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"Green Eats" Pastured Meat Tasting
Café Phipps, June 9, 2005
Why Pasture-Raised Food?
"Green Eats" partners: The Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture PASA, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, big Burrito Restaurant Group, Weston A. Price Foundation, Slow Food Pittsburgh, Putting Down Roots.
Among the exciting trends in agriculture is the resurgence of the traditional, sustainable farming practice of raising animals outdoors on pasture. Pasture-raised animals roam freely in their natural environment where they're able to eat the nutritious grasses and other plants that their bodies are adapted to digest. In addition to dramatically improving the welfare of farm animals, pasturing helps reduce environmental damage, and yields meats, eggs, and dairy products that are tastier and more nutritious than foods produced on factory farms.
Pasture: A Welcome Alternative to the Factory Farm
Animals raised on pasture enjoy a much higher quality of life than those confined within factory farms. When raised on open pasture, animals are able to move around freely and carry out natural behaviors - this is virtually impossible on industrial farms where hundreds or thousands of animals are crowded into confined feedlot facilities, often without access to fresh air or sunlight. Not surprisingly, pasture-raised animals have significantly lower stress levels than factory farmed animals, making them less susceptible to illness, and eliminating the need for the constant use of antibiotics.
Benefits of Pasture-Raised Foods
A growing body of research indicates that pasture-raised meat, eggs, and dairy products are better for consumers' health than conventionally-raised, grain-fed foods. In addition to being lower in calories and total fat, pasture-raised foods have higher levels of vitamins, more "good" omega-3 fats, and less "bad" omega-6 fat.
When you buy pastured meat, you're not only taking a step to safeguard your health, protect the environment, and improve animal wellbeing, you're also supporting sustainable farming and the farmers who choose to practice this form of agriculture.
Green Eats vendors & other useful resources:
Please note that pastured foods depend on weather and grass. It is early in the season for chicken and lamb. Supplies of these will improve shortly.
Ron Gargasz: Organic, primarily grass-fed beef. Volant, Pa. 724- 530-7220.
Product availability: Mcginnis Sisters markets, East End Co-op, Soergel's Orchards Market. Gargasz's own on-farm market Saturday mornings, year-round, 10 a.m to noon. 279 N to 79. Exit 79 at Slippery Rock, Exit 105. Bear right on Route 108 and continue to the first blacktop road on the right, Plain Grove Road. Continue 3.5 miles and bear left on Old Ash Road. Look for the second mailbox on the left.
Penn's Corner Farm Alliance: Mostly organic produce. Restaurants and farmers markets region-wide. nextlife@adelphia.net
Puckerbrush Farm: Organic, grassfed lamb. Shelocta, Pa. Pam Bryan 724-726-0435 Monroeville Saturday Market, special events at the Saturday Farmers@Firehouse farm market, *Slow Food Pittsburgh Laptop Butchershop.
Rose Ridge Farm: Grain fed organic beef. Waynesburg, OH 330-904-5365 Deanna & David McMaken. Product availability: Monroeville, East Liberty and Mt. Lebanon markets. *Slow Food Pittsburgh Laptop Butchershop. Contact: McMoozik@aol.com
*Slow Food Pittsburgh Laptop Butchershop: Order pastured foods by e-mail; pick up at Farmers@Firehouse market in the Strip.
Strath an dé: Purely grassfed beef. Greene County. For product information and purchase plans, go to website www.strathande.com/
Two Guys Farm: Pastured poultry and eggs. Reynoldsville, PA (814) 371-8084 Matt Ferut and Dave Chirico. Product availability: *Slow Food Pittsburgh's Laptop Butchershop.
Wil-Den Family Farms: Naturally raised pigs. Jackson Center, PA 814-786-7438 Denise Brownlee. Product availability: Wil-Den Family Farms Country Store, 195 Limber Road Jackson Center.\ Tues: 3pm-7pm; Thur and Fri, 10am-1pm; Sat, 9am-1pm. *Slowfood Pittsburgh Laptop Butchershop.
Townline Poultry Reserve: Pastured chicken, geese, heritage turkeys, eggs
Linesville PA 877-632-9242 http://www.townlinefarm.com/ Bill Yockey and Dayna Bridgen. Product availability: Mail order. Returning soon to *Slow Food Pittsburgh Laptop Butchershop.
Local sustainable food advocates:
Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture: www.pasafarming.org/
Southwest Pennsylvania regional director: David Eson, david@pasafarming.org
bigBurrito Restaurant Group: Restaurants, menus: www.bigburrito.com
Weston A. Price Foundation: Pittsburgh chapter, Carrie Hahn, bchahn@verizon.net
Slow Food Pittsburgh, Slowfoodpgh.org. Virginia Phillips and Marlene Parrish, vredpath@aol.com, marleneparrish@earthlink.net
Local Harvest: directory of local sustainably grown food. www.localharvest.org
Eat Well Guide: The Sustainable Table's online directory of farms, stores, markets, and restaurants. Sustainabletable.org
Eat Wild: The Clearinghouse for Information About Pasture-Based Farming
Created by Jo Robinson, the author of Pasture Perfect and an authority on pasture-based farming, this website provides a tremendous amount of information about pasture-raised animals. The site also includes an extensive bibliography of scientific studies related to pasture-based agriculture and pasture-raised foods.
Books
Hayes, Shannon. The Grass-fed Gourmet Cookbook: Healthy Cooking and Good Living with Pasture-Raised Foods. Eating Fresh Publications. 2004.
Robinson, Jo. Pasture Perfect: The Far Reaching Benefits of Choosing Meat, Eggs, and Dairy Products from Grass-Fed Animals. Vashion, WA: Vashion Island Press. 2004.
Written by New York Times bestselling author Jo Robinson, Pasture Perfect offers consumers a comprehensible overview of the benefits of grass-fed/pastured meat, eggs, and dairy products. The book also includes a selection of recipes for preparing grass-fed beef, bison, venison, lamb, veal, pork, poultry, and eggs.
Salatin, Joel. Holy Cows & Hog Heaven: The Food Buyer's Guide to Farm Friendly Food. Swoope, VA: Polyface, Inc. 2004.
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