Reading food packages in the dark

I've already expressed my utter distrust for the USDA (and related agencies). And anyone who cares enough about what they eat to read this probably knows to take certain "labels" and claims on packaging with a grain of salt. Many already know, for instance, that "free range" doesn't really mean that Sally the Chicken is out there living her life under the sun, stretching her talons into nice grass. Rather it means that Sally probably lives in a pretty awful, dirty, cramped building, that has a little door in it that leads to a patch of grass. If Sally wanted she could go out that door and chill for all long as she wants. But she has never been out there and she will never go out there.

What does all this mean? That "free range" is a bunch of b.s. If you want to know that your chicken lived its life as a chicken (meaning it will produce tastier and healthier meat and eggs) then you want it to have lived in a pasture -- "pastured chicken" or "pastured eggs" so to speak. But perhaps more importantly you want to know where it is coming from. The risk here is that so many people realize the virtues of pastured eggs that the word is used inappropriately. Every claim on a package must be read with a massive grain of salt. (Take "all-vegetarian diet" for instance -- it's nice to know that your chickens weren't fed other chickens and may not have some future mad chicken disease but does it mean? Chickens eat worms and worms are not part of a vegetarian diet. From that alone you know it makes no sense. Other reasons we can leave aside for now.)

The concern overall is that people react to what they read and hear. These terms are often not regulated and when they are you can believe one thing: that the big companies will convince the USDA to stretch the regulation to include them. When that happens it has no meaning anymore. Your free range chickens are exactly the same as your not free range chickens.

Advocates and fans of the grassfed or pastured movement are now concerned that it is picking up enough that it will be next. When I think of grassfed cattle I think of a cow who lives its entire life on a pasture eating grass. This would be overseen by a farmer who never injects the cattle with antiobiotics and never feed anything but the grass on the ground or natural hay when the grass isn't growing (and careful here of the "grain finished" meat -- as it's a way a farmer can fatten up its cow at the end of its life using corn). But the USDA doesn't see it that way. As I understand it, grassfed beef farmers (the so called true "grass farmers") have been continually lobbying the USDA to restrict use of related terms to only the meaning as I understand it (as everyone who knows the term understands it). I am not aware of exactly how successful or unsuccessful that lobbying is but I don't have my fingers crossed. If you can make an "organic" twinkie using the USDA's regulated term (you can) then you will someday be able to buy a "grassfed" steak using the USDA regulated term from a cow that never lived on a pasture, was injected with antiobiotics, and who knows what else.

The good news is that we aren't there yet. The most prevelant grassfed beef available in my area is Tallgrass and it is true, 100% grassfed beef. Whole Foods won't buy lamb that is not 100% grass fed in the true meaning (access to pastures its entire life). But the day may come when this ends and it goes back to knowing what you are eating. Much of the beef, lamb, goat, chicken and turkey I've encountered that claims to be pasture-raised comes from farms that have websites where you can read all about the philosophy of the farm and the way the animals are raised. They are also sold at farmers markets where you can meet their representatives and look them in the eye, or at boutique shops that buy directly from the farm and you can look that person in the eye. I have found that such shops know I am serious about my inquiry and will not just say something to shut me up. Provenence in Logan Square (also has a Lincoln Square location) for instance, told me that they did not believe their poultry was pastured. I asked if their grassfed ground beef was grain finished and they looked up the farm on the internet and called them for me before answering.

Now not everyone will go to such lengths and most Americans need to go to Jewel, not Provenence, to buy their meat. But these stores don't change out brands that often so you can do your own research quite easily with a few Google searches and be the educated consumer that helps raise the quality of our food. And I always try to remember that no matter how bright it is under those supermarket lights, it's really dark in there and I can't really see what I'm looking at.

Spending more on my food

I'm looking forward to checking out a little shop in Chicago this weekend called the Green Grocer by Grand and Ogden. From what I understand they've got grass-fed meat, raw cheeses and a host of great stuff (who wouldn't want an organic locally made doughnut?!). Places like the Green Grocer (sort of the anti-establishment version of Whole Foods) and Whole Foods itself, are certainly for the wealthier residents of this world. Particularly in our current times, spending $9 for a jar of pickled tomatoes or $3 for an avocado is nothing short of comical to most Americans (who are of course overall some of the wealthiest people in the history of the world -- or dying middle class aside). It is not hard to spend $300 on a 45 minute trip to Whole Foods or spend $150 filling up a little basket at a place like Provenance, Olivia's Market, etc. Yet perhaps it is not that simple. There is some evidence that we has slowly but surely been spending less on food (as a percentage of our individuals incomes) as each century and decade goes by. Indeed, we spend less on food than anyone in the history of the world (or anyone else in our current world) -- that comes out to less than 10% of disposable income. Just in America, in the past 35 years, we have gone from spending on average just under 13% of disposable income on food to just under 10%.

