Thursday, April 26, 2012

Don't Have a Cow!


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Every mom knows the story "if you give a pig a pancake".. one decision
snowballed into a chain reaction of other decisions.  This is my version:

If Natalie watches a documentary, she gets ideas about her food's origin. 
The ideas trigger day dreams of living on a farm.
Day dreams lead to internet research
Internet research causes learning about local farmers. 
Local Farmers Markets websites then introduces the world of CSA's
Learning about CSA's is a reminder of where food comes from.  
Unknown food origin sparks the interest in what are we eating. 
An interest in what we eat prompts me to find a food documentary. 



I always joke that whenever I watch a food documentary, I end up dreaming/researching/asking about moving to the county and living on a farm complete with cows, chickens and pigs.   But ultimately, I wake up and realize HOW MUCH work would be involved.  Living on a farm and tending to livestock isn't in my future. I mean, really?  Could you imagine me living more than 10 miles from a Target or Starbucks?  I don't think so.  
Nonetheless, I am still deeply disturbed by the state of our food production in this country.  My concerns boil down to basic journalism:: 5 w's.
WHO grew/raised it?
WHAT is in?  Any preservatives or pesticides?
WHERE did it grow and travel far before I bought it?
WHY aren't more people aware of their options?

With the farm scenario out of the picture, I found local options for what I wanted.  At first, the hubs complained.  Even though he watched the documentaries with me, he didn't GET why I was so passionate about this particular topic.  

And then the pink slime story broke in the media.  If you don't know what that is, I highly recommend googling it and educating yourself.  To say it's disturbing is an understatement. 

But after that?  The hubs was completely on board with my whole food-organic-farm raised-grain fed beef.   

Lucky for me, I have family that raises cows that fit that criteria.  I placed my order and bought half a cow.  Yes.  Half.A.Cow. 

If you want to know what 200+ pounds of beef look like? Here it is. And don't let the picture fool you.  There is three layers of frozen meet stacked in there.  




we have eaten at least 2 dinners a week out of this and still barely made a dent. 



This picture was taken with my iPhone.
I'm linking up with Liz & KLZ for 

8 comments:

Peace Love Applesauce- Terri said...

This is our freezer.. instead of cow it's full of deer burger and turkey.. HAHAHAHA!!
But it does taste so much better being all natural!

Allie Rambles said...

We contemplated buying half a cow at one time. But never followed through with it. I'm not the most efficient cook, I worried that some would go wasted eventually.

I think most of the US misses out on what really good meat tastes like so I applaud you in getting the better stuff and saving money.

~Allie

Jackie said...

I bet the meat you get is a lot better than anything you can get in the store!
I just threw a way some burger that I got at the store the other day... it went from the store to the freezer and when I went to cook it it smelled funny and I wasn't taking a chance with it.

Ali - My Suitcase Full of Tricks said...

All I have to say is that if my husband saw your freezer it would get him all hot. I haven't eaten red meat in 20 years. He just doesn't get it.

hotpants™ said...

Wow! I'm impressed. So, when am I coming over for an all-natural burger? Ha.

Daydream Believer said...

I am freaking the eff out over all of this food scare stuff. I have totally sworn off McDonald's. I think buying a cow is the way to go!

2 Frogs and a Princess said...

Love this post. I am totally a natural food eater. We try not to go overboard but the fresh stuff has to be just that... fresh. We are on our second purchase of a cow, we buy only free range eggs, organic milk, and organic veggies. The only thing I haven't been able to find is the free range chicken. So wish I could get that in a more healthy way. :-(

2 Frogs and a Princess said...

Have you seen this article? http://www.naturalnews.com/032659_arsenic_chicken.html

Gross.