Michael Pollan on “Democracy Now!”

 

Can’t get enough Michael Pollan? Here’s another interview, this time from “Democracy Now!” Watch the first ten minutes via YouTube (above). Or, go to the “Democracy Now!” website for the full hour-long interview

Want Milk? Buy Local.

A story in yesterday’s New York Times tells about Dr. Sam Simon, an orthopedic surgeon in Dutchess County, New York, who has been trying his hand at dairy farming since 2005. In an area where dairy farming has been on the decline (from 275 dairies in the 1970s to 26 today), it’s interesting that he would found a dairy co-op, called Hudson Valley Fresh. According to the Times, ”it’s working quite well for the eight farmers who joined the co-op to bypass the usual milk processing and pricing system and begin marketing and distributing their milk on their own.”

Hudson Valley Fresh was started on the premise of a nonprofit co-op selling premium-quality milk, without artificial hormones, traveling 80 or so miles instead of 1,200, to customers in the Northeast.

The hope was that people would pay more for locally produced, higher-quality milk, and that the extra cost would be passed on directly to the farmers.

Their philosophy?

• A not-for-profit dairy cooperative dedicated to preserving the agricultural heritage of the Hudson River Valley and promoting it as one of the premier food regions of the United States. 
• They believe in supporting sustainable agriculture and are currently preserving 5,000 acres of open land.  
• By ensuring a fair price for their farmers’ goods, they keep those farmers in business, which means preventing the loss of their land to development.
• They promote only quality local food products – members include farmers from New York State’s Dutchess and Columbia Counties, selling dairy, cheese, beef, and pork.
• Their products are locally sold throughout the Mid-Hudson Valley, Long Island, New York City, and Connecticut.

Of course, Hudson Valley Fresh is out of my local range, but I was able to find my own source, Hilhof Dairy, by searching on LocalHarvest.org.

Why not support your local farming community–and drink to your health–by buying local milk?

Roast Beef Po’Boy with Debris Gravy

I’m not a huge fan of the Superbowl, especially when the Giants or Steelers aren’t playing, but I do enjoy sandwich-y type football food on Superbowl Sunday.

Here’s a recipe we tried last year (from RecipeSecrets.net), and really enjoyed, so I thought it was a good repeat for this year, especially since the origin of the po’boy is N’awlins, and they’re playing tonight. (Okay, I’ll admit I’m somewhat partial to the Saints since I spent many years watching Drew Brees at Purdue football games, including their last Rose Bowl appearance in 2001.)

The only way I’ve altered the following recipe is by adding sliced Klaussen dill pickles to the sandwich and substituting shredded cabbage for lettuce on the sandwich. Yum.

Roast Beef Po’ Boy with Debris Gravy

Serves 4.

1 beef chuck roast (2 1/2 to 3 pounds)
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper
Cayenne pepper
3 T. vegetable oil
1 small onion, diced
1 small carrot, diced
1 cup beef stock
1 cup chicken stock
Water if necessary
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
Dash of Tobasco sauce
2 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1 tsp. dried)
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste

Roast Beef

Score meat, without piercing all the way to the bottom, in order to stuff the sliced garlic into the slits. Season the roast very liberally on all sides with the salt and pepper. Season with cayenne to taste.

Heat the fat in Dutch oven over high heat. When the oil starts to smoke,
wait a few more seconds, then carefully add the roast, cut side down. Brown
very well on all sides, without burning it. Transfer to a plate.

Drain off all but 1 T. of the fat in the pan, add the onions and carrots, and cook until the onions just start to brown. 

Place the roast back in the pan, then add the stocks. Finish, if necessary, with enough water to bring the cooking liquid 3/4 of the way up the roast.

Add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, then back down to a simmer. Simmer covered for 3-4 hours or until the meat falls apart by staring at it.

Debris (DAY-bree) Gravy

Carve the meat into very thin slices. It will be hard to do because the meat will fall apart. All of the bits and pieces that fall off will become part of the Debris. Add these chunks to the cooking liquid after skimming off the fat from the surface. Keep the carved meat with a little liquid on a warm plate, covered tightly with plastic wrap.

Bring the gravy to a full boil and reduce until it coats the back of a spoon. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Po’ Boy

Use New Orleans style French bread. (Po’boys are generally about 9-10 inches long per sandwich.) Cut the bread 3/4 of the way through, leaving a hinge.

