Your dinner may come from the grocery store,
but it grew up somewhere. Ideally, it
was raised naturally and humanely.
WRITTEN BY NANCY HORN, PHOTOS BY CAROLE TOPALIAN
I used to lie in a hammock under a lilac tree, swinging and thinking about my grown-up food life, and whether I could have a farm. I wanted clucking chickens that would lay fresh eggs, a brown spotted cow to milk, furry sheep to shave for sweaters, and chubby pigs for bacon made in the smoker my husband would fashion from some scrap lumber. I would compost and use the trimmings in my vegetable garden. I would wear a bonnet.
I was a Little House on the Prairie devotee, so these girlhood fantasies seemed attainable at the time. If you’ve ever read Little House in the Big Woods you’ll remember that the Ingalls family, doggedly homesteading in the late 1800s, lived off the land, with no store or even another house for miles and miles.
But is a local edible life possible in 2010? Do you have to sacrifice all modern comforts and live off the grid to be a responsible, educated eater? Nope. But you do have to make a few strides to educate yourself about what’s available locally and why it’s important to eat good, clean produce, dairy products, and meats.
Imagine, if you will, the perfect breakfast plate: Crispy bacon, perfectly prepared eggs, toast slathered with butter, and a cup of steaming coffee in your favorite mug.
If you’re like most people you picked up these items from the grocery store. Everything nice and neatly packaged. If you thought about where the bacon, eggs, and cream came from, you’d imagine pigs running around and mucking in the mud, chickens pecking grasses for slugs and bugs, and contented cows standing on a far-ranging field, being filmed for cheese commercials.
REALITY CHECK
Unfortunately, the scene in your head is not reality. Not by a long shot. According to calculations by Farm Forward, based on the USDA’s 2002 Census of Agriculture, more than 99 percent of all animals raised for meat and eggs are part of a vast industrial factory farming system. The animals are housed in football-field-sized buildings with no access to sun on their backs, dirt under their feet, or space to move around.
Gone are the days of the local farmer with a few pigs, cows, chickens, and crops. In the 1950s there were more than 3 million farmers raising pigs. In 2004, according to the USDA, the number was only 69,420. Today the number is less than 60,000.
Finally, in the ‘70s, just 30 years ago, the top five meat packers controlled about 25 percent of the market. Today, the top four As more people learn this information, they are deciding it’s time to change their buying habits. A study on behalf of the United Egg Producers by Golin/Harris Research in the last quarter of 2003 found that three out of four American consumers (75 percent) would choose food products certified as protecting animal care over those that are not.
When I saw this statistic I was confused. If 75 percent of American consumers are willing to choose humane food products why couldn’t I find anything other than a few free-range chickens in the local grocery store? I’m guessing the problem is education. Most folks don’t understand how to tell if the meat they are purchasing is humanely raised or hormone free. Let this guide get you started.
A BETTER WAY
- Demand hormone-free, humanely raised meats at local stores. You might think one person changing their consumption won’t make an impact. But Nicolette Hahn Niman, author of Righteous Porkchop, attorney, livestock rancher, and wife of Bill Niman (founder of Niman Ranch meats), says a single shopper is the source of power when it comes to changing how stores stock their meat departments.
“Individuals and their consumer choices are crucial to changing how food is produced in the United States,” she says. “The political system is heavily influenced by industries that benefit from the current system –– especially drug, chemical, and agribusiness companies like Monsanto. Every time an individual asks for or buys a product, it’s helping to build the demand for that kind of food production. People I know who are involved in the grocery trade tell me that they will try carrying a product if the customers ask for it –– sometimes even if just one person asks. The power we each have as consumers is huge.”BEEF Beef cows have the best life of any farm animal by far, but the majority are given hormones and fed a variety of antibiotics. These drugs fend off problems we create when we feed cows corn, which they were not meant to eat. Their stomachs are meant to ruminate grass. Generally, cows are raised on pasture for two thirds of their lives. Then herds board trucks and are driven to large feedlots, whose byproducts are a major environmental hazard. Look for grass-fed beef, raised without antibiotics or microbial drugs, atWhole Foods Market, Trader Joe’s, Raley’s, Scolari’s, and local ranches in Northern Nevada and Northern California.
PORK According to Nicolette Niman, more than 90 percent of pigs raised in the United States are raised in total confinement in large buildings. Pigs are considered more intelligent than dogs. So if you love your dog, consider purchasing pork products raised on pasture or deep straw bedding. Make sure the pork you buy was raised without antibiotics. Do not trust a label that says “natural.” It means nothing. For example, mushrooms grow naturally, but some are poisonous. Look instead for “free range,” “antibiotic free,” and “humanely raised.” Buy pork from Trader Joe’s,Whole Foods Market, Raley’s, Scolari’s, or local ranches in Northern Nevada and Northern California.
LAMB Like beef cows, most lamb is raised on pasture. Look for animals raised in the United States, and make sure they were not in confinement. Look for “hormone free” or “grass fed.” You can buy lamb at Whole Foods Market, Trader Joe’s, Raley’s, Scolari’s, or local ranches in Northern Nevada and Northern California.
CHICKEN The majority of chickens are raised in the same fashion as pork: in large confinement buildings with little room to move around and little or no access to sunlight. Look for chickens raised without antibiotics and raised on pasture. If the label doesn’t have any indication of this, assume the chickens were raised in confinement. Look for “free range” or “organic.”
EGGS Chickens in factory-farmed operations are stuffed into small containers called “battery cages.” The living quarters of chickens measure less than an 8½-by-11-inch piece of paper. They are crammed into wire cages with many other chickens. They can’t move around or stretch their wings, and they defecate on the chickens below them. Look for “cage-free,” “organic,” or, better yet, source locally or raise your own.
- Participate in a CSA .
- Look for farms online. For ideas, visit NevadaGrown.com, eatwild.com, localharvest.org, and slowfoodreno.com. Seek restaurants that source sustainable products and serve locally grown produce, such as NevadaGrown participants.
- Make eating seasonally and humanely raised meats a priority, and justify the cost. It can be more expensive. But it’s a matter of shifting priorities.
“When I started spending more on my food, I cut back on other purchases like clothes and CDs,” Nicolette Niman says. “Each of us can make similar choices if we understand what’s at stake, starting with our own health. There are also lots of ways to make sustainably raised food more affordable. They include: buying things when they are in season, buying whole animals or sides of meat, using less popular (but equally nutritious and delicious cuts of meat), and raising some of your own food.” So get educated, get hungry, and get shopping!
Nancy Horn owns Dish Café & Catering in Reno. She is passionate about serving and eating hormone-free, humanely raised meats. Her joy comes from nurturing souls with well-prepared meals served with love.
RECIPE
ROASTED SPRING LAMB AND ARUGULA SANDWICH WITH CARAMELIZED ONION AND GOAT CHEESE
