Category Archives: Educate Yourself

Free online course: An Introduction to the U.S. Food System

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Yesterday I began a free online course from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health through their OpenCourseWare program. It’s a 6-week, at your pace course called An Introduction to the U.S. Food System. Each week’s module contains video lectures, related readings, and a quiz. I’m halfway through the first module’s lectures, and I am very pleased with the course format and the information delivered thus far. It feels like a serious course, not something quickly thrown together and dumbed down for the masses. Here is the list of weekly modules:

  • Week 1: Introduction to Food Systems, Equity and the Environment
  • Week 2: Food Systems, Food Security and Public Health
  • Week 3: Public Health and Environmental Implications of Industrial Models of Food Production
  • Week 4: Food and Farm Policy
  • Week 5: Alternative Approaches to Food Production
  • Week 6: Diet, Food Environments, and Food Access

I’ll post interesting tidbits here, but it’s not too late if you want to sign up yourself! Click here to go to the Coursera site.

Which animal welfare charities do you support?

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year! As we approach the close of 2012, many of us are reflecting on the people and organizations that affected us over the last 12 months. It’s time to tell those you appreciate how important they are to you. If you are fortunate enough to be able to contribute financially to charities, and are looking for organizations that support farm animal welfare, here are some recommendations:

Animal Welfare Institute

What do they do for farm animals?

Today, one of our greatest areas of emphasis is cruel animal factories, which raise and slaughter pigs, cows, chickens and other animals. The biggest are in our country, and they are expanding worldwide.

What does Charity Navigator think of them?

4 out of 4 stars, 64.91 out of 70 overall rating

Humane Society of the US

What do they do for farm animals?

They have active campaigns in the following areas: Cruel confinement of farm animals, humane eating, swine flu, force-fed animals, cruel slaughter practices, environmental impacts of factory farming, and avian influenza.

What does Charity Navigator think of them?

4 out of 4 stars, 60.73 out of 70 overall rating

American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

What do they do for farm animals?

Since 1866, the ASPCA has worked to stop the cruelties committed upon animals involved in the food production process. In the late 1800s, early ASPCA agents had their hands full inspecting New York City’s stockyards and slaughter- houses, while ASPCA founder Henry Bergh was exhaustively pursuing legislation to ensure that animals raised for human consumption were handled humanely. Today, as the industry has fallen out of the hands of small farmers and into the hands of large corporations, the issue of cruelty remains—and the ASPCA continues its efforts to create distress-free lives for the many animals who are raised for food.

What does Charity Navigator think of them?

3 out of 4 stars, 59.09 out of 70 overall rating

Do you have other charity recommendations?

“Women and Land” Workshop

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Guest post from Buzzy! Thanks, Buzzy!

Thanks to Haute Pasture, Buzzy recently attended the “Women and Land” workshop, put on by the Virginia Department of Forestry.  They gathered together four different federal, state, and local agencies, and introduced the 36+ women in attendance to all their services.  Turns out, the government actually offers some great programs and cost share incentives!  I would encourage anyone who has even a small amount of land to call the agencies directly; they seemed incredibly willing to do phone consultations, site visits, etc.  Here are some tidbits to get you thinking about the possibilities:

Essentially, farmers and ranchers have a whole panel of experts just a phone call away.  Buzzy’s got some dialing to do!

Oh Deer.

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Folks, it does not get much more fresh, local, or sustainable than this. Here’s how to have your own venison adventure and take a share of the title Best Dog Owner Ever:

  1. Find a friend who hunts. (For those of you scratching your heads: no, I don’t eat mammals; no, I don’t like the idea of shooting Bambi; yes, I support hunting for food.)
  2. When said friend offers non-human worthy deer pieces for your dog, happily accept.
  3. Take delivery of scrap meat pieces and assorted organs.
  4. Empty bag one into a baking dish. Put bag two into the refrigerator. Admire pretty color to distract self from reality.

deer livers

  1. Bake long enough to make them seem less gross. Remove from oven, cut into big oozing pieces, get grossed out again, return to oven long enough to make them seem less gross. Let dog lick fork.
  2. Remove from oven once more, hack into small pieces, place into storage container and pour cooking juices over meat. Give dog a sample chunk or five.
  3. Since that actually wasn’t so horrible, two days later, fetch bag 2 from fridge to repeat the process. Notice that bag 2 has a leak. Notice that blood has seeped out of the bag, run along the shelf, dripped into the produce drawers, and pooled on the bottom of the fridge. Mop up blood. Reflect on your love for your dog.
  4. Cook random parts. Try to guess what they are.

deer pieces cooked

One was easy to guess…

deer heart

  1. Chop meat, store pieces, feed dog.

Mr. HP consolidates steps by cutting the raw meat into chunks. That seemed messier to me, and I was avoiding contact with raw substances. He also cooks the pieces in a skillet, but again, the baking seemed more hands-off for this squeamish sissy. I will say, though, cutting up the heart was pretty neat, from a science-experiment point of view.

