Grass-Fed
I took my first foray into Grass-Fed Beef today putting together a very inspired pot roast, the star of which is a 2 lb chuck roast of what….drum roll….Grass-Fed Beef. One of the big disadvantages of reading the Omnivore’s Dilemma comes from the portrayal of Whole Foods as inherently evil and conniving (Rosie’s Chicken example). So I was a little more than skeptical when I saw the green tags in their meat case saying Organic Beef (Grass-Fed). Hmm. Rosie’s Chicken says Free-Range but as Michael Pollen learned that meant that the 2500 chicken roost had access to a bathroom sized lot of ground with a little bit of grass. So I stared at the meat case deliberating whether I was about to buy a 2lb piece of hype or whether Whole Foods isn’t all that bad and offers their customers a choice of Corn-Fed and Grass-Fed Beef. This dinner is interesting to me because 4 hours into the cooking process I’m not thinking about how great I feel for buying healthier (a +), happier (a +, research says so at least), and minimally tinkered with (that’s a + too) beef but rather I’m wondering why my roast isn’t fall apart tender like I remember it. *Update* It takes significantly longer, like almost 8 hours vs the usual 4 hours but I now have some phenomenally rich and complex tasting roast. Like a mole there is great depth and lots of levels of flavor plus the beef tastes very…beefy, in a good way. Apologies to myself from earlier
There’s an obvious line that I can see being drawn in the world of food. While many people won’t want to take a side I think that there isn’t really a choice. We have a group of people that recognize that people have been hunting and gathering since forever. It’s in our nature to hunt animals and fish, cooking is really an evolutionary tool we developed to overcome plant and animal defenses. This group appreciates the food that we’ve been eating since before the industrial revolution (If it ain’t broke don’t fix it) and is skeptical of improvements to nature’s design. I believe I fall into this group. While a butter making machine is very cool, I image hand churned butter tasting better and being more satisfying to eat. My understanding of my preference for this is that I have a better connection to what I’m eating. The care that went into the butter, the attention to detail, the fact that grass-fed beef is beef from a cow that lived life how nature intended. In short the other side is the group who doesn’t buy into that and appreciates things like molecular gastronomy (bullshit gimmicks), nitrogen ice cream, Monsant, Vitamin enriched cereal, Fast-Food, Cheesecake Factory, and all the other ‘innovations’ of the last 50 years. If that sounds one sided, that’s because it is. Fuck it, start your own site.
Here’s the problem though. I’m being honest here. Corn-Fed Nebraska USDA Prime, marbled in all its mighty goodness, will almost definately taste better than the good for you stuff. And to that note, so do Reese’s Peanut Butter Puffs cereal and a host of other bad for you foods. And furthermore, haven’t you heard that argument before? Bet you didn’t realize that it’s not about Pop-tarts anymore but has spread to apples, avocados, and beef as well. It’s also become a bit of an environmental and economical issue. Local food saves on fossil fuel and small-farm farmers/producers are artisans that give a shit about what they do. I’d rather put money in their hands than corporations whose greed and industrialization/modernization of our food supply chain has kind of fucked things up for people who pay attention. There’s a lot more to be said, and lot’s more that already has been said.
I’ll leave you with two things. There’s an anti-restaurant context that I read into when I hear people talk about local food and non-industrial supply chains. No one comes out and says it but I know it’s there. Not every restaurant is going to be the Linkery or Chez Panisse (both phenomenal but events in themselves). It’s hard, and I imagine wasteful, to run a casual restaurant that believes in the ideas I’ve described. It also contridicts some of the basic ideas of supporting non-industrial producers and eating wonderful fresh food. I’ll post more on that idea another time
When I asked whether the beef I was buying was actually from pastured cows, able to graze as they pleased and eat only grass, the counter girl smiled and said, “Oh yes, they roam as they please and eat only organic vegetarian grass!” What other kind of grass is there?
3 years ago • 0 notes