Niman's fighting back.

Look what's on the cover of Time Magazine this week!

Beef. Mmmm...
While browsing the magazines today, this pile of meat caught my eye. I assumed that the article wouldn't present me with any new information, but I was happy that such a major magazine was hopefully going to hit mainsteam Americans over the head with information about what's really in their cheap meats.

Surprised was I to find (along with some lovely charts and graphs) that the article was mostly about Bill Niman and his new business ventures! Bill and Nicolette Hahn Niman are part of a movement to raise happy cows that roam freely on happy grass that 1% of happy, healthy and (possibly) wealthy Americans eat.

How lovely of them. And I'll surely seek our their meats. But that might not be as easy as one may think, if one is a newcomer to organic meat purchasing.

Many apologies, I don't want to be negative. I just have a concern about the article.

The Time Magazine article is not referring to the Niman Ranch animals and meats that you can buy (somewhat) cheaply and in bulk from your local Costco. This is Bill and Nicolette's new venture since leaving Niman Ranch in 2007. Niman Ranch products are better choices than most suppliers as they support small farmers are "natural," but they are not organic. Niman Ranch isn't trying to trick you, they say so right here.

Please, read the whole article... I'm all for educating the general public about how to better take care of themselves, our animals, and the land, but please take the initiative and do some research for yourself. Because isn't that the point? Don't just blindly buy what's being sold to you!

lady (butchers) who lunch

I've been on Project: Weight Gain for a while now. It really isn't going that well, but in the last few weeks, I've been asked by my nutritionist to keep track of my eating and calories. In beginning, it was novel, but I'm getting bored with it. And possibly obsessive.

Maybe I should combine Project: Weight Gain with Project: Food Stylist!

Here's what the project would look like in regards to today's lunch:

-organic boneless skinless chicken breast (180 calories) sauteed in 1/2 tablespoon olive oil (60 calories), lemon juice, basil, oregano, and one clove of garlic (20 calories)

-1/4 red bell pepper (10 calories)

-organic green leaf lettuce with onion and white wine vinegar (20 calories)

-organic brown rice cake* (70 calories)

-1/3 cup organic frozen strawberries and blackberries with fresh mint from my windowsill mint plant that I've somehow managed to keep alive (25 calories)

Total: 385 calories (I've been trying to eat every three hours, so that's about what I can handle per "meal.")

Totally boring? Probably. But maybe I can improve my food photography and my diet simultaneously?

*I am lazy and don't often have the patience to cook a pot of brown rice, so I've become quite dependant on Lundberg brown rice cakes. Excellent and super convenient for you gluten-free people out there.

daily burger, number fifteen.

Organic hamburger, caprese-style and stuffed with prosciutto. Homemade roasted red peppers; olives.

"You put the 'ham' back in 'hamburger,'" said the man.

My kitchen, DTLA, CA., 6:55, May 14, 2009.

wild-eating

i came across this wonderful site yesterday. eat wild is a super great resource for any information one could want about grass-fed meats and the small ranches that put the effort into their production.
and here's a list of grass-fed meat producers in california, complete with heaps of information on each ranch, including products, contact info, and web links. we're not just talking about beef either, there are listings for lamb, goat, bison, pork, chicken (and eggs), turkey, duck, cheeses, and even pet foods.
who knew it could be so easy to find so many happy meat sources?!

more beef stats.

just came across this article what's your beef that i thought was noteworthy. nothing new, but a good little guide to what all of the confusing labels we see on meat actually mean (natural, organic, grass-fed, etc.). at the end of the article, there is an interview with betty fussell, author of raising steaks. neat-o!

costco findings and clarifications

here's some information regarding the state of costco's meats.

costco's high end meats (available online) are mainly supplied by niman ranch, the um, costco of natural livestock. i'm not saying that like it is a bad thing, just stating a fact. niman ranch actually partners with family farms and basically enables them to maintain their livelihood while providing an alternative to "factory farming."