HPDog gives this recipe 4 paws up.

Plane reading

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Haute Pasture is on the road again, this time to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where we are doing as much eating as possible in order to report back to you guys. It’s a hard job.

On the plane, I caught up on some newsletters and articles that have been collecting dust on my desk. Here are some highlights:

ASPCA 2011 Annual Report, page 27

The ASPCA helped prevent the passage of “ag-gag” laws in Florida, Iowa, Minnesota, and New York last year. Ag-gag laws seek to prevent the leaking of graphic videos taken by undercover workers at factory farms by criminalizing the investigation of farm animal abuse. Exposing ethical and environmental violations on industrial farms would become much more difficult, to the benefit of the violating farms. Much more information about ag-gag laws is available on the ASPCA site.

Animal Welfare Institute Quarterly, Summer 2012, Vol 61 No 3

Did you know the USDA “organic” label does not guarantee anything about animal treatment? AWI has been working to help improve the recommendations given to the USDA by the National Organic Standards Board regarding minimum space allowances for poultry, vegetation availability for poultry and pigs, tail docking bans for pigs and cattle, and pain medication requirements for cattle dehorning.

Do you get confused by food labels? Who doesn’t! AWI has a downloadable guide to help you navigate the grocery store. Find out which labels actually indicate humane treatment, and which are meaningless. (I took a stab at deciphering egg labels last year; AWI’s guide is, ah, a bit more user-friendly.)

“The Globalization of Animal Welfare,” Foreign Affairs, March/April 2012, pp 122-133

About 2/3 of the poultry, meat, and eggs, and over half of the pork produced in the world come from factory farms, but no international regulations exist for farm animal treatment. Meat, dairy, and egg exports have exploded since 1980, while footage depicting cruel animal treatment has become easier to distribute, leading to increased pressure on Western governments to crack down on animal abuse internationally. The European Union leads the US in enacting laws to protect farm animals, having banned barren battery cages for hens and gestation crates for sows. In the US, agricultural lobbies continue to successfully prevent the creation of federally mandated animal welfare protections, despite increasing public interest. Developing countries in Latin America and Asia, seeking efficiency and economies of scale, lag behind the US and EU in animal protections, but in China, a law offering basic protections to animals has been proposed, and public awareness is growing. Multinational organizations such as the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations are leading the animal welfare effort at a global level, emphasizing not only ethics, but also the importance of food security and sustainability in developing countries. The FAO’s Gateway to Farm Animal Welfare provides easy access to animal welfare information to international users, explaining that “(b)y giving less economically developed country governments, professionals and producers online access to the latest information and the opportunity to contribute information relevant to their own situation, the portal will help to improve livestock welfare, health and productivity worldwide.” The private sector is beginning to recognize the importance of animal welfare to business sustainability and social responsibility, and groups such as Global Animal Partnership seek to unite the public and private sectors to form strategies that will benefit the stakeholders while progressing animal welfare improvement initiatives worldwide.

The GAP page for consumers is worth a read. The important point is:

We don’t need to work for a multi-lateral institution or be a world-famous chef or be part of the leadership of an international corporation to make a difference.

Each one of us, in our daily lives and in our own homes, can improve the lives of animals simply by choosing to support those farmers and ranchers who have a commitment to providing higher welfare to the animals they raise.

Know where your food comes from! Shop responsibly! Sound familiar?

Happy meat vendor news, and a couple interesting meatless/gluten-free recipes

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I don’t eat meat, but have no problem with meat-eating, provided the animals were treated humanely and responsibly. Most people I know do eat meat, however, so I’m happy to promote happy meat options to them and to you. I eat a paleo-esque diet; Paleo dictates that you don’t eat food that has added chemicals that can screw up your system, and emphasizes that you are eating what the animals you eat ate. [One of my favorite quotes is “You are what what you eat eats,” from Michael Pollan.] Therefore, followers of the diet are careful to eat pasture-raised, antibiotic free animal products. This week I saw two posts on Paleo blogs about happy meat purveyors, and wanted to help spread the word.

