The Urban Omnivore

My dad sent me an interesting article from The Washington Post this morning. The author discusses the effect of the food industry’s marketing campaigns on society (particularly the obesity epidemic that we are facing). The article points out the strength of the food industry, their massive budget, and concentrated effort to manipulate people’s behavior with highly targeted advertisement, portion sizes, fat content, etc. Finally, the author calls for increased government regulation to protect the consumer by “…making sure that what is available is healthy, and that the contents of foods are transparent and easily understandable, even to those who are illiterate”.

While I do place a great deal of the responsibility for this epidemic on the food market, I think that the author is a bit light on the individual’s responsibility. Of course, there are many circumstances where the odds are so stacked against the individual that they are insurmountable, but I do think that there are actions that people can take to begin living a healthier lifestyle. Thankfully, this issue is becoming more prevalent in the media and in our culture and people will begin to see that there are options for them and actions that they can take.

So what actions can we take? The obvious answer is to work to improve your eating habits and those of your friends and family. Those that want to go further can:

• contact their representatives
• donate to support, research, and advocacy groups

If you know of more resources, please include them in your comments on this post.

Katie and I just got back from a winter getaway in Stowe, VT. It turns out that Vermont residents have a wealth of resources available to them if they’re interested in changing their eating habits. Among these resources is The Vermont Fresh Network that helps Vermont farms and restaurants team up to provide local food at restaurants. One such restaurant is Gracie’s in Stowe, VT. After a white-knuckle ride along the Stowe roads, we pulled into the parking lot, navigated the ice and snow drifts, and found the entrance. We met up with our friends, ordered some Otter Creek beer (the Oatmeal Stout is delicious), and settled down into our booth. When the waitress stopped by to deliver our drinks she asked if we had any questions about the menu… I did. I wanted to know specifically what “locally grown beef” and being a part of the Vermont Fresh Network meant for the restaurant. The simple answer is that Gracie’s buys its beef from a local farm that feeds their animals on a grass diet. When she finished her explanation, I knew that we were about to lose our grass-fed virginity. I immediately chose the ribeye steak (medium rare, heavy on the rare) while Katie opted for the burger (medium).

The steak was quite good. Tender, tasty, and… beefy. My only complaint is that I couldn’t get it salty enough. This is strange for me since I’m sensitive to salt and can pick it up easily. I almost never add it to restaurant food. This time I did and I still thought it needed more. Maybe it the heaviness of the beer had dulled my tastebuds but I think it was the sauteed vegetables served on top of the steak that took away from the taste. Overall, I was more than pleased with my dinner.

The burger was even better. It had the perfect amount of char and a rich taste. Served as a burger should be, with fries and a pickle.

We also had time to frequent a local favorite, McCarthy’s Restaurant, for breakfast. At McCarthy’s, they serve local eggs in all sorts of standard diner fare. I had my old standby: two eggs, sunny-side up, with corned beef hash. I always order that meal at a new diner so that I can compare it against others (not to mention its my favorite). Don’t take this lightly because I wouldn’t write it without being serious… McCarthy’s makes the best eggs and corned beef hash that I’ve ever tasted. The egg yolks were deep yellow, firm with almost a creamy taste. The whites were thick and meaty(?). Not too buttery but flavorful nonetheless. The corned beef and hash was crispy and thick with beef and potatoes. Extra stars to McCarthy’s for having hot sauce on the table without having to ask.

Should us urbanites be jealous of Stowe Vermonters and their food resources? They have an organization dedicated to connecting local farms and restaurants, enthusiastic localvores, Cabot cheese, Ben and Jerry’s, and Green Mountain Coffee. What do we have? Plenty… as we’ll soon find out with more posts and reader comments.

What the heck is a side of beef anyway?

A side of beef is a lengthwise half of a cow used for food. Purchased from Misty Brook Farms, a side of beef yields about 100 pounds of usable meat. I’ll update more on typical weights of sides when I find more information.

A side of beef contains the primal cuts listed below.

Forequarter cuts:

• Rib
• Chuck
• Foreshank
• Brisket
• Plate

Hindquarter cuts:

• Round
• Loin, Short Loin and Sirloin
• Flank

Each of these primal cuts is subdivided into the retail cuts that we’re all familiar with. There are far too many for me to list so if you’re interested, check out Canada Beef for a pretty clear breakdown. A site that is much less clear but much more cool is Bovine Myology. It has 3D imaging of a side, interactive muscular and skeletal diagrams. You can rotate and view various cuts of beef and click for detailed information!

“How does an urbanite get access to grass-fed meats?”

A quick Google search led me to eatwild, a site dedicated to grass-fed food. Eatwild has plenty of informative materials on eating grass-fed meats including health benefits and a search for local farms. Fine, but how does all of this apply to me? What would I need to do to purchase grass-fed meats? How could I make it economical in terms of cost and time?

After a few days trying to see if anyone else had answered these questions, I decided to try and get the answers myself. I chose the nearest farm that I could… one that had as many of the products that I’m interested in as possible (beef, pork, chickens, eggs). That farm turned out to be Misty Brook Farm in Hardwick Massachusetts. I sent an email to the listed address with questions about prices, the purchasing process and how customers typically interact with the farm. Of course, I tried not to sound as ignorant as I was but I’m pretty sure they knew!

Later that week, I got a reply with a price list and some very useful information:

1. All meat is sold frozen
2. Meats sold by the cut are first come, first serve
3. Whole and half animals need to be pre-ordered well before the season starts
4. Whole and half animals are custom cut, wrapped in freezer paper, and frozen by the butcher that the farm uses

I was also told that they were almost sold out of beef but that they would have a new batch of pork in a few weeks. My wife and I are planning on visiting the farm to get a feel for the buying process… and of course to pick up a few pounds of tasty pork! It will be good to talk to the farmers and find out in person what I would need to do to make my trips up there worthwhile. Obviously we’d want to buy in bulk to not have to make the trip too often (probably about 1.5 hours)… can they support that if we purchase by the cut? Will there be enough cuts of our favorite types when we visit?

I finished the book The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan a few weeks ago and now I’m telling everyone I can about it. I had just finished reading my third murder book (In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, A Death in Belmont by Sebastian Junger, and Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer) and was looking for something far off that topic. That’s when my father-in-law gave me The Omnivore’s Dilemma as a holiday gift. Only a few pages in, I was hooked. By the end of the book I was telling people that it was the most engaging non-fiction book that I had read (I read mostly non-fiction). Not because of the writing style (great) or even because of the content of the book itself… but because I felt that the topic of the book was so applicable to my life. My wife and I had been unhappy with our diets for some time and were actively looking for better recipes, different foods, and healthier eating habits (we weren’t really that bad but there is always room for improvement). As I read and was astounded by some of the facts and stories in the book, I relayed them to my wife. Now we’re ready to take the next step toward solving our food dilemma… The Urban Omnivore’s Dilemma.