Down to Earth - Raising Cattle, Kids and Consciousness

USDA researching (and supporting) localizing food production

Sara — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:45:14 +0000

Encouraging news (via the American Farmland Trust): The USDA-ARS (Ag Research Service) is actively researching and supporting on the feasibility and actuality of eating local on the East Coast. The idea is to ultimately build a map that shows where, along the nation’s East Coast, people would have the opportunity to buy locally produced food — [...]

Great Beef, it out there and it’s local

Sara — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 14:21:53 +0000

I often encounter reluctance to try local pastured meats (much less pay a premium price for them) because there is a general bias in this country that “grain fed” is higher quality. I suspect most of Wild Type Ranch’s first-time customers buy our beef because of one or more of the following reasons; we’re local, [...]

Carpe tortuga

Sara — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:38:13 +0000

Sometimes we need a little reminder about our “highest calling” in this life. It’s a tough time to be in business for one’s self, and to be in the ranching business seems to be even tougher. Sometimes, my husband and I think we’d be better off just holding the ranch as an investment in land, rather [...]

Responsible ground beef, how can it compete?

Sara — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 01:50:16 +0000

This is a post that’s been begging to be written ever since the NY Times article came out. In fact, I could write several posts, but I’ll restrain myself. Ground beef is the protein backbone of the American diet. For such a food staple, people are surprisingly ignorant about how it is processed. Even Chowhound admitted [...]

Let’s not throw out the baby

Sara — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 14:51:09 +0000

From my very first post, I’ve maintained that local/alternative/progressive or whatever label you want to use is not an either/or choice for American Agriculture. Deputy Secretary of Ag, Kathleen Merrigan, said it very eloquently and completely yesterday as she discussed the KYF2 (Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food) program more in-depth. Our food production and distribution [...]

Getting your children to ENJOY veggies and fruits

Sara — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 13:08:45 +0000

Jenny at Nourished Kitchen commented that enjoying fruits and veggies is the key to getting kids to eat them and eat healthier. She says it as well or better than I could. I especially enjoyed her comments about the long-term effect on food preferences of eating a varied diet when breastfeeding. I am lucky to have [...]

Local Food: Use it or lose it

Sara — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:10:47 +0000

Selling at the three local farmer’s markets is usually a high point of my week. After three years, Wild Type Ranch has a solid customer base. It’s like catching up with friends, as I ask about how the roast turned out that they cooked for visiting family, how the steaks cooked for the hot date, [...]

Do you Know Your Farmer?

Sara — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:42:40 +0000

A new USDA initiative was recently launched (thanks, SlashFood) designed to reconnect consumers with their food and to stimulate local food economies. The $65 million dollar “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” program aims to break down some of the barriers that keep local food systems from thriving. It’s great to see the USDA getting involved [...]

Would veal by any other name still taste as sweet?

Sara — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:48:13 +0000

About six weeks ago, Wild Type Ranch (our family business) harvested its first European-style, pasture-raised, milk-and-grass-fed veal. It’s been a lesson in the workings of ag-bureauracracy. 99% or more of the veal harvested in this country is “milk-fed veal”, meaning it is primarily from dairy bull calves removed from the cow at birth, fed only milk [...]

No need to avoid beef, if you know its source

Sara — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:39:14 +0000

The latest E. coli-related beef recall has prompted me to stop unpacking moving boxes long enough to post. Obama Foodarama is urging people to “avoid beef like the plague“, pointing out that the recall is voluntary, so there is no guarantee that the recalled beef is actually being pulled from the shelves. On top of [...]