Greenwood Farms

I took a day trip today out to Greenwood Farms, a small family farm near Rolla, Missouri (about 2 hours southwest of St. Louis). They raise sheep (above), Jersey dairy cows (below), beef cattle (bottom), and pigs. Their Amish neighbor raises chickens for them also. They raise their animals mostly on grass, with a little extra grain supplements (for the dairy cows to make sure they get enough nutrients for producing milk.) They bottle-feed calves and lambs when necessary.
If you are looking for a meat provider that values keeping his animals healthy and well-cared-for, then this is the place to go. They were very happy to answer any questions we had about how they raise their animals. They will be selling their meat and raw milk in person at the Tower Grove Farmers' Market this summer at very reasonable prices. Also, they sell their meat to a few restaurants in town; Niche was the one they mentioned.

Where are the mid-size farms?

In an article from Grist, Hole in the Middle, Tom Philpott suggests that the insignificance of real sustainable food available in the US is due to a lack of a market for mid-size farms, that could conceivably provide a reasonable amount of food that small farms simply cannot produce. This was an interesting article, but I wish the author had speculated more about how to possibly create this market that was an alternative between farmer's markets and corporate national grocery chains. He suggested that local movements are the main efforts attempting to salvage these farms. Because the mid-size farms already lose money on the production of their food crops, they do not have the means to invest in restaurants etc. What if there were governmental policies that supported these farms instead of massively subsidizing corn, depleting any revenue for mid-scale farmers?

Thank you Zach S. for the article.

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A little card I made to advertise the blog.

Food Facility 2005

An interactive performance art piece and working restaurant created in Amsterdam in 2005 by Marti Guixe that imitates the function of Google. In the restaurant with no central kitchen you order food, it is then fetched from local fast food and delivered to you. Read the artist's comments on the project, and about the inner workings of the project. It seems to have been a temporary project that is no longer in function.

Margaret Mellon to speak at Wash U

There will be a Wash U lecture in Wilson 214, Mon 14th, 4 pm:

Come hear Margaret Mellon of the Union of Concerned Scientists speak about concentrated animal feeding operations and their threat to human health. Mellon is the Director/Senior Scientist of the Food and Environment Program.

Her statement:
"It's time to stop looking at agricultural biotechnology through rose-colored glasses. This is a novel technology that poses serious risks to the environment."

She has expertise in antibiotics in livestock and food, biotechnology, consumer impacts on the environment, genetically engineered foods. The reception will have a taste test between grass-fed and CAFO beef. come and eat some meat!

Which steak tastes best?

In this Slate article Mark Schatzker sets up a study to see which steak tastes the best. He describes the qualities of beef that may affect the taste such as aging process, hormones, and marbling. Find out which steak won! 

Plenty

In the book Plenty Alisa Smith and J.B. Mackinnion chronicle their journey of one year eating the 100-mile diet. The book's website has a "getting started guide" to help you start the local food challenge. Eating locally isn't necessarily "better" for the environment. There are many factors that go into the environmental footprints that your food makes. The production methods, processing, travel and method of travel, etc. It is true that often local food is more environmentally friendly and sustainable for several reasons:

Small farmers often focus on producing food organically and chemically free even if they don't pay for the organic label.

Food travels less distance to get to you. Keep in mind the distances a farmer might travel delivering food all over a county or the distance you may drive to get from the farmer market to the grocery store, etc.

Eating locally usually requires eating seasonally, which prevents extra food miles, and harsh preservation methods such as freezing.

When purchasing food from local producers it is easier to get in contact with them and learn about their methods of production first hand. Don't expect better standards automatically from local producers, always ask. Farmers that are proud of their work will be happy to talk to you about it.