:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm going to be a bit honest here... While my friends in the San Francisco area were enjoying 75 degree weather and enjoying their local farmers' markets, we were busy digging ourselves out from yet another snow storm. Working on breaking a 1939 record or so I hear. We had a blast with our neighbors, who called to say we were all snowed in (thanks to a mean-spirited plowman who left a 3 1/2 foot ridge of ice at the foot of our driveways), let's get together an eat whatever's in our refrigerators. It was hilarious. They brought two pasta appetizers (gnocchi with blue cheese sauce, spaghetti al forno), we had wet-aged Black Angus NY steaks with a balsamic thyme shallot sauce topped with buttermilk battered onion rings plus a green salad with toasted pecans and avocado. For dessert, we had homemade caramel-poached pears on vanilla ice cream. Not bad, eh?

The problem was that we also drank 4 bottles of wine and half a bottle of Grey Goose vodka (neighbor Ron's favorite). Somewhere into the second bottle (and after a lovely shaken martini), I was deep fat frying the onion rings. Unfortunately, I was apparently using a pot that wasn't deep enough for the festivities. Peanut oil spewed out of the pan and onto the stove and floor (and our clothes). Ever the calm one in an emergency, I simply stated "I'll go get the fire extinguisher" to which my husband said, "It's not going to catch on fire." Two seconds go by and.... Whooof. The whole stovetop is aflame. We tamped it down without the extinguisher, what a mess. We're still laughing about it today (while we all shoveled out yet again after another foot of snow).

Tonight, I think we'll have, hmmmm....

Bananas Foster!

Great Steak - Even When Your Grill is Buried in Snow

2008-03-05T12:14:00.000-08:00

Okay, a bit of a departure, let's have a little fun.

The problem? A friend in the San Francisco area said it was raining this winter "like he should build an ark....".

In the meantime, we had a related problem. (Yes, I was the one that left the cover off overnight. Found 2 weeks later and 20 feet away after a thaw.)

The Solution? The cast iron pan and this fabulous recipe.

Sugar and Ancho Rubbed Steak with Blue Cheese Tossed Salad

2 NY Strip Loin or Rib-Eye Steaks, at least 1" thick, preferably Dry-Aged*
4 T Demerara or finely ground Turbinado (brown) sugar
1 1/2 t. fresh cracked Black Pepper (Tellicherry if you have it)
1 t. Kosher or Sea Salt (medium to heavy grind)
1/4 t. ground dried Ancho or Chipotle Chili (optional)

Bring steaks to room temperature and pat dry with paper towel. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Combine the sugar, pepper, salt, and ground chili and press onto both sides of each steak. Do this right before cooking to prevent the sugar from turning syrupy.

Heat cast iron pan on medium high. (An ovenproof non-stick pan will also work, though you may not get as good a crust on the steaks.) Sear the steaks on one side until you get a nice brown crust, about 5 minutes. Flip the steaks to brown the other side, about 2 minutes. If steaks are thicker than 1" thick, finish them in the oven using the same pan. Best served rare (120 degrees F).

Note: Turn on your fan, the steaks can smoke quite a bit. Also, do not touch the brown sugar coating as it gets very hot as it caramelizes.

Remove steaks from oven and let rest on plate or carving board for 5 minutes. Angle slice. Serve with a tossed green salad ideally topped with good quality blue cheese, red or yellow grape tomatoes, and a warmed olive oil, red wine vinegar vinaigrette.

* Of course I recommend steaks from The Oliver Ranch Company marketplace, but no matter, look for a genuinely natural (esp. no growth stimulants) or organic steak from any trusted source. We find this recipe particularly sublime with dry-aged beef but it's also great with beef that's been wet-aged at least 14 days.

Extending the beef

2008-02-22T08:13:00.000-08:00

The Beef Check-Off's Beef Innovations Group just announced 5 new cuts of beef, all from the Chuck. All but one appear to be new names for existing cuts. Terminology in the beef industry is pretty unappealing from a consumer perspective. Shoulder Clod, anyone? Rump Roast? So I'm okay in principle with creating new, more attractive names for existing cuts.

But why in the world would one of the new cuts be called "Delmonico"? This "new" Delmonico appears to be the same as the cut formerly known as the Chuck Eye Steak. In addition, Delmonico is already used to describe at several other cuts.

