Buy local meat and eggs

Buy your meat and eggs from local farmers. Don't support the market pressures that create monsters like Austin DeCoster, now responsible for a national outbreak of salmonella and nearly half a billion eggs being recalled from the market, due to the appalling conditions of his "farms".

Sure, local meat costs a lot more, but think about what makes 99-cents-a-dozen-eggs even possible. Before the environmentally destructive practice of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) became commonplace, eating meat for the vast majority of us was far more a luxury as demand far outstripped supply, and most eggs came from the backyard hen house.

The costs you "save" by buying factory farmed meat and eggs are merely being passed on to the communities and exploited workers affected by the producers unethical practices.

In the summer months most neighborhood farmers markets feature local producers - Black Earth Meats, for example. Another option is to join a meat CSA or co-op, such as the one at True Nature Foods in Edgewater, where you can have access to locally pastured, grass-fed beef, pork, and chicken, as well as fresh eggs.

The shells are much stronger and the yolks a bright orange from the levels of beta carotene in their diet. The beef cooks faster and has a more wild taste from the abundance of grass it eats that the animal evolved to consume. Also, consider that corn-fed beef is far more likely to contain stomach-acid-resistant e. Coli bacteria, since the environment of a corn-packed rumen (the organ that converts grass to protein) is highly acidic. The outbreaks of this pathogen are not coincidental with the rise of CAFOs.

CAFOs also present some of the most dangerous working conditions imaginable, and take advantage of illegal migrant labor.

In search of a better burger

After I started this blog and linked it to my twitter account, I soon connected with several grass-fed beef advocates, such as The Meat Goat and Only Grass-fed. One day The Meat Goat tweeted about Duke O'Brien's Alehouse in Crystal Lake, and their burger special that night, featuring the grass-fed beef The Meat Goat distributes, from Black Earth Meats, in Madison, Wisconsin.

Noticing that the Metra station was just across the street from Duke's, I thought a trip up there could be a perfect weekend adventure. And what a better counterpoint to a thousand calorie dinner than a thousand calorie bike ride? Taking advantage of Google's new bicycling option for maps directions, I found a nice 10 mile route to nearby Moraine Hills State Park. Metra allows bikes on the trains during off-peak hours, so plans were made.

Patty and I packed a simple picnic lunch of some leftovers from a barbecue the night before, plus a little cheese and some PBRs. Then we caught the 12:45 north bound Union Pacific Northwest Line out of the Irving Park station.



The ride to the park could only have been more perfect if it was all on bike path, instead of just 80 percent trail. We rode north on the Prairie Path Trail (and up and down some pretty substantial hills, considering I had my girlfriend in tow!) to Bull Valley Road, and then took that east to the junction with the S. River Road bike trail, which skirted the edge of Moraine Hills State Park.



Inside is a five mile loop of crushed limestone over more hills and past wetlands traversed by a maze of boardwalk. We dismounted and walked the bikes out to some benches by the waterfront; then enjoyed some PBR and our light lunch.



After an hour or so inside the park, riding and eating, we returned to Crystal Lake and found a seat at the bar of Duke's Alehouse, and ordered two Tallgrass burgers, made with Black Earth Farms grass-fed beef. We also split the beet salad, which included endives, pears and Gorgonzola (always a great pairing), and pecans. I had a salad, Patty the sweet-potato fries, and we shared both, as well.



Grass-fed beef has much healthier fats, rich in unsaturated and omega-3, due to the cow's exclusive diet of leafy green grass, rather than omega-6 and empty-calorie packed corn. Grass-finished beef cooks faster, and has a tangy, almost nutty flavor, like bison, dense with protein. The burger, served medium-rare on a pretzel roll, did not disappoint. I had farm-produced cheddar on mine, Patty chose Gouda.



A perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon with a loved one, enjoying the misunderstood and seldom experienced unique items such as Duke's and bike paths that the suburbs have to offer.

First local produce of the year!

Spring is here! What a weekend...78 miles yesterday with the XXX team ride in sunny, 45+ temperatures, and today, the first fresh produce of the year, local apples!

As I sit here typing this I am munching on a Northern Spy apple purchased this morning at the Logan Square winter farmer's market, at the Congress Theater in Logan Square. Juicy with a nice crunch and full-mouth feel, dry yet sweet at the same time, I've never heard of Northern Spy apples, which cost me $4 for 5.

Also into my messenger bag went a basked (5) of 2nd choice (damaged? but tasty!) Honeycrisp apples. (I'm a bad blogger sometimes, I neglected to get the information from this particular vendor.)

I took home my usual two pouches of grass-fed ground beef, plus one pouch of stew beef, from Black Earth Farms, via the Meat Goat. I have alluded to this before in past posts, but grass-finished beef contains less fat, healthier fat (with a proper ratio of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids), and comes from far healthier cows. Healthier because a properly functioning rumen (the organ - an "extra stomach - that basically turns the grass ingested into protein), one that isn't packed with starchy silage corn, doesn't promote the growth of digestive-resistant E. coli bacteria. The primary health-safety concern of commercially-produced, corn-finished beef.

Grass-fed beef has a more complex taste with several flavors, a gamy, chewier texture, and fuller mouth feel. It also cooks much faster because it has less fat. Do not drain the ground beef that you cook, and when cook steaks, be sure to let it rest, to allow the juices to redistribute throughout the piece.

Shepard's Pie and beef stir fry are on tap this week.

New this week, I took home three jars of Tomato Mountain goodness: fiery habanero and smoky chipotle salsas, plus a tomato basil pasta sauce which I plan on using for a Black Earth meat sauce and gnocchi dish later in the week.



Finally, also for the first time, I bought some organically, naturally raised and pastured bacon (well, pigs, that the bacon came from) from Jake's Country Meats. I plan on using this with some Swiss Chard and cheese I'll get from the Family Fruit Market in Portage Park later this afternoon.

Food errands are my favorite errands.

Hump Day

I just came out from under a rock, apparently, in starting this blog. My friend Tina alerted me to a relatively (late 2009) new resource for "locavores," (which I'd also never heard of) localyolkel.com.

What is specifically so great about this site is its CSA guide.

I'd really appreciate any feedback or reviews on any of these producers from those of you that have experience with them.

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I really enjoyed Freakonomics when it first came out, but the contributors have really begun to lose my interest, with their proclivity for cleverness and "betcha-didn't-think-of-that,-didja"-ness over actual research and factual data to back up their smarminess. (Okay, more than losing favor.) Actually, I was on their side on the whole global warming solutions flap that blew up during the book's preview, as you'll see here. But, when the book's release revealed they were just cavalierly suggesting global warming would basically fix itself and that everybody was just a bunch of Chicken-littles, well...

Today, at the Freakonomics blog, they dug themselves another ad-homonym hole with a little discussion about grass-fed beef. My own comment is linked here.