My oldest took a car ride with me on Saturday. We were going to get our grass-fed beef. I didn't think much about it until she asked me why we were buying our meat off of the back of a refrigerated truck in a church parking lot instead of the store. I have to be honest, it felt a bit clandestine.
I found the company through a good friend of mine who found them through eatwild.com.
I wanted to try it because my cholesterol hovers just around borderline, and my dad died at 52 from heart disease that was diagnosed at 42 ( just around the corner for me.). I had read that grass-fed beef has higher CLA and extra omega-3's that have a cholesterol lowering effect that traditional grain fed beef does not have.
I have to admit. There is something that scares me deep down inside about our food. I know my husband thinks that I've gone over the edge; but I am seeing a world that is evolving into a place where some of the most natural and good things that go into our bodies aren't so pure and honest any more. I am afraid of the long term effects of GMO's and pesticides and all of the other junk. It has actually probably made me a little nuts.
So now I am buying my meat out of a truck.
But I was thinking about it and with this and the CSA we do every year, maybe it's good that my daughter can see that food comes from somewhere other than the glossy, shiny supermarket. That our food comes from the ground.
Even our own garden.
Our own hands.
Maybe these last 50 years of bigger, better, smaller, faster has pulled us away from our own right to be self-sufficient.
She asked me where the meat came from and I was trying very tenderly to explain about how they get the meat, and "dispatch" the animals, but she wanted details.
100 years ago on the farm it would have been a fact of life and I wouldn't have to find an uncomfortable way to gloss-over an important part of the farm to table process.
I don't want to do the dirty work per se, or be a vegetarian, but I want to have respect for where my food comes from, and I hope my children can learn the same thing.
Could not agree more! The big beef industry is scary. I'm working on figuring out the best alternative for us.
ReplyDeleteGrassfed is the best way to go and nearly impossible for us up in the Arctic:(
ReplyDeleteI did the whole break down for my hubby...Corn and wheat is genetically spliced and mutated to be grown at faster rates to feed people in mass. Along the way it loses it's nutritional value and becomes "frankenfood"....it is then feed to animals that we eat...the animals are pumped with BGH and antibiotics....think about it....you can't donate blood, give organs, or get accurate test results in humans when they've been on meds...RIGHT? I said, what the heck do you think we're eating then? Oye Vay....People have allergies more often, higher rates of Celiac disease, Gluten intolerances, deficiencies, the long list goes on and on! We eat heart healthy and my hubby had VERY high cholesterol.... I told him it had to do with GMO grains that are in virtually everything unless it says otherwise or is organic.
Believe me I'll be your biggest follower and fan! I've found someone(you) who feels the same way as myself and can actually talk with.
OK girl, I am SOOOO with you on this. I grew up in the 50's. We played hard and ate, without all the talk of bad this, good that. Treats were treats, not part of your every day menu. Soda? Just for parties and when you went out for pizza. Fast food? I think our town had the 4th McDonald's in the country, and again, a special treat. Heavy children? None. Unusual. Frankly, if a kid was heavy then, it probably was something genetic, since so many of us were either first generation or second generation Americans. When my kids were little, I packed healthy snacks...my kids begged for marshmallows in their cereal. One day, at the grocery store, I heard my son tell my daughter, who was six years younger, "Forget it, Rachel, she won't buy cereal with marshmallows, I've tried." Neither of my children have weight problems or food issues. They both appreciate good food, eat healthy, love different ethnic foods and are both accomplished cooks.
ReplyDeleteI look back, as all parents do, and wish there were things I could change, since hindsight is 20/20, but I do not regret watching what they ate.
So, don't apologize. Food shouldn't be advertised as "fun", the biggest portion isn't a prize, watch the empty calories and eat as natural as you can. I've been thinking about where my meat comes from and I may follow you to the parking lot...you go girl!