A very thick boneless Top Sirloin (from Delmonico's restaurant in New York, from the Short Loin Primal)
A Club steak (T-bone with no tenderloin, from the Loin Primal)
A boneless Rib-eye (from the Rib Primal)
A boneless New York Strip Loin aka Kansas City Steak aka Ambassador steak... You get the picture.

The new Delmonico is from the Chuck Primal.

Just to illustrate how absurd this really is, take a look at this image. Do you suppose the next Delmonico will come from the Round Primal?

Anyways, I'm personally interested to try the Chuck Eye Steak aka Delmonico as from the description, it sounds relatively appealing. The Denver Steak, too. And it would be great if these new cuts do as well as the Flat Iron steak (Top Blade), which is a delicious and great on the grill.

But I really wish the new name were something other than Delmonico. It's confusing at best.

FYI, the other cuts are as follows.

Denver Steak: Seems to be a genuinely new cut, I am waiting to hear back from our trusted butcher.

America's Beef Roast: When rolled and tied, seems to be the same as the roast currently known as the Chuck Eye Roast.

Country Style Beef Ribs: Same beef as America's Beef Roast but cut into small portions that look a bit like ribs. No bones.

Country Style Beef Roast. Not sure what this is, cutting instructions aren't available on the Web site.

Should USDA Reduce the Number of Inspectors?

2008-02-18T14:09:00.000-08:00

MeatingPlace.com had a story last week that caught my eye. The USDA is testing a video analysis tool (registration required) that would replace human graders in slaughterhouses. Today, USDA inspectors visually observe a beef carcass and assign a grade, e.g. Prime or Choice. The logic is that a machine will be more objective than a human grader.

This might indeed be true. I personally think that the grading system is a bit too simplistic to truly differentiate quality and taste but it is a good start so consistency is welcome.

Especially in light of the recent Westland beef recall, I'm just not sure that the USDA should be reducing the number of inspectors in house. Perhaps they don't intend to remove the human inspectors but instead reassign them to monitor food or employee safety or animal welfare practices. I hope that they'll consider this opportunity.

I Just Don't Understand

2008-02-18T08:47:00.000-08:00

Clone advocates argue that they are developing clones because there is a consumer benefit – more consistent taste and quality.

If this were the case, wouldn’t they insist on the right to label the meat as coming from clones or their progeny, so consumers would know they were getting a superior product?

Why We Don't Need Cloned Meat - Part II

2008-01-29T09:31:00.000-08:00

I have created (I think so anyways) some new terminology to describe most beef sold at retail: Zero-Aged Beef.

What does this have to do with cloned livestock? Well, if the Number 1 complaint among meat eaters is tough or inconsistent tasting meat, then proper aging is one half of the solution. (I attempted to summarize the other half in Why We Don't Need Cloned Meat - Part I below.)

Tough beef can be caused by a number of factors, including breed, the specific genetics of a particular beef cattle (think tenderness genes), diet, temperament, and stress (whether natural or man-made). Also, some cuts of beef are just naturally tougher as they come from more active muscle groups. Most beef cuts are indeed rather naturally tough.

One time-honored way to overcome these variables is to tenderize beef by aging it post slaughter. The "traditional" way (pre-1970s as I understand it) is called Dry-Aging. With Dry-Aging, a carcass or certain parts are air-dried in a humidity-controlled cooler for a period of time, most often 14 to 21 days. Enzymes break down muscle tissues, tenderizing the meat. (More details at a later date.)

The "new" way is often referred to as Wet-Aging. In this case, certain parts of the carcass, e.g. the Round or Tenderloin, are wrapped in vacuum-sealed packages and kept in a cold environment for a period of time. While the process is different, the outcome is the same, the beef tenderizes with time.

Unfortunately, both aging techniques are very expensive. A rancher or retailer must carry inventory and storage costs during the aging period. In the case of Dry-Aging, the seller can also lose up to 20% of the original weight of the beef due to moisture loss and the need to trim off the edges, which become dry and inedible.

Because of this higher cost, almost no retailer or food service operator ages beef these days. The end result is Zero-Aged, very often tougher meat.

The cloning companies are correct, they can use genetic selection to optimize beef cattle for tenderness. But ranchers can already use genetic selection for this purpose. It’s not an easy process, can take years to achieve, and is still subject to the whims of nature or Darwinism, but it can be done. I’ll leave the “hows” to a new post.