Whole9 wrote about Pastoral Plate, a San Francisco-area meat CSA, offering local, natural, humanely raised meat and animal products. They visit the farmers regularly to learn about how the animals are raised and what they are fed, ensuring the products sold through Pastoral Plate meet their high standards: They’re pasture-raised, eat organic food, and are finished on the farm rather than a feedlot. Pastoral Plate also hosts workdays on their partner farms, and facilitate small loans from customers to the farmers. They’ll soon be shipping nationally, so happy-meat seekers from outside the SF area can enjoy Pastoral Plate products, and there’s a coupon on the Whole9 writeup. But, of course, if it’s available, purchasing happy meat locally is more environmentally responsible than having it shipped, and supporting your local farmers is good for your community

Another happy meat vendor was profiled by Melissa at The Clothes Make the Girl. TX Bar Organics raises grass-fed beef in a “calm low stress environment” in Northern California. In addition to caring about the animals, they care about people: they have made a pledge to donate one pound of meat to needy families for every 20 pounds sold; and they care about the environment: they practice sustainable agriculture through careful maintenance of their pastures. Melissa is giving away a $75 gift card to TX Bar Organics, with a deadline of tomorrow night (July 2) at 11:59pm, so sign up quickly if you’re interested! Same caveat as above though– if you have local happy meat purveyors, you should look to them before shipping meat from far away. Melissa is also known for her Paleo recipes, so while you’re on her blog, check ’em out!

And speaking of recipes, here are two I can’t wait to try. They are both meatless (but you can add meat, of course) and gluten-free.

First, a quick and easy curry, from Legal Nomads, with veggies and chickpeas and coconut milk, oh my. I think the first time I try it I’ll cheat and use curry powder instead of all the individual spices, to make it extra quick and easy. Jodi added a note at the end with instructions for adding meat, if desired.

And second, zucchini noodles in a thai peanut sauce, from Eating Bird Food. Using zucchini noodles and spaghetti squash is a delicious way to make gluten free “pasta” dishes, and anything with a peanut sauce makes me happy.

Now I must go eat lunch. I am starving.

What exactly is deli meat?

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The fact that “real turkey breast” is a selling point that needs to be advertised gave me pause: what is turkey breast usually made from, if it’s not real turkey? What about other deli meats?

According to an MSNBC article on deli meats, there are three types: whole animal sections that are cooked and then sliced (examples: roast beef, corned beef, turkey breast), sectioned and formed products (example: ham), and processed products (example: bologna).

The first category of meat, whole cuts, is just meat–often with added salt or sugar, and preservatives, as the large surface area needs more protection from bacteria. This type of cold cut is presumably what the cafe above is advertising.

From here the water gets murkier. The second category of deli meats, sectioned and formed, is made from chunks of meat bonded together with proteins, meat emulsions, or non-meat additives, then molded and cooked to shaped it into its new form.

But most cold cuts fall into the third category: processed meats. The technique is similar to that for section and formed meats, but more extreme: the meat is essentially turned into a mush, mixed with additives (sometimes including possible carcinogens, such as nitrates; non-meat animal parts, such as lips, tripe, stomachs and hearts; or MSG), squeezed into a casing ala sausage, and cooked into shape.

The MSNBC article lists and defines many cold cut additives. Yum.

This article lists 15 things you should know about lunch meat.

So, to summarize, and perhaps you’ve heard me say this before: know where (and what!) your food comes from! Read labels and eat real food.

Suburban renewal

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Guest post from Buzzy! Thanks, Buzzy!

Sometimes Buzzy likes to relax after a tough day of beekeeping, and what better way than with the most locavore tea she can find?   I was curious to see what I could forage from my own suburban lot, so I gathered dandelions from the lawn for dandelion tea.

I knew all parts of a dandelion were edible, and while a dandelion root tea has all kinds of medicinal benefits, the fluffy yellow flowers will work as well.

So, after a few minutes of picking, rinsing, and pulling out the little tufts of yellow petals, I packed them in a tea ball and allowed 5 minutes of steeping.  The result, with my very own honey, was a little like chamomile tea, and really quite good.

Random happy-farming news

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I have a zillion articles waiting to be read! Here are a few blurbs I’ve enjoyed as I work through my pile of mail:

urban farming trend

From Heifer International‘s WorldArk magazine: Urban farming, in the form of windowbox gardens and backyard chickens, is on the rise in the US.

