A Paleo Adventure- Grass Fed Beef and More!

Veteran's Day- a day off like any other...

Except that this day had been reserved to meet up with a farmer with grass fed cows, naturally raised hogs (Jason told me he fed them lots of his own raw milk), and free range chickens!

Kind of  a Paleo-esque Holy Grail...




And so, our trip started, as most holy quests do, at a stop at a shrine: 

Our Lady of Guadalupe

This was a smart choice!  Not only was it about halfway to our destination of 

St. Brigid's Meadows, but it is a destination worthy in its own right!  PaleoJay recommended!

As is also St. Brigid's!  Nice folks, good prices, and they're happy to show you the farm!  (It was really, really cold and windy when we arrived, so we postponed the "tour" to a later date!)  Quite an adventure, letting the GPS guide you from one rural location to another, down windy yet very scenic rural Wisconsin idyllic landscape.

We finally made it, with snowflakes starting to whirl around, and I chose some smoked ham, grass fed steaks and burger meat, all beef hot dogs!, pork ribs... well, here you go:

They also deliver weekly to my town, and several nearby communities as well- I can just order online or call, and they will ship it right out...

But you know, I kind of like the old, slow, driving down the country roads route, and eating at the shrine on the way...

Buy your Paleo food Locally Part 2

OK, I was all excited: I went to the processor of many of the eatwild.com farms that had grass fed beef here in my area of Southwestern Wisconsin!  I thought-

"This is so cool!  ALL of these family farms, who have their grass fed, wholesome beef and other meats processed in this one facility will now be available to me!  One stop shopping!!"

I asked the counterman about grass fed beef...

"No- we do process a lot of family farms that do that, but here we only sell

HIGH GRADE, GRAIN FED BEEF!"

This was a nice meat market, but wouldn't you think the guy would think about all the grass fed beef they were processing, and think that there might be a market for it in his own store?

Disappointing, but it pointed out one thing to me: 

You really need to connect with a FARMER who does things the way you want!

The convenient, modern, one-stop-shopping route that was the be-all-end-all of the 1960's better living through chemistry and industrialization has FAILED!  And, by it's very nature, it will continue to fail; we need to get back to buying local produce, in particular meats that we know that the farmer or rancher involved is trustworthy and honest.  Strong ETHICS are important in ALL endeavors!

We did check out a really nice GOLF COURSE in Winona, Minnesota, just up the river from us, The Bridges, that has a restaurant: Signatures that features local meats, and free range chicken dishes- excellent- if you are traveling the "River Road", and are in Winona, check this place out!

Paleo approved!

 But then, on the way home we spied this BUS next to us on the highway:

 
A wonderful idea: Tapestry, an Enchanted Garden
"Healthy vegetables to color your life"


But check out the dilapidated bus, and the broken window!
This looks like a hippie dream gone wrong!  Kind of scary, really...

Here is another view of the Winona golf course- very Paleo-esque, easy to imagine Indian/paleolithic peoples running around in this environment, (sans chairs), they would just do the Asian squat-

And so, I thought I would leave you with a Utopian vision of what a nice golf course and Eden-like landscaping can do-

Food for the Paleo-nativist soul- Ideal landscape, sunshine, healthy activity (golf) - with real foods!

I hope you have days such as this, for a long time to come!  Life is really simple, if you think about it.

Buy your Paleo Food locally!

Buy your food locally- from a farmer or butcher you know and respect!  This video encapsulates it all:

Our food supply has been so adulterated, that we hardly even know it anymore.


Our meat, in particular, used to come from a local, trusted farmer; someone everybody knew and trusted.  Let's go back to Andy Griffith and the town of Mayberry where most of us grew up; and if not us, then our parents or grandparents:

"Well Rafe Hollister- I do declare!  Those are the healthiest cattle I have seen- yes SIR!  Your pasture looks so green, I say so GREEN I could almost eat the grass myself! And healthy- those cattle look so healthy- MMMM!!  Wrap me up a quarter beef Rafe- and I'll see you in church this Sunday!"

That's how it used to be, somehow we fool ourselves into thinking that somehow it still is...











But when we go to Wal-Mart, or virtually any modern grocery store, what we are really getting these days is factory farmed, grain force-fed, and loaded up with anti-biotic and hormone laden tortured animals.

Do you think that Rafe, or Andy would be all happy and approving of these "well raised animals?"

Irregardless of the fact that these animals are basically in animal concentration camps: 


The bottom line is that this creates incredibly UNHEALTHY MEAT!


If this had been an old episode of the wonderful Andy Griffith show, the rest of the show would be about rescuing the animals!!

Barney might even use his one bullet to shoot the (corporate) "farmer"who ran this slimy operation!

I have been exploring tonight on the internet- here are some ideas for you:

Eat Wild

Go to that website above, and search your state!  Here in Wisconsin, I found dozens of family farms that humanely raise cattle on grass (which they are meant to eat- God made them so!), free range chickens that eat bugs, and worms, and scratch in the grass, etc.; realizing their ultimate "chicken-ness", and PIGS that are free to burrow, and wallow, and achieve perfect "pigness", as they were intended to as well, by God!

Go connect with a farmer!  Someone like Rafe from Mayberry- someone you can trust, and you can get to know as a neighbor.

Don't buy from FACTORY FARMS that just want to make "maximum product with minimum input"-

You will get what you pay for!

And besides, wouldn't you rather pay your money to Rafe, than send it off to Mount Pilate, or even Raleigh??!!

J