Dry-Aging or Wet-Aging beef to tenderize beef will not necessarily lead to higher quality or a more consistent taste - see below. But it's a start.

If you do want all three things (consistent tasting, high quality, tender beef) ask the seller questions what steps are being taken to ensure consistent quality, taste, and tenderness.

If you hear something like “We specialize in X breed and get feedback from our processor about each of our cattle and use this to determine which cows and bulls to keep and pair. We also (dry- or wet-) age our beef (a minimum of 7) days,” then you’ll know you’re on the right track.

Why We Don't Need Cloned Meat - Part I

2008-01-16T12:08:00.000-08:00

As expected, the FDA approved the sale of food from cloned livestock, declaring that they found no evidence of harm to humans who might ingest the meat.

The cloning companies argue that they are creating clones to meet consumer demand, citing tough or generally inconsistent taste and quality as the Number 1 complaint among meat eaters. By using uniformly high-quality clones as breeding stock, the meat from said livestock will be uniform, too.

We do not need cloned livestock to achieve this result!

The reason that beef taste and quality is inconsistent from week to week (if not steak to steak) is because there are literally dozens if not hundreds of beef breeds raised on different diets in different regions that, as a result, naturally vary in taste and texture. Unfortunately, all this glorious variety gets lumped together at shelf and labeled “beef.”

This is a little oversimplified, but it's as if all red wine grapes grown in North America were crushed and blended together at random, placed in green bottles and sold as “red wine.”

While many ranchers, feed yard operators, or processors raise and finish “sale barn” cattle (a hint is that their herd has cattle of all shapes, sizes, and colors grazing on the same pasture or munching at a trough), there are great producers who specialize in a single breed or crossbreed. The best among these use a carefully chosen diet, practice low-stress management techniques, analyze the performance of their herds over time, and use genetic selection (ideally the natural kind) to optimize for certain characteristics that impact the taste and quality of beef, including tenderness.

The problem is that these outstanding producers RARELY GET PAID for this extra effort!

With an industrialized system set up to maximize throughput to maintain margin, it is simply not considered cost effective to sort cattle at large feed lots or slaughterhouse door, let alone on the shelf.

If we consumers want more consistent quality beef that suits our personal palates or priorities, we have the ability to vote with our pocketbooks and support these top-notch producers. We’ve found a number of them over the past two years and are featuring four in our online marketplace today. There are others. Please seek them out, determine what style of beef you prefer (similar to what varietal of wine best suits your fancy), look for beef that’s been aged (to be addressed further in the next post), and make a purchase.

Is Stress Edible?

2007-11-17T17:28:00.000-08:00

This is one of the most fascinating and powerful arguments I've ever heard about why we need to pay close attention to the food we eat.

Stephanie Daniel and Dr. Joon Yun, authors of a book called Low Stress Food, argue that one key reason we humans feel stressed is because we literally injest stress that exists in the food we eat. To quote from their Web site (www.lowstressfood.com), "The unnatural stress imparted on animals and plants through the industrialized food infrastructure is coming full circle back to those who consume them in a perverse version of 'you are what you eat.'"

The corollary: if we eat food raised under less stressful conditions, we will lower our own levels of stress commensurately.

The beauty is that low-stress food not only has nice moral and environmental implications, it is also highly likely to taste better.

For instance with beef, there is a direct correlation between excess levels of stress hormones and tough meat. While tenderness is a function of many things -- genetics, diet, handling, and aging are the most important -- cattle that have suffered significant stress (whether from dramatic swings in weather, poor handling, or a multitude of other causes) have a far higher liklihood of being tough.

Makes you think, doesn't it?

People I Admire

2007-11-17T08:00:00.000-08:00

I just love this story and this lovely lady. Diane Del Signore was introduced to me by one of my advisors, Rob Hurlbut, former CEO of Niman Ranch. She'd approached him, as had I, for advice on how to break the commodity trap in red meat, starting with beef.

Like me, Diane would like to see the grass-only beef industry blossom. She's provided guidance and support now for nearly a year in our endeavor to rethink the beef industry from a consumer's perspective.

In the meantime, she's put her talk into action in a related field: growing backyard chickens. An article in Oakland Magazine tells the story. You can read more about Diane on her Website, Snap Pea Partners.

Royal Agricultural Fair Debut

2007-11-13T10:18:00.000-08:00

We had the great pleasure of debuting The Oliver Ranch Company at the 85th Anniversary of the Ontario Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. This is the premier event in Ontario for beef cattle and dairy breeders, who show their prized heifers, bull calves, cows, and bulls. Huge, cattle sized blow dryers and glitter paint everywhere, you have never seen such pampered livestock (or cute kids).

The highlight for us was talking to consumers and farmers from throughout Ontario and Quebec about our new online marketplace for connoisseur quality, natural or organic beef.

In particular, we want to thank two gentlemen from Hamilton, Ontario, who officially became the first in Ontario to place an order for our exquisite beef.

They wisely selected one of our Discover Beef Experience tasters packs and I hear they plan to host a New Year's steak-tasting extravaganza. They'll be comparing Dry Aged Charolais, Dry Aged 100% Black Angus, Wet Aged Friesian, and Wet Aged Wagyu - Angus Cross (sometimes known as "Kobe-Style" beef). Looking forward to the results. So far, there's no clear winner, each style has been "favorited" many times.

Hats off to Bill Duron and team who put on this fabulous fair each year. And thanks to Carl Cosack, my colleague and owner of Peace Valley Ranch and Rawhide Adventures, Adrienne, Leah van Draanen-Earwaker, Steve Earwaker, Jo-Anne van Draanen, Brian Belanger, and Jenna van Draanen-Earwaker for helping us in the booth.

Finally, thanks to Myna, Connie, and Wanda from the Ontario Potato Growers and to Dave, Erin, Scott, Richard, and the other fine folks from the Wheat, Soybean, and other seed boards who entertained us with the Farmers Feed Cities roulette wheel. (If you got three 7s, you got a free T Shirt.) Best neighbors you could have!

Update on The Elliott / Ferris Charolais

2007-08-01T07:03:00.001-07:00

What a great tribute to the Elliott / Ferris in this article by Larry Dreiling in "The High Plains / Midwest Ag Journal." Also, we liked them so much we plan to carry some of their beef in our very first product release! Stay tuned, just a few weeks more...

Here's is some raw footage of some of their Charolais and Charolais / Cross bred cattle. Guessing you can spot the difference.

If Ketchup is Ketchup, is Beef Beef?

2007-03-29T17:53:00.000-07:00

There is a disturbingly hilarious Daily Show skit on Comedy Central on the subject of cloned meat. Beware, the subject matter may offend some viewers.

The author of “When Is Prime Not Prime?” (see Daily Business Life) took a more serious crack at the subject and has an interesting take. He argues that if cloning is used to produce a demonstrably superior beef cattle -- say, one that always grades USDA Prime – then eventually all beef producers will begin producing the same (cloned) beef, rendering the once demonstrably superior beef a commodity. Number 2 Corn, redux?

Seems that to be true, there would have to be such a thing as a singularly demonstrably superior beef cattle. There may be from the retail or production point of view -- uniformity could increase throughput and yield and thus improve marginal profitability. Consumers could foreseeably benefit, too, from a more consistent beef eating experience.

But is there really a single “flavor” of beef that is preferred by all people?

Malcolm Gladwell (“The Tipping Point”) wrote a fascinating article in The New Yorker titled “The Ketchup Conundrum.” Basically, he argues that there is no such thing as the perfect spaghetti sauce or the perfect mustard because different people prefer different tastes and textures. And that this rule appears to be true for every food category but one: ketchup. Somehow, Heinz ketchup offers a perfect blend of the 5 “primal” tastes in the human palate: salty, sweet, sour, bitter, and umami. The article concludes with a taste expert shrugging “I guess ketchup is ketchup.”

Could it be true that beef is beef? Is there a perfect blend out there that appeals to virtually every individual in America?

My experience suggests an emphatic “no!” And I for one think this is something to celebrate.

Compliments To The Elliott & Ferris Families

2007-03-22T11:08:00.000-07:00

My colleagues, Carl and Christopher Cosack, visited a Colorado ranch recently and sent me back some samples of the ranch’s dry-aged, grain-finished Charolais and Charolais-cross rib-eye steaks. I was saving the steaks for a special blind taste testing party but my husband didn't know this and accidentally cooked one up.

Hats off to the Elliott and Ferris families who raised this beef. The steak was full of flavor -- it even stood up to some fairly strong competition from the Montreal Steak salt used as a marinade. And it was plenty tender.