that said, the meats they provide are "natural," not organic. here's the difference. in order to be certified as organic, all of the grains the animals eat (that's right, they are pasture-raised early in life and grain fed later) must be certified organic, which would raise consumer costs exponentially. would it be worth it? guess that's up to us. anyway, natural meat (according to the USDA) means minimally processed meats with no artificial ingredients. but they also claim to raise their animals without antibiotics or hormones and on 100% vegetarian feed.


and here's why they are the "costco" of natural farming-- they lord over about 600 small farmers who provide meat to chipotle (yes, that chipotle, the one previously owned by mcdonalds) and hundreds of other restaurants ranging from chain to relatively high-end across the country. is this a good thing or a criticism? that's for you to decide!

regular costco meats (think: kirkland signature brand) are all USDA choice, the second highest ranking on the meat scale which means 4-8% fat with modest marbling and free of artificial ingredients, hormones, and antibiotics.

here's some fun facts:

-costco sells about 150 million lbs. of ground beef annually
-they are the largest buyer of USDA choice meats (check out this article)
-the company has more than 50 million cardholders, many of whom pay a $50 annual fee
-Costco obtains its beef from four major suppliers—Wichita, Kan.-based Cargill Meat Solutions Inc., Greeley, Colo.-based JBS Swift & Co., Kansas City, Mo.-based National Beef Packing Co. LLC and Dakota Dunes, S.D.-based Tyson Fresh Meats Inc.
-many fresh meat selections are cut by in-store butchers- each location typically has between five and 25 butchers, depending on volume...
here's a good article on the stats, if you're interested.

this was just based on bits of research i did. i'm not sure what my conclusion is and honestly, i am not currently a card-carrying costco member. when i have visited costco, i get very excited by their wine, cheese, meat, and produce sections, but completely freaked out that if i want to buy sugar, i have to buy twenty pounds and toothbrushes come in packs of twelve.

the hip and healthy butchers!

while looking for a good wine pairing chart, i came across this site.
http://www.thehealthybutcher.com/
i really love what they're doing.. and in canada! those canadians, you never know what they're up to! i was pleasantly surprised and inspired to see that it is run by a young, hip-looking group of people with a really great mission-- to be an old-fashioned butcher shop providing their customers with with fresh, local, organic meats. what more could you want? butchering and cooking classes, did you say? weekly newsletters with recipes? they do that, too.

oh, the wine chart.
http://www.thehealthybutcher.com/livetoeat/volume11/TheHealthyButcher-WinePairingGuide.pdf

and also, my recommended reading for the week:


here's the blurb from the inside cover:
"For all of history, minus the last thirty years, fat has been at the center of human diets and cultures. When scientists theorized a link between saturated fat and heart disease, industry, media, and government joined forces to label fat a greasy killer, best avoided. But according to Jennifer McLagan, not only is fat phobia overwrought, it also hasn't benefited us in any way. Instead it has driven us into the arms of trans fats and refined carbohydrated, and fostered punitive, dreary attitudes toward food-- that wellspring of life and pleasure.
In Fat, McLagan sets out with equal parts passion, scholarship, and appetite to win us back to a healthy relationship with animal fats. She starts by defusing fat's bad rap, both reminding us of what we already know-- that fat is fundamental to the flavor of our food-- and enlightening us with the many ways fat (yes, even animal fat) is indespensable to our health.
Mostly, though, Fat is about pleasures, the satisfactions of handling good ingredients skillfully, learning the cultural associations of these primal foodstuffs, recollecting and creating personal memories of beloved dishes, and gratifying the palate and the soul with fat's irreplacable savor..."
(image and text courtesy of http://www.amazon.com/)

i know what i'll be using my next border's coupon on!

coming soon!

as good of a place as any to start.
please join me on my journey to become a young female butcher in los angeles!
yes, we're talking cutter of meats.
maker of sausages.
slicer of bacons!
discoverer of farms where cows roam free and grow to become the steaks i have learned to love.

pleased to accept any helpful hints along the way.