Our Cow Adventure

This is the cow we picked out to be our dinner for two or three nights a week for the next year. We like his white face. He will not spend his last days in a feed lot ankle deep in his own waste like most of the cows who end up at Kroger. He will not be fed parts of other cows, inadvertently becoming a cow-nibal. He won't be fed growth hormones, or be be shipped from Mexico where we are cautioned not to drink the water. If the water in Mexico isn't safe for human consumption, then what do you think Mexican cows have been drinking? Jose Quervo? It would probably be safer!

No, I'm afraid we are the ones who have been drinking too much. Or something. Something has convinced us that our startlingly red beef magically appears on the grocery store shelf. You don't believe me? Well take your average kid to a farm and point to a pair of sweet, furry cow eyes and say "There's your next burger" then watch the horrified look come across his innocent little face. He'll think you are at a petting zoo. We are totally disconnected from the process by which our food arrives on our plate; and that is, I believe, one foundation of the health epidemic we are experiencing in the USA, especially in the southeast.

The more information we have, the better decisions we can make. I stole that from Oprah. (She still says a few things that are worth listening to.) For instance, if you knew you could buy an entire grass finished cow from a source you knew, at a reasonable price, and that the meat from that cow would be considerably better for you, might even taste better, and would certainly be better for the environment, would you want to do that? We decided to do just that.

The cow in the photo belongs to my dad right now and lives in his organically fertilized pasture. He eats grass mostly. His diet is supplemented in the winter months by hay, which is grass, just the winter version. This is by far the healthiest diet for him. And it results in much healthier meat for us. Grass finished beef is naturally higher in Omega 3 fatty acids and lower in saturated fat than corn fed or feedlot beef. And because he lives a less stressful life, his meat will contain less cortisol, or the stuff that makes you have a fat belly. (Besides the Krispy Kremes and BBQ potato chips.)

I believe the upcoming generation must begin to think differently about the food we choose to eat. There are healthier, tastier, and more responsible ways get our food. Our culinary culture is lazy at best, and downright trashy at worst. Think before you eat!

This is the first time Amanda and I have ever done anything like this. Although, I remember my parents having some of our own beef and pork slaughtered and butchered when I was a young kid. And it's funny, when I look at pictures from back then, most everybody was about thirty to fifty pounds lighter than they are today. I will continue to post the progress of our cow adventure.

Disclaimer: To all who were planning a trip to Kroger to buy some BBQ potato chips and Krispy Kreme Donuts, I apologise, but admit it, you are not helping the situation.