It’s worth noting that we cooked up a strip loin from our local butcher alongside the rib-eye. Not a perfectly fair comparison but the strip loin was milder tasting and thus in my opinion a bit overwhelmed by the marinade. FYI, the butcher couldn’t tell us the breed but based on my experience with taste testing, the strip loin was likely Angus-cross, as Angus influence seems to produce a lighter flavor (bland to me, yummy to others.)

Anyway, if you happen to like steak with a lot of flavor, try to get your hands on some dry-aged Charolais beef. Suspect the best way to enjoy the steaks is to serve them naked – once they’re cooked, drizzle a little olive oil and maybe a squeeze of lemon and a dusting of sea salt. But if you want a simple twist, here’s a simple recipe:

Ingredients:

Charolais or Charolais-cross Rib Eye Steaks
At least 1” thick and preferably dry-aged 14-21 days
Montreal Steak salt (MSG-free)
Worcestershire Sauce (we use Lea & Perrins)
Hickory Chips
Aluminum Foil

Preparation:

Generously sprinkle both sides of the steaks with Montreal Steak salt and Worcestershire sauce. Let marinade at room temperature (covered) about 15 minutes while you prepare the grill.

Pre-heat gas or charcoal grill to high (about 475 F). While it’s heating, put a handful or two of hickory chips in a 12” section of foil and fold in the sides and top to create a pouch. Punch 10-20 small holes in the foil pouch and place it on the grill. It will start to smoke.

Sear the steaks on one side for 2-3 minutes (lid closed) and then flip them with a spatula or tongs and reduce the heat to medium high (about 400 F). Grill the steaks to rare or medium rare (or more if you like, though you’ll lose some flavor and tenderness). Let steaks rest at least 5 minutes before cutting and then serve ‘em up, sliced or whole.

Feel free of course to use your own grilling techniques. Just don’t pierce the steaks while they’re cooking or resting or you’ll lose the juices that keep it moist.

Note: I personally recommend that you choose from farm or ranch like Colorado's Best Beef Company that finishes their beef without the use of synthetic growth enhancers (e.g. sub-therapeutic antibiotics or growth hormones). At minimum, they can negatively influence the taste and tenderness of the meat.

Ms. Heifer USA

2007-03-14T09:57:00.000-07:00

I have never seen such a thing: cattle being blow-dried, being groomed so each hair is exactly in its place.

Breeding cattle is serious business and these beauties here at the Western National Stock Show in Denver, Colorado, must be some of the most pampered on the planet. See if you can name the breeds.

A quick blow dry here....

And some fine tuning there:

And if these aren’t crop circles, what are they?

We’ll tell you the answer and come back to why this all matters on another date.

The Great Fish Masquerade

2007-02-25T10:55:00.000-08:00

Seems that the global fish industry is up to something, well, fishy: mislabeling in order to undermine marketing campaigns meant to help consumers choose more eco-friendly fish.

According to an article by Jennifer Jacquet on AlterNet, long-line caught hake (left photo) is out there masquerading as tilapia (right photo), the darling of the sustainable fish movement. The endangered shark is being recast as scallops, flounder, or tuna...

So how do you tell what fish is really on your plate?

The beef industry has the technology to trace specific lots or even specific steaks back to a particular farm or cattle. The technology may not be used much except by some of the better natural or organic beef programs out there. But at least it exists.

Traceability for fish seems a bigger challenge. After all, some fish are still harvested from the open oceans, where there aren't any fences.

I personally think the solution for beef (and other meats) is to leverage source-verification technology to provide complete transparency to the consumer. Let us know the breed, where it was raised, how it was raised, what it ate, where it was slaughtered, etc. and let us vote with our wallets to support sustainability or specific farms or whatever criteria are important to us.

Wondering if anyone is trying to offer up a similar solution for fish.

What In The World Is Pasteurized Beef?

2007-02-24T13:06:00.000-08:00

My husband and I were at a burger chain the other day in Toronto and noticed that the menu claimed their hamburgers were made of "lean pasteurized ground steaks." Neither of us had ever heard of pasteurized steaks and so asked the wait staff. Poor hapless fellow didn't have a clue (indeed, he didn't seem to be aware of the boast in the first place).

When working at Labatt (mmmm, beer) I learned that pasteurization is a process in which foods and beverages are heated to high temperatures in order to reduce the number of pathogens, such as bacteria, in the food. But with burgers, it was my impression that cooking the meat until it is well done would serve the same purpose.