Slather the bread with a very generous portion of mayonnaise on the inside
of the upper and lower halves. Place about a cup of shredded cabbage on the
bottom half. Cover the cabbage with a generous portion of the beef. Add slices of dill pickles. Drown the beef with Debris Gravy.

The USDA’s List of “Safe and Suitable” Ingredients for Meat

The first thing you should be asking yourself, after reading the title of this post, is: “Ingredients in meat??”

It sounds bizarre, but then again, it’s so normal. Well, normal if you eat processed food. Any number of chemicals–from anticoagulants to antimicrobials to coloring agents to flavoring agents–can be used in the production of meat and poultry products, according to the USDA.

Here’s a snapshot of just a few of the ingredients listed in the 40-page PDF. You can go to the USDA site to access it. It’s amazing. Just another reason to buy local and grassfed meat.

For Healthier Greens, Buy Local

There’s a lot of news about contamination of meat in this country. But you’d think vegetables would be immune. Remember the story a few years ago about spinach contamination? Now there’s a study that reveals high levels of fecal contamination in packaged salad greens.

If you think ”pre­washed” and “triple-washed” greens are actually clean, think again. According to Consumer Reports, their tests found bacteria that are common indicators of poor sanitation and fecal contamination in a sampling of  salad green containers representing 16 brands purchased at stores in Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York.

 It’s just another reason to buy local. You might have a CSA (community supported agriculture) in your area where you could get local greens. Find one near you by going to Localharvest.org.

“Food, Inc.” Nominated for Best Documentary

The 82nd Academy Award nominations were announced yesterday, and “Food, Inc.” made it in the top five list for Best Documentary. If you haven’t seen it yet, you must.

“You’ll never look at dinner the same way again.”

Think Spring! Let the White House Garden Inspire Your Own This Year

Got a little cabin fever? If seed catalogues aren’t motivation enough, check out this video about The White House Kitchen Garden to inspire your own plot of veggies this year.

Rules and Regulations We Never Think About

Since I’ve been blogging, I’ve subscribed to a number of organizations that feed me news alerts via e-mail. One of those organizations is the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). They’re the ones responsible for notifying the public about meat recalls, for one thing.

Another thing they manage is the regulation of meat exports. Choose any country from the list and you’ll see all the rules laid out for how to raise, slaughter, inspect, pack, document, and ship any kind of meat. Who knew?

As an example, the European Union has “co-minglement” rules: ”Animals whose meat is intended for export shall be kept separate from animals whose meat is not eligible for export.” And, regarding the opening of stomachs and intestines: “There must be a separate room for emptying and cleaning stomachs and intestines, unless the processing is done by closed-circuit mechanical equipment which avoids contamination and eliminates odors.”

But here’s my favorite: ”All bovine meat exported to the European Union must originate from animals that have never been treated with hormonal growth promotants.”

The Europeans, as usual, are on the right track. And we’re still feeding Americans hormones via meat.

Just for fun, check out the rules for Cuba. Poultry from New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania is not eligible for export to Cuba. Poultry from a variety of other states is eligible for export to Cuba. I’m sure there’s a rational explanation. Anyone have a clue?

You could spend days reading all the rules. I guess I’m glad they’ve created them, right?

What Will It Take for Us to Listen to Nature?

Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm. Photo via Wikipedia

 The Guardian interviewed Joel Salatin for an article in today’s paper.

 If you’ve read Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, you’ll know all about Joel Salatin, who owns Polyface Farm–a  family owned, multi-generational, pasture-based, beyond organic, local-market farm and informational outreach in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. He was also featured in the movie, Food, Inc.

I really admire Salatin for a number of reasons:

1. He sticks to his principles for chemical-free farming.
2. He believes “a pig should be allowed to express its pig-ness.”
3. With all the industrialization of food, he says, “nobody is listening to the pleadings of nature saying: ‘Enough.’”
4. He suggests, “the way you treat animals is a reflection of the way you will go on to treat human beings.” (Read my review of Eating Animals for a sense of what he’s referring to.)
5. Can his food system feed the world? Salatin believes: ”Not only can we feed the world, this is the only system that really can feed the world.”

Want to learn more about Joel Salatin and Polyface Farm? Check out the article from The Guardian.

A Primer on Grassfed Beef

Want to know the basics about grassfed beef? Check out this YouTube video.