Also in WorldArk, scientists are experimenting with growing meat from stem cells, hoping for a cleaner process for mass-producing meat.

Gotham Greens

From the JW Townsend, a landscape contractor in Charlottesville, VA, newsletter, a blurb about Gotham Greens. Gotham Greens grows produce in rooftop greenhouses in Brooklyn, and supplies NYC markets and restaurants with local, sustainable food.

Switch to grass-fed beef

From Reader’s Digest, Feb 2012: an article called “The 20 Tips Health Pros Beg You Not to Skip.” Number 19, from a psychiatrist, is “switch to grass-fed beef,” for the health benefits.

Hyatt commits to cage-free eggs

From Mary Jane’s Farm, Aug-Sept 2011 issue, good news that Hyatt Hotels & Resorts is switching to cage-free eggs. That’s 2.4 million eggs fewer per year coming from battery cages.

Facebook CEO's Food Challenge

And finally, from the same Mary Janes Farm issue (yes, a bit outdated, but still an interesting read), a paragraph about Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg’s personal mission to learn more about sustainable farming and meat animals. The only meat he ate last year was from animals he killed himself.

That was the easy stuff. I have a stack of Foreign Affairs magazines staring me down. I’m halfway through The Globalization of Animal Welfare; comments to come soon!

Eating animal products responsibly

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Eating meat and dairy responsibly can be challenging: always reading labels, asking questions of waitstaff and proprietors, researching stores and brands. I rely on a collection of web sites to help me find my way, and a notable one is The Whole9, a health and wellness site that preaches a very paleo way of eating.

Yes, paleo followers eat a lot of meat, but they pay close attention to the composition of the meat, as any added hormones or chemicals are transferred from the meat to the eater, and the healthier the animal and more natural and higher quality the animal’s diet, the more nutritious the meat or dairy product. The treatment of the animal is important too, since stress dumps bad hormones and chemicals into the bloodstream, and from there into the meat.

The Whole9 has a ton of really good information about eating healthy meat and eggs. They believe dairy products are irritants and cause health problems, so they don’t address milk, cheese, etc in their articles, but the same rules apply: get your dairy from happy, healthy, naturally raised animals.

Without further ado, here are some useful references to help you along your merry responsible consumer way!

  • The Conscientious Omnivore from The Whole9: A great overview of the importance of eating healthy, happy, well cared for and humanely slaughtered animals.
    • The Conscientious Omnivore: Eggs  Covers the hidden cost of cheap eggs, and instructs how to read egg carton labels–or even better: find egg that are so fresh and local, their cartons don’t even have labels!
    • The Conscientious Omnivore: From the Sea  Discusses the pros and cons of wild-caught and farmed seafood. Consumers need to use caution when choosing wild fish as many populations are over-fished. Farmed fish presents similar problems as factory farmed livestock: pollution, chemicals, and animals fed unnatural diets. The Whole9 gives seafood recommendations, including “consider farmed salmon your worst choice in any setting.”
  • The Whole9 crew then did all sorts of cross-referencing about mercury content, sustainability, and Omega-3 content to come up with this list of fish recommendations.

Following links from The Whole9 articles led me to these resources:

  • Eat Wild is a directory of local farms selling grass-fed products, and a resource for both farmers and consumers on the how-tos and benefits of pasture-raising livestock. To sum up, they help you to “find out how choosing grassfed products is good for: Animal Welfare, Farmer Benefits, the Environment, and Human Health.” I can locate local grass-fed farms in the Virginia farm directory, or on the Virginia map, and there’s list of Virginia stores, restaurant, farmers markets, and buying clubs with grass-fed products. Look up your state!
  • US Wellness Meats is a consortium of family farms in the central US, raising livestock that’s free to forage on grass at will, and practicing sustainable pasture management. They ship meat, cheese, and butter around the country, and the farmers’ beliefs about how livestock and land should be treated is worth reading.
  • Heritage Food USA, a site selling grass-fed, antibiotic-free regional or heritage meat, is affiliated with Slow Food USA. They have a manifesto worth reading, the gist of which is “We are proud combatants in the fight to promote difference and diversity in a marketplace dominated by monocultures. In this kind of marketplace, animals raised on pasture without antibiotics are hard to come by, as are rare and heritage genetics that evolved naturally rather than from laboratories designed for meat production and fast growth.“

There are many, many good resources out there instructing consumers on the importance and benefits of eating responsibly raised and produced animal products. These are just a few; please share your favorites in the comments!