Anyway, I wrote an email to the company but it's been a few weeks with no response so I couldn't resist using a trusty search engine to do a little research. It seems that a few years back, a US Senator from Iowa inserted language into a bill allowing irradiated beef to be labeled as (cold) pasteurized. According to a posting on CommonDreams.org the regulations at the time required irradiated food to be labeled as such in both text and with this symbol (which by the way doesn't look too scary to me and in fact suggests the opposite: green and natural).

Does anyone know whether the Harkin amendment was enacted or what "pasteurized" beef means in Canada?

1,000 Breeds of Cattle (!)

2007-02-23T10:58:00.000-08:00

This book sounds amazing so I ordered it up. Written by Marleen Felius, a Dutch author and illustrator, it has over 800 pages with information, photographs, and illustrations covering more than 1,000 breeds of cattle.

15 months back, when I began my quest for the perfect organic steak, I knew the name of a single breed of beef cattle, Angus, and two dairy cattle, Holstein and Jersey. I do remember driving by some cows near my mom's home that looked suspiciously like Oreo cookies. But I never paused to wonder why it might matter that these funny looking creatures were out there munching blithely on Napa Valley grass. (This is a photo of one that we spotted in December in Palo Alto, CA - turns out they're called Belted Galloways.)

Attend a single day of an agricultural fair and you'll find out that breed matters quite a bit; indeed, breeders are absolutely passionate about why theirs is best. Some breeds have more docile temperaments, adjust better to certain climates or terrain, have stronger maternal instincts, produce smaller calves, are genetically pre-disposed to intra-muscular marbling or have bigger bones and muscles with which to pull a plow. Some breeds are very small (Dexters, originally from southwestern Ireland), medium (Herefords, from England), or large (Charolais, from France).

Better yet, ask a beef rancher how his or her breed tastes compared to others, especially the well-known Angus, and you will spark a most interesting discussion. You see, today's ranchers aren't rewarded by how good their beef tastes. Instead, they're rewarded based on how well the beef pays out at the slaughterhouse, e.g. how much meat you get vs. fat, or "yield."

Now breed alone does not determine taste and tenderness. Probably more important is what the cattle ate, and not just grass or grain but what kind of grass or grain, the specific genetics of each cattle, and how it was raised (see previous entries).

But next time you buy a steak or roast or burger, see if the butcher or retailer can tell you what the breed is and how it will taste compared to other types of beef. Then, please do come tell me the answer, along with whether you like the taste and why. I've tried this and it's not only fun sport, it's illuminating.

Whole Foods Buys Even More Market Power

2007-02-22T07:16:00.000-08:00

Whole Foods has apparently agreed to buy its rival, Wild Oats, for $565 million. This should certainly help them compete against larger rivals, who have stepped up efforts to sell organic and natural products. According to Marketwatch, Whole Foods has been struggling with slow same-store sales and a tough pricing environment. But will the company's increased market power help or hurt organic farmers?

This should make next week's debate between John Mackey, CEO and founder of Whole Foods, and Michael Pollan, investigative journalist, pictured below, even more interesting.

Bad News for Grass Finished Beef?

2007-02-21T14:35:00.000-08:00

Allan Nation reports in his new blog that Whole Foods, to meet demand for grass-finished beef, is slaughtering cattle that are well short of being ready for market. The short-term result is a poor eating experience for the customer. The long-term result may be that people get turned off of grass-finished beef, thinking it's not as good as grain-finished. This could be very bad news for those of us who prefer a high quality, grass-finished beef. I'm hopeful this topic will be addressed by Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma, and Whole Foods CEO John Mackey during their upcoming debate in Berkeley on February 27th.

The other sad news was a story I read in the January 2007 edition of The Stockman Grass Farmer. Apparently, Mesquite Organic Beef, a Colorado based certified organic grass-fed beef company, went out of business because Wild Oats decided to switch vendors from Mesquite to an Australian grass-fed beef program which offered a lower price. I can't vouch for Mesquite's beef as I've never tasted it, but I am saddened for the founder and his team, including the ranchers, farmers, and processors, who undoubtedly worked very hard to build this program.

Farm to Fork II

2007-02-19T14:16:00.000-08:00

Rather than explore the negatives of the current system, let’s discuss the potential positives when the number of steps on the way from farm to slaughterhouse are reduced. Note: keep in mind that I am not an expert in raising livestock. However, I’ve spent the last 14 months learning as much as I can about the subject. I encourage you to learn more on your own and will cite authoritative references or other opinions when relevant.

