Greenwood Gourmet Grocery

Posted on October 23, 2011 by hautepasture

I am a little late this year since I’ve been in Asia, but yesterday I took my annual pumpkin-buying trip to Greenwood Gourmet, just west of Charlottesville. I love that place.

It was hard to choose! I ended up with a regular orange pumpkin, a funky gray pumpkinoid, and a pretty two-tone green and yellow gourd.

While there, I checked out their local food offerings–they carry local meats, cheese, produce, and wine. In the middle of the store was a big display with local Henley’s Orchard apples.

According to their web site, Henley’s sells pasture-raised beef, in addition to 38 varieties of apples, and 28 types of peaches. And speaking of happy meat…

…a whole case of it, from Wolf Creek Farm, Polyface Farms, and Free Union Grass Farm, all farms that raise animals on pasture with kindness and respect, and without pumping them full of antibiotics, hormones, and corn.

I made one last stop at the cheese counter.

Meadow Creek Dairy makes several kinds of cheese from its herd of healthy, happy cows. (Note to veggies: they use rennet in their cheese production.)

Fall is the perfect time to visit Greenwood Gourmet! While you’re stocking up on gourds, pick up some local, natural foods.

HP in Asia stop #3: Tokyo

Posted on October 22, 2011 by hautepasture

Daytime meals in Tokyo (i.e., not at a real restaurant) were somewhat of a challenge for me. I loved the street food in Singapore; the majority of my meals there were veggie curries. Hong Kong had that lovely natural foods grocery with the food court, and I got several meals there. Tokyo had meat, meat, and more meat. And weird soy products. After guessing at ingredients at various food stalls the first afternoon, I finally went with this for lunch:

The next day I was starving in the Harajuku area and came upon this t-shirt display. What the heck?

I think I’ve seen the Sesame Street one before. The KFC one is a strange picture for someone to want to wear, but whatever. I don’t get the Ronald McDonald bear attack. I really just left those three in the picture to show the complete display of meat shirts.

But the top three are just awful! Animals with sad faces because they were served their own type of meat or eggs? That’s gross and depressing.

That’s all. Nothing intellectual or meaningful today. Just sharing my dismay.

How do you say “happy chickens” in Chinese?

Posted on October 18, 2011 by hautepasture

These people know!

Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden

Everybody can help to make a difference, every day, through small choices and lifestyle changes that can have big impacts to the general health and well-being of the planet.

While wandering around Hong Kong, looking for a Pret in Central, Mr. HP and I came upon a woman selling eggs and displaying this:

She didn’t understand my questions, but gave me a flyer for Kadoorie Farm. It’s too far from downtown to visit on this trip, like the Singapore goat farm, but it’s a great educational resource for the city-folk, and I hope it gets many visitors.

From the poultry section of their site:

Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG) raises chickens in a healthy living environment. In 2004, we adopted “natural” poultry farming practices. We care about animal welfare and treat our chickens with dignity. They are free to roam, enjoy fresh air in their living area and can stay outdoors. We do not use antibiotics or growth hormones. This is different from ‘factory-farms’ where large numbers of animals are tightly packed, crowded together. We believe a healthy environment is critical for bringing up strong and healthy animals. We have also set up a waste management system to recycle organic resources generated from our poultry into compost for use in organic farming of vegetables and fruits.

For the past 50 years, KFBG has worked to improve livestock farming. In the early history of the Farm, one of our main goals was to help local farmers by raising and supplying quality livestock, namely, chickens and pigs. Today, we still keep a family of 11 pigs as a heritage display and maintain a natural poultry farming system with about 2,000 chickens.

The farm has walking trails, educational displays, a cafe, flower and vegetable gardens, an aviary, and a pig sty, in addition to the chicken farm. Sounds like a lovely place for locals to spend a few hours enjoying the environment and learning about responsible consumerism.

(Bonus: while researching this post, I learned there’s a Pret only 2 blocks from my hotel!)

HP in HK

Posted on October 16, 2011 by hautepasture

Greetings from smoggy Hong Kong!

In my wanderings, I stumbled upon ThreeSixty, Hong Kong’s largest organic/natural foods store. I headed straight for the egg section to see the egg choices available to responsible Chinese consumers (and zillions of ex-pats, and many tourists, from the looks of the clientele). The eggs were all free-range, pastured, happy eggs, from Washington State and New Zealand. (Too bad they have to be shipped in from so far away.)

Interesting that the New Zealand eggs are sold in 10-packs!

From ThreeSixty’s site:

We are committed to sustainable consumption. We believe in relationships based on trust, honesty and integrity. We will partner with organisations that share our vision and demonstrate a similar commitment to our planet and its inhabitants.

Prices weren’t bad, and there was a food court upstairs with many different types of cuisines on offer. Cheers to ThreeSixty!

Hay! Goats in Singapore!

Posted on October 11, 2011 by hautepasture

There’s a goat farm in tiny, densely populated Singapore! Unfortunately, it’s a hour and a half to get there by public transport, so I can’t visit.

Hay Dairies is a small farm producing goat milk for the local market. The photo gallery shows the goats in a metal-floored enclosure instead of frolicking in pastures, so maybe it’s best that I can’t visit. They do look clean and healthy, though, and the FAQ says no growth hormones or (unnecessary, presumably) antibiotics are administered.

I hope local families and school take advantage of the opportunity to visit the farm. It’s good for urban children to learn where their food comes from.

In closing, a picture of my favorite sheep, Artos. (I don’t have a goat picture handy.) Enjoy!

Singaporean cow art

Posted on October 11, 2011 by hautepasture

I saw this lovely sculpture in Fort Canning Park’s sculpture garden:

Isn’t it a wonderful reminder that cows are animals, not just food machines? Cows should be respected. [Even though I don’t eat them, I am not against it–as long as beef eaters are careful to eat cows that were treated well and slaughtered humanely.]

In the news

Posted on October 10, 2011 by hautepasture

Haute Pasture has been busy preparing for a trip to Asia. While we are slacking on the real posts, here are some headlines:

‘We Support Agriculture’ combats animal rights initiatives in Nebraska: A new political action group, formed by the Nebraska Cattlemen, Nebraska Farm Bureau, Nebraska Poultry Industries, Nebraska Pork Producers Association and the Nebraska State Dairy Association, is organizing to protect themselves from regulations, such as the banning of gestation crates.

Kaparot: Jewish leaders want to end animal killing: Some Jewish leaders are calling for the end of the kaparot tradition, in which chickens are ritually slaughtered. Jewish law is strict about the care of animals, and many feel kaparot is abusive.

‘Food, Inc.’ Wins News and Documentary Emmy Award: Good review of the documentary from Audubon Magazine’s blog.

Hoping to learn and post some insights about farm animal rights in Asia over the next couple weeks!

Haute Pasture

raising awareness of farm animal welfare

Monthly Archives: October 2011