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Welcome to the latest issue of the American Grass Fed Beef Newsletter. In this issue, you will find the following:
* Excerpt from Jo Robinson's New Book Pasture Perfect
* Crock Pot Kettle Chili
* Thanksgiving Greetings
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PASTURE PERFECT BY JO ROBINSON
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Jo Robinson is an outspoken advocate of a
more natural way to raise our livestock. She has authored or
co-authored 11 popular books, including Why Grassfed Is Best!
Her new book, Pasture Perfect, offers compelling evidence
that taking our animals out of factory farms and retuning them to pasture
is better for the animals, the environment, family farmers, and
consumers. She also has a website, www.eatwild.com
which features grass fed news, the most recent research, and a list of suppliers of
grass fed products. This article was published in "Mother Earth
News" recently. We thought our readers would enjoy Jo's
insights so we are offering it to you in four installments over the next few
issues.
Part 4 of 4:
Ruminants are not the only animals being raised on the new pasture-based farms. Chickens, turkeys, pigs, rabbits and ducks are also being sprung from their cages and sent out to pasture. Some farmers raise five or six different species on the same pasture, bringing to mind the old family farm, replete with the clucking of hens, mooing of cows, grunting of pigs and bleating of sheep.
Non-ruminants cannot live on grass alone, however. They lack the highly specialized digestive tract that would allow them to convert a diet high in roughage and low in energy into a quality meal. They need some feed in addition to grass, typically a mixture of soy and grain. But they, too, can get a significant portion of their calories from grass, ranging from 25 percent for chickens and 50 percent for ducks. The more grass the animals eat, the more omega-3 fatty acids,
beta carotene, and vitamin E in their meat and eggs.
Like ruminants, poultry and pigs raised on pasture also get to enjoy a less stressful life. This is in stark contrast to life in a confinement operation. In the worst facilities, horrific abuses can occur.
Last year, I toured a chicken "grow-out" operation . . . the industry term for a facility that raises chickens from day-old chicks to maturity. The husband and wife who ran the operation were contract workers for a giant conglomerate poultry producer. The couple dutifully followed all the rules handed down by the conglomerate. Indeed, they ran such a tight operation the conglomerate had designated them the second-best grow-out operation in the state. Yet if consumers had
known their chicken, my guess is that sales would plummet.
I toured the operation just days before the birds were ready for market. There were 10,000 chickens crammed into each long shed, taking up every inch of floor space. When I looked down the shed, I saw a continuous carpet of whiter-feathered birds. I couldn’t take a step without having to nudge chickens out of the way.
The chickens were sitting on a deep bed of litter. It had been fresh when the newly hatched chicks arrived, but it had not been changed in the seven weeks it had taken them to reach market size. The day I visited, the level of ammonia had risen to almost intolerable levels. I felt as if my
head had been plunged into a diaper pail. The chickens were breathing air that was less than 6 inches from the litter, so the fumes must have been far worse for them.
Although I thought the whole scene repellent, the U.S. government and the poultry industry do not consider these conditions abusive. It’s simply the most cost-effective way to raise chickens. In a matter of days, those very birds would be slaughtered, plucked, cut into pieces, wrapped in glimmering plastic and affixed a label proclaiming they were "fresh from the farm" and "Northwest Grown."
I no longer buy commercially raised poultry, no matter how attractive the price. I won’t buy animals that have been forced to breathe toxic amounts of ammonia. Fortunately I have an alternative.
The chickens and turkeys I now eat come from a nearby farm where the birds are raised outdoors on organic pasture. As in nature, the birds are allowed the dignity of breathing fresh air and foraging for greens. Equally important, they have room to chase bugs, preen and sprawl outside on a sunny day. In other words, they get to be chickens. I pay twice the grocery store price for these plump, juicy birds, and I consider it a bargain.
Raising animals on pasture is far better for the environment. One reason is obvious. In a feedlot, lots of animals deposit their manure on a small amount of bare land. When it rains, manure leaks from the piles and pollutes the nearby land and ground water.
When the manure piles up too high, it has to be trucked from the feedlot and deposited elsewhere. Given lax government regulations and the high cost transportation, "elsewhere" is often the closest available patch of land. Manure in small quantities is an excellent fertilizer; The lush green grass on pasture-based ranches is a testimony to this fact. But in excessive amounts, manure acts as a pollutant, leaching nitrogen and phosphorous into the soil, surface water and groundwater. It is common for land surrounding large feedlot operations to be burdened with too much manure.
Some environmental benefits of pasture raising animals are less obvious. According to Dr. Rita Schenck from the Institute of Environmental Research and education, raising ruminants on grass may reduce greenhouse gasses. She says land kept in pasture is carpeted with plants, many of them growing year-round. As the grass grows, it draws carbon dioxide from the air and deposits it safely in the soil, a process called "carbon sequestration." Her calculations indicate a
pasture-based farm may contribute to cleaner air and a healthier planet.