Better Quality. Logic alone suggests that the longer a particular manager or family watches over a particular herd, the more they will get to know the individual cattle and be able to spot opportunities or trouble in advance. It works the other way, too: the livestock get used to a single management style, voice, process, and surroundings. We all know that change can cause stress. With fewer disruptions, cattle are apt to be healthier and produce better quality meat.

Fewer Diseases. In general, the closer you keep your system, the fewer chances of transferring diseases. Just like what happens in a daycare center or an office building, bringing livestock together from different places and putting them in confined quarters increases the likelihood of their getting sick. Today’s proscribed solution is to add antibiotics at the sub therapeutic level to the cattle feed as a preventative measure. I'd personally rather eat meat from beef animals that have been raised in such a way as to keep them healthy without such measures.

Less Pollution. The less the beef is moved, the fewer gallons of fossil fuel needed to bring it to market. In addition, properly managed farms and ranches actually help sequester carbon. The data is pretty compelling that confined animal operations create the opposite effect. Take a look at this article from The Rolling Stone called “Boss Hog” or get a copy of Michael Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” for further reading.

Farm to Fork

2007-02-13T07:47:00.000-08:00

A lot of us are starting to care about the source of our food – we want to know what’s on our plate and how it got there.

I was personally surprised to learn that the average beef animal passes through some 4-5 hands before it even gets to the slaughterhouse door. Why might this matter? Here’s my take. Would love to hear yours.

First, here are some possible benefits of this system:

Specialization. It allows farms to get really good at doing one thing, e.g. breeding, raising calves, getting calves ready for the backgrounder or feedlot.

Cash Flow. It can take up to 2 years to raise beef cattle to market size (and more for some styles). That’s a long time to go without being paid.

Economies of scale. In principle, it allows farms with only a small number of cattle to find a market. For instance, auction houses can bundle cattle from different farms into groups that are then easier to sell. It takes 40,000 lbs of livestock (about 40 market-weight cattle or up to 80 calves) to efficiently fill a truckload on the way to a feedlot.

What about the negatives? Let’s explore those in the next post.

We can also ponder what the dollar signs mean in the image below.

Last Cattle Drive of the Year

2006-12-06T14:22:00.000-08:00

Ever wanted to take part in a real cattle drive? If you're like me, playing like Billy Crystal in City Slickers looks like a good deal of fun. But there is a different story out there, one that we'd like to share. One that goes behind the stereotypes and tells the real story. Please join us on our journey.

In early December, my colleague Peter Norris and our friendly camera crew paid a visit to Peace Valley Ranch and the Rawhide Adventures dude ranch to join trail boss, Carl Cosack (aka Crusty) as he and his band of earnest and hearty guests brought 140 of his Black Angus cows and their calves down from the North Ranch to their winter pastures closer to the ranch home.

Tucked in the Hills of Headwaters near the Georgian Bay in Southern Ontario, PVR is a gem. While it is definitely beautiful, more importantly, it is authentic. We invite you to live a little vicariously and come along for the ride. We need to work on this a bit (e.g. add commentary to say what's going on) but here's a first cut!

Now a bit of background: Peace Valley Ranch isn't your typical cattle operation so this was no ordinary cattle drive. First of all, Carl is adamant that his herd be managed by a careful, low stress dance between man and beast. Using aircraft, motorbikes, or ATVs to move the ladies and their little ones is strictly Verboten! Instead, Carl trains his patrons how to ride (western, of course) on one of the 24 horses who live on the ranch and ensures that everyone treats the cattle with the greatest of respect.

Why not go the easy route and round'em up on an ATV? Because as Carl puts it, its just not natural or respectful of animals. And because of this simple fact: just like with humans, stress can be harmful to cattle and ultimately, can even lead to lousy tasting steaks. More on this another day.

Second of all, Peace Valley Ranch raises cattle all the way from birth to finish. Let me tell you a little secret: most cattle pass through at least 4-5 hands before they are taken "to market." Not to your supermarket or butcher but before the beautiful beasts even make it to the slaughterhouse doors. Take a look at this image to learn more and we'll check back in with you to give you an exclusive, behind the scenes glimpse of why this matters.

Come join us next week and learn for yourself, Straight From The Top.