The reason for the repeal of COOL was that our northern and southern neighbors complained that the labeling was hurting their exports of beef and pork to the US. Not so much at the consumer level but at the packing houses. The large packers didn't want to buy foreign livestock because they didn't want the cost and burden of separating the Canadian animals from domestic animals. So the Canadians and Mexicans were not making as much money selling livestock into US markets.
This past Wednesday, Congress voted to repeal the Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) requirement for imported meat. This was used to identify where the animals were born, raised, and slaughtered. The meat from those animals was then labeled with the country of origin label.
The reason for the repeal of COOL was that our northern and southern neighbors complained that the labeling was hurting their exports of beef and pork to the US. Not so much at the consumer level but at the packing houses. The large packers didn't want to buy foreign livestock because they didn't want the cost and burden of separating the Canadian animals from domestic animals. So the Canadians and Mexicans were not making as much money selling livestock into US markets.
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Today's post is by Erin Vogt
Much like the flavor of pasture-raised meats is tough to beat, the flavor of butter made with fresh cream from freely grazing sheep or cows is incomparable to those boxes of butter you can purchase at the store. Making butter at home is much easier than you might think, and the flavor possibilities are seemingly endless. Not only can you control the amount (and type) of salt used, but it’s easy to make sweet and savory butters to accompany many different foods. Plus, you get buttermilk which is perfect for making creamy homemade salad dressings, pancakes, and more! While just about any type of heavy cream will work for making butter, raw or pasteurized (NOT ultra-pasteurized) creams yield the best results, both for taste and for health. Ask around at your local farmer’s markets and health food stores for cream sources. When considering amounts, keep in mind that the cream to butter ratio is approximately 2:1. In other words, two cups of cream will yield approximately 1 cup of butter. I make butter once a month or so. It takes me about an hour to make two or three pounds of butter and nearly a quart of buttermilk. I have made butter in my stand mixer, my food processor, and even a Mason jar (great activity for the kids!). My preferred method, however, is to use my blender. It’s faster and less messy. My blender is nothing fancy, just a basic Ninja, so no special equipment is required! Guest post by Erin Vogt
This Mother’s Day, make a pancake for Mom for a change! In our busy home, breakfast in some way, shape or form makes it onto our menu at least once a week. Homemade sourdough bread slices filled with local eggs, French Family Farm bacon or sausage, and a good white cheddar, are quick and portable - great for weeknights full of practices, games, activities, and more. One particular Sunday when the kids and I were cooking together, they requested breakfast for dinner. Knowing we had a bit more time to spend in the kitchen that evening, we decided on a big puffed pancake and it instantly became a family favorite! This recipe is simple and low maintenance enough for kids to make (with adult help with the hot pan) but when served with honeyed strawberries and homemade whipped cream, it’s fancy enough to serve to Mom on Mother’s Day. We hope you enjoy! For the past year to year and a half, we have been selling at the Community Market of Blacksburg. We have enjoyed getting to know folks in the community and deliver the best we have to you. We made quite a few friends and really have enjoyed serving the people of Blacksburg and Montgomery County.
Sadly, this year we were not allowed to return to the Community Market of Blacksburg. No explanation was given as to why and we were not told until Wednesday, three days before the first market day. We fall within the mileage distance to vend at the market and we turned in our application before the deadline. We really do not understand what would cause them to deny our application. What makes this even more painful, is that we supported the market and the management throughout their battle with the town council over the zoning issue. We used our Facebook page to help get the word out and drum up support for the market during that time. This has been a hard pill to swallow for us. Guest Post by Erin Vogt
In a previous post, we wrote about how easy it is to prepare a whole French Family Farm chicken in the crock pot that can be used in a variety of recipes. We also suggested that you save the chicken carcass to make a bone broth that is both nourishing and delicious. In our home, we try to let as little go to waste as possible. When I learned how easy it is to make homemade broth, I regretted throwing away all of those chicken carcasses over the years, in favor of buying boxed broths that pale in comparison to what I am able to make at home. While making bone broth yourself requires more of a time commitment than purchasing it at the store, I find that the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. I have much more control over what goes into my broth and can tailor it to my specific needs. The bones’ minerals and marrow are released during the cooking process, becoming so brittle that they crush easily between your fingers when fully cooked. Adding acidic apple cider vinegar to the water helps release collagen and amino acids, creating a broth rich in gelatin. Today's post is a guest post by Erin Vogt