So where do you find environmentally friendly, animal-friendly, highly nutritious grass-fed products if you can’t grow your own? Probably not-yet-in your local grocery store. Perhaps not even in a virtual food store or co-op. What you will find in these outlets are "natural" and "organic" animal products, typically from animals fed a significant amount of grain. One of the largest suppliers of "natural" meat finishes their animals in feedlots on a grain diet. The main distinction between this "natural" meat and supermarket meat is the "natural" animals are not treated with hormones and antibiotics.
You may have to get your grass-fed product directly from a local farmer, farmer’s market or from one of the larger suppliers willing to ship products. There are pasture-based farms in every U.S. state and Canadian province. You’ll probably find a supplier within a pleasant country drive of your homes. For a comprehensive list of suppliers, visit eatwild.com. You’ll also find lots more information about the benefits of pasture-based ranching.
For the most devout customers, driving a hundred miles to pick up their food is no obstacle. Recently a farmer who sells eggs from pastured hens told a customer in a nearby city he was out of fresh eggs. "I only have a half dozen left," he said. The customer exclaimed, "don’t sell them! I’ll be there in an hour and a half!" Meat and
dairy producers spend tens of millions of dollars each year in hope of generating this kind of loyalty. All it takes is a product that resonates with the customer’s soul.
As awareness of the benefits of grass-fed products spreads across the country, more and more farmers will have the courage to keep their animals on the green grass of home. The best way to support this movement and increase the availability of the products is to try some yourself. If you find them to your liking, tell a few of your friends. Good news travels fast.
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CROCK POT KETTLE CHILI
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This is my family's favorite chili. It uses kettle beef instead of
hamburger which gives it a great texture.
4 lb. Grass Fed Kettle Beef
8 Slices Smoked Grass Fed Beef Bacon
3 T Ancho Chili Powder or Chipotle
3 T Red Chili Powder
2 t Cumin Seed
2 t Oregano
1 t Celtic Sea Salt (optional)
3 Lg. Garlic Cloves, minced
1 Lg. Onion, minced
2 T Lemon Juice
2T Olive Oil
2 T Cornstarch
! Lg. Can Crushed Tomatoes
Water
Mix together chili powder, cumin, oregano and salt setting aside.
Add oil to pot and sauté garlic and onion until cooked.
Cut bacon slices into 1/2 to 1 inch pieces. Put the bacon and kettle beef in a large pot.
Add the spice mixture to the meat and toss.
Add tomatoes and lemon juice.
Cook beef on low (200 degrees) for 8 hours.
Mix cornstarch with 1/2 to 2/3 C water stir into the chili beef return to heat until thickened.
Serve alone or over rice.
NOTE: Small quantities of kettle
beef and grass fed beef bacon can be added to a shipment at the bottom of this
page:
http://www.americangrassfedbeef.com/grass-fed-beef-family.asp
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THANKSGIVING GREETINGS
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On our grass farm in the southern Ozarks . . . this time of the year is pretty wonderful. We have finished the majority of our cattle as winter approaches and our hanging beef cooler is full. The fall leaves are hitting the ground creating a blanket of cover in the woods. The bright green of our winter wheat looks like islands of emerald in a soon to be browning landscape.
With only two frosts so far, the fall rains have perked and greened our cool season grasses reminiscent of early spring. There is a cool crispness in the air with warm sunshine in the afternoons. You find the young calves kicking up their heals in play out in the pastures.
We look forward to having family and friends at the farm for Thanksgiving. We lead a very busy life right now managing our time between the farm and the processing plant and yet the added work of preparing a Thanksgiving feast will be a labor of love.
Our large family and extended family will gather at our house to enjoy a time of blessing. As a veterinarian, a grass farmer, a beef
producer and a processing plant manager, I am still primarily a mother who expresses love to her family by lavishing food upon them. I suppose it is my southern upbringing!
From our family gathering at our grass farm to you and yours wherever you may celebrate this Thanksgiving
. . . we wish you blessings. Our family joins all of America in praying for the safety of our children and loved ones in the armed services who may be away from home this Thanksgiving.
Patricia Whisnant, DVM
Grass Farmer and Veterinarian
AmericanGrassFedBeef.com
P.S. Feel free to forward this newsletter to your friends, clients
and colleagues.
You can read past issues at:
http://www.americangrassfedbeef.com/newsletter
PERMISSION TO REPRINT: You may reprint any items from
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electronic newsletter as long as the following paragraph is included:
Reprinted from "American Grass Fed Beef Newsletter," a free
ezine published by Dr. Patricia Whisnant. This ezine features health
information, recipes and tips about grass fed beef. Subscribe and enter a
grass fed beef drawing at:
http://www.americangrassfedbeef.com
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