What does this mean? I don't know if it means more of us are taking our families to McDonald's instead of Chili's or if it means that we buy the same eggs and bread at the same stores but the prices have overall come down relative to inflation. Maybe it means that we reach for the cheaper brands and economize on the bulk stores that let families pretend they are readying a bunker. Or maybe it means that we just don't consider food as much of a priority. That bread over there is certainly better for us and tastes better, but it's literally twice as expensive -- so this bread will be fine for little Jimmy's lunches. Have our taste buds been dumbed down to enjoy what's cheapest? Kids want white bread not some artisan whole grain loaf, or bologna over real prosciutto, American cheese over fresh mozzarella, Sunny-D over fresh squeezed juices, a Snickers bar over Dutch chocolates.

It's a complicated issue but it brings up one important point in my mind -- I can justify spending more on food. I can make high quality food a little bit more of a priority. Spending a couple hundred dollars at "Whole Paycheck" hurts, but gosh it tastes so much better and I believe it will pay for itself in the long run when it keeps me out of the hospital (though I'll ignore that dying prematurely is probably the best way to save money). My grass fed steaks from Tallgrass were pricey -- about $26/lb, but they are FAR healthier than the ones right next to them from corn-fed cows for $9/lb. If we want, we can make food more of a priority in our budgets and our calendars (I acknowledge that these little shops don't sell everything I need so the idea of one-stop shopping goes out the window). I look forward to spending some good, hard earned money at the Green Grocer tomorrow.

Grass fed beef: Part II

My second experiment with grass fed beef occurred last night when I ate grass fed steaks with my parents. They live on the "northshore" of Chicago, which is sufficiently wealthy to have some specialty stores and grocery stores that care different products then many others in the Chicago area. I bought last night's meal at Sunset in Highland Park, where you can get a variety of different steaks, roasts, and ground meat. It is apparently not too difficult to find one brand of grass fed beef that has really done a great job infiltrating grocery stores and restaurants in the Chicago area. While I have yet to find it at any normal grocery store in Chicago, it is sold at Fox & Obel. The brand is owned by newsman Bill Curtis: Tallgrass. You can also read a NYT article on it here. My parents each had a strip steak and I had a boneless ribeye. Grass fed steaks cook a good 30% faster due to lower fat content. I was very worried I'd overcook them but overall they turned out well (the ribeye cooked a little slower as it had a little more fat). The meat had a bit of a gamey taste to it and I felt like I could taste the grass though my father disagreed. The steaks were not cheap (about $14 for a steak not much over half a pound) but no one at the table could eat more then half of theirs.

Tallgrass is available at a variety of nice to very nice restaurants in Chicago. Their website lists most of the restaurants that carry their product. Some grass fed beef is "finished" with corn (sometimes called "grain finished" or the like). This helps fatten up the cows before slaughter. It does, however, pose some of the very same problems with feeding cows corn their whole lives. Tallgrass, like many but not all grass fed brands, is 100% grass fed. Just something to keep an eye out for if you care.

How did I feel? Well I did have a lot of trouble falling asleep. I found this particularly ironic since raw foodists often say that when you eat your first big raw dinner you can't sleep because you have so much energy from all the nutrients. Well that never happened to me when I went raw but it did when I at a big steak. I take no pleasure in admitting this as someone who believes there are many benefits to raw and vegan diets (and few to carnivorious ones). Nonetheless the point of this blog is to be honest during this journey. Today I feel pretty good. Maybe a slight noticable increase in energy but honestly difficult to tell considering I didn't sleep well as I layed awake for hours.

The last thing I'll mention is how it felt eating it. Some vegetarians have commented to me that they couldn't get themselves to eat meat again because any "flesh" makes them nauseous. The burger was easy as it was hidden in bread and covered with condiments, lettuce, tomatoe and onions. I was worried about the steak. Frankly, it was easy. I didn't have any negative reaction and it brought back not so distant memories of what a good steak tasted like. So while everyone's different, I apparently can go back to meat pretty easily.