In this day of pre-packaged convenience foods, it’s no wonder that folks often ask us why on earth they would choose to purchase a whole bird rather than individual pieces. Obviously there are recipes that call for specific cuts of meat and do not lend themselves well to substitutions. For my busy family, cooking a whole chicken (or two) once a week feeds us several times, which is a huge time-saver for me. From quick quesadillas to chicken salad, to soups made with homemade bone broth (more on that soon!) to chilled shredded chicken and homemade hummus on warm summer nights, the recipes I can make with pre-cooked chicken are seemingly endless. Of course, flavorful whole roasters with seasoned, crispy skin are still served on my table from time to time. But when it comes to cooking chicken, my crock pot has all but taken the place of my oven, and the results are wonderful. And if you are eating whole foods on a budget, whole chickens cost less per pound than those conveniently cut chicken parts! Bonus! Before I reveal my incredibly easy, super quick technique for preparing whole chicken for the crock pot, I would first like to suggest that you keep a zip top plastic bag in your freezer in which to collect vegetable scraps. Whenever I cut carrot and celery sticks for my children or cut onions and garlic for dinner, I set aside the tops, peels, papers, and other various scraps and toss them into the freezer bag to be used in bone broth at a later date. Stockpiling these scraps will save you time in the kitchen later, and hey! Every minute counts these days! We will come back to these scraps when I share with you a favorite homemade broth recipe of mine. It’s so good that I haven’t purchased canned or boxed broth in years! Now onto the recipe for incredibly flavorful, moist and tender chicken… As I was growing up my Uncle use to call me "dirt farmer". It was a little joke of his and to this day when he sees me he will through that moniker on me. I have never asked why he called me that, likely because I spent a lot of time outside in the dirt. One can only guess. Maybe I should ask.
Now that I'm older, I actually like the title. I am a dirt farmer in the truest sense. If every farmer would stop and think for a moment, that is truly what we all are. The soil is the key to every farm. From the small grain farmer to the beef farmer, the vegetable farmer to the hog farmer, and every farmer in between, we all rely heavily on the soil. Without it farming dies. Soil is not inert matter. Healthy farms have vibrant life living underneath those rows of tall green crops and lush pastures. Millions and even billions of organisms live there feeding each other and off of each other. Minerals are being used and replenished through the cycle of life and death. There is nothing lifeless about it. Ever so often we try to bring new ideas and products to our farm. Our hope is to serve you better and bring healthier options to your diet. Today is one of those days.
With the concerns that folks have any more with the fat intake in their diets, we are constantly looking for healthier and leaner meats. And of course we are looking for animals that fit into our diversified grass-fed and free-range model. When you look out onto any given pasture field or drive down a country lane, I'm sure you have seen one of these critters. Many farmers have told me I am crazy. But that seems to go with the path we have trod so far and it has worked for us. People told me I was crazy when I said we were going to raise rabbits in our fields (who's the crazy one now? Rabbit anyone?)
It was a frigid morning, and the sun had not yet poked over the ridge. The girls, about half of our twenty-four ewe herd, stood staring at me waiting for me to fill their bunk with feed. They were eager to get started this morning. Maybe the cold air had made them hungry or maybe they were finally getting use to the routine of milking, either way they were ready for the milk to flow.
This has been a familiar scene around the world for multiple millennia. The dairy farmer, the herder, the milch maid whatever the name given there has been a person tending to cattle, sheep, or goats for milk. Our farm at one point was a dairy. And we have toyed with the idea of going back to keeping some dairy animals on the farm for milk production. This year we gave a short go at it with our sheep just to get a feel for the routine and how it might fit with what we already do. But an article I read this week may push us to really consider becoming a raw milk dairy. The article told about two bioengineers that are planning to start production next year on milk that was made without cows. They call it Muufri (pronounced Moo Free). That's not a typo, cow free milk. I find nothing more disgusting than a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO). Rarely do farmers allow anyone into their operations, mostly due to contract obligations, but also because most CAFO's are deplorable. In most cases the animals never see daylight, breath fresh air, or see dirt. As a matter of fact that is viewed as detrimental to the operation (who knew that sunlight, fresh air, and dirt are dangerous). Perdue, and many other factory farm producers, will run ads like this one, giving folks the illusion of the small farm the way grandpa and grandma use to do it. The reality is wildly different. The reality is barns packed with tens of thousands of birds in deplorable conditions. Not the picturesque red barn of the marketing gurus at Purdue. The realities of how most food is grown is relatively unknown to those outside of the operators and the companies, like Perdue, that make the contracts. This is starkly different from a farm like ours, where you can come anytime to see how we raise and care for the food you will eat and feed to your family. As consumers you should make yourself aware of the realities of cheap food. In the video below, a Purdue contract farmer, gives you an inside look to how CAFO chicken is raised and what typical conditions are like in the barns. |
AuthorI'm a thirty something who is married with kids that gets to farm somewhere in between. Categories
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