"It's like a third world country in Upstate New York... I'm a farmer and I want to farm and I do really believe that this grass-fed beef is a great hope for New York State."
Meet Farmer Ingimundur Kjarval and Ulla Kjarval of Spring Lake Farm in the western Catskills. They are passionate about pasture-raised animals. So passionate, that in a time when many upstate farms are facing foreclosures, they are expanding. To them, grass-fed meat just has a "beefy," "distinctive" and "pleasant" taste to it -- a taste you can't get from factory-farmed meat you buy in the supermarket -- a taste they are sure New York diners and chefs will want to seek out.
Spring Lake Farm wants to serve as an inspiration for what the future of sustainable agriculture could look like for New York State. And with demand growing locally for grass-fed animals, they believe the millions of acres of unused land in their area would make perfect land for farmers to raise their own grass-fed beef and pork.
I hope you take a moment to watch my story about this amazing little grass-fed operation. Walking in the grass amongst the animals in the fresh mountain air left no doubt in my mind that these animals were happy animals. And like they say, a stress-free animal always tastes better.
If you would like to try any of the beef, lamb or pork raised on Spring Lake Farm, you can find them on www.springlakefarmny.com, or reach out to me @SkeeterNYC or to Ulla on Twitter: @NYCUlla.
**And for cooks and chefs who are interested in "tasting notes" on their grass-fed beef, you can visit The Artisan Beef Institute's website for their first impressions. Professional taster Carrie Oliver walks you through her thoughts and details on the meat.**
Thanks for watching food. curated. Happy eating!
Cross-posted from food. curated.
Follow Liza de Guia on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SkeeterNYC
To understand modern agriculture one has to look back, everything done to day has explanations in the past. Pigs have been with us for thousands of years and grains only part of their diet the last couple of centuries.
I am agriculturally educated but as I get older I find I have to unlearn things. A farm is a place where the rubber hits the road, reality rules. Every morning you go out and deal with it, being it coyotes braking through a fence to teach you who really rules or some nutty idea that didn’t work.
I am from Iceland were haying is center to all farming and has been since the country was settled more than a thousand years ago. The first settler had to give up and go back to Norway because he didn’t have enough hay by spring and lost his livestock. My ancestors, some would call them vikings, had cows, chicken, pigs, coats, sheep etc. and the first cow in America was actually brought by them via Greenland. A story I would like to tell.
Anyway, whether beef tastes "good" or "bad" isn't just a matter of whether it's grainfed or grassfed.
USDA does what it does based on a budget approved by Congress. And paid for with tax dollars. Yours, mine and everyone (and every company) in the country.
Are you making a moral or medical point here? There really is a difference, you know, and no reason to suppose that moral and health concerns ever point to the same solution, except by accident.
Snerd
http://www.eatwild.com/healthbenefits.htm
One interesting fact about cows is that they are naturally tropical animals, not indigenous to N. America, and cannot survive in a snow covered environment without human assistance, usually in the form of hay. On the other hand, bison are native to Northern climates, have a shovel-shaped head enabling them to push snow from grass, and can survive year round on their own. Sheep can usually dig through snow up to about a foot deep.
As opposed to crop-based plant foods and CAFO animal foods, a well-functioning grass fed/finished ranch can operate with zero pounds of artificial fertilizer, zero pounds of pesticides, zero gallons of irrigation water, and zero pounds of grain/soy. It really is the ultimate in sustainability, just as nature intended.
Roy Mankovitz, Director
http://www.MontecitoWellness.com
ALL DIETS KILL ANIMALS.
Not to mention that good ol Bovine Growth Hormone which is highly recommended for children of pro-corporate authoritarians.
http://trit.us/children/babies.html
these children were fed grass fed meat products, and their mothers ate grass fed meat products before and during the pregnancy.
Look at the marvelous genetic expression.
In the end; great white sharks, lions, and spiders are natural beings. nothing evil about them.
If good looking babies are any indication, then this page with photos of healthy, vibrant, thriving vegan children should be equally persuasive.
http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/realveganchildren
We liked supporting our local farmers, and wished I could raise my own cattle. I could raise chickens, but we travel too much. The alternative is patronizing farmers who raise their cattle using the same care I would.
hogs destroy the land so they are inclined to be more secure, but I smell them from time to time.
and also this eye-opening video lecture by Allan Savory: http://vimeo.com/8239427
I think the whole video was nice, good people, nice farm. I did hear twice that it was not a go financially. So what I gathered is from an economic point of view, that type of operation is not doing any better financially than any other type of operation. I guess the message I get from Huff post(same as always) is farmers don't really need to make money, as long as they produce food in a way that suits Huff post on that particular day.
It is too bad that mixed farms like this one are becoming a thing of the past. The country is worse for it, just like we are worse for the fact we are losing all the small retailers, local schools, etc.
From 'Food Inc.', a chicken farmer will make $18K p/a and be in debt up to $500K. A small farmer will only break even. And so, we return then to the aforementioned government regulations...
For the record, I am a small mixed farmer.