Inspired By A Friend: Meat Of Known Origin, Revisited

I've blogged lots about Meat Of Known Origin. For some time I was strict only eating Meat Of Known Origin. Then I found myself working in an office where meals were delivered every day. They weren't always MOKO, and they were often hard to resist. And I didn't resist.

Recently, I've watched my friend Mike become aware of the problems with the modern food system. His horror and astonishment at how we make our food reminded me of my reaction when I started paying attention—and reminded me that nothing has changed. All the reasons I had for avoiding factory meat are still valid.

Mike recently made the following declaration on my Facebook page:

I'm turning selective carnivore here on out; I will strive to know where my meat came from and how old it was when it was slaughtered (no more growth hormones thank you very much) and what it was fed while it was alive and hopefully happy running around in a large field with just the right number of friends. I may starve…

Pretty inspiring.

Well, that was all I needed. I'm back on the wagon. "What he said."

To be specific: chicken, pork, and beef. Chicken and pork must be from a known small farm with known practices. Co-ops (like Niman Ranch) will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Beef should be from a known farm, but if it's not it must be grass-fed (ideally 100%). If I'm at someone's house, I may or may not eat to be polite. (Jonathan Saffran Foer discusses this specific conundrum quite thoughtfully in Eating Animals.)

The problems with other land animals are much less dire than the problems with chickens, pigs, and cows.

The problems with seafood are a whole other story. If we can avoid farmed ocean fish and eat low on the ocean food chain most of the time, that's a good start. The Monterey Bay Aquarium has some good reference material on their website, and Taras Grescoe wrote a great book on the subject called Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood.

Does anyone have stories about their reactions when they learned about modern meat production?

Harvard Food Law Society Raw Milk Debate

The Harvard Food Law Society raw milk debate: Sally Fallon Morell (President, Weston A. Price Foundation) and David Gumpert (Author, The Raw Milk Revolution) representing the "pro-raw milk" side, vs. Fred Pritzker (Pritzker & Olson Law Firm) and Dr. Heidi Kassenborg
(Director, Dairy & Food Inspection Division, Minnesota Dept. of Agriculture) on the "anti-raw milk" team.

How safe is raw milk, compared to other foods like cantaloupe, spinach, ground beef, etc.? Should we have the right to choose what we eat based on what we believe?

The pace of the debate may be a little slow for folks new to the issues, but it is an interesting point of contact between the two sides, to be sure.

We can buy tobacco without having to drive to a farm, we can buy alcohol without driving to a distillery, and we can buy both without having to sign waivers. Surely these are more dangerous than raw milk--and yet raw milk is more difficult to buy in most of the US, and not available nearly as widely as cigarettes and alcohol.

How many deaths can truly be ascribed to raw milk, vs. alcohol and tobacco? Is it possible that raw milk regulations, and prohibitions in general, are motivated by something other than concern for public safety?

Fred Pritzker even said it--the regulatory status of raw milk is ultimately a matter of politics, not of science. The more we demand access to raw milk, the more we tell our politicians and regulators that it's important to us, and the more willing we are to defy ridiculous ordinances, the better our prospects for reasonable food laws.

Protest SOPA And PIPA

My blog, Feed Me Like You Mean It, is going black tomorrow to protest the US House and Senate bills known as SOPA and PIPA.

For information about how you can do the same for your site, visit here.

For information about calling your senators, go here.

The Only Food I Consume Today Will Be Raw Milk

Today, the only food that I consume will be raw milk.

Why?

A man named Michael Schmidt is on day 25 of a hunger strike in Ontario, Canada. His demands are simple: a meeting with Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty to discuss the legal status of raw milk.

An Ontario court recently found that Schmidt's raw milk was legal--only to have the Ontario government appeal the decision, and win the appeal.

Really, Ontario, you are going to spend a lot of taxpayers' money outlawing a food that people have been consuming for millenia, and that they will keep consuming regardless? Is this the best role of government? Do you not have real problems to address?

For more information and perspective, click here.

I am fortunate to be in a place right now (California) where I can buy raw milk at a store. I am grateful for that. Most people are not so fortunate.

Rossotti Goat Ranch in Petaluma California

I just had a great visit to Rossotti Ranch in Petaluma, California. It was a clear hot day in Northern California, perfect for a farm visit.

On the farm they have a store where they sell grass-fed goat meat, pasture-raised veal, grass-fed beef, fruit preserves, porcini mushrooms, herbs, and other goodies. You can get everything goat, from goat sausages (I got merguez) to goat chops to whole goats, cut and wrapped. Some beautiful goat skin rugs, too.

They also sell at the San Rafael farmers' market on Sundays.

Meat Of Known Origin, for sure.

They are very fortunate to have a USDA slaughterhouse within a short drive of their ranch. Many farmers have to drive hours each way if they want their animals slaughtered in a way that makes the meat legal for retail sale.

Here's a video of me talking to the goats, taken by my friend Justin: