Very! Prior to a few months ago, buying locally grown meat was something I never knew or even thought about.
Free-Range Chickens
But now I do. Why? First off, after reading Fast Food Nation and now my current book, Omnivore’s Dilemma, I am so much more aware about the meat processing industry in America. These two books were such eye openers for me, and I encourage you to read them. You will never look at your meat the same way again.
How Our Meat Processing Got This Way
How did our meat processing get this way? Nixon is our first culprit because the change in how meat is processed began with him. We should have known that that man had more up his sleeve than spying on the Democrats and then lying about it. Thanks to his policy on agriculture, we suddenly were flooded with lots and lots of cheap corn that we needed to do something with.
Today we consume corn in every product we eat, including our beef and chicken! If you haven’t noticed, cows graze on grass. But now they are fed corn, which is the reason why we need to inject these animals with antibiotics — because their bodies are not made to process corn. Cows are also fed other animal by-products as well, which also compromises their health.
Mid-West Feed Lot
McDonald’s is our second culprit. In their quest for cheap fast food, they helped create a slaughter industry that herds cows into feed lots to eat the cheap corn and animal waste. McDonald’s purchases the sickest and weakest cows because they are the cheapest. Then those cows are slaughtered as fast as possible in unsanitary and unsafe (for the workers) conditions in a few slaughter houses based in the mid-west.
These slaughter houses are horrific places to work for the mainly Hispanic workers, many of whom are illegal. These workers, who often are maimed or disabled on the job, have no access to health care, workman’s comp, or disability. And all these problems have developed just so we can feast on low-cost meat that has a high chance of having E Coli because of the unsanitary conditions in the feedlots and the slaughterhouses.
Well, gee, after reading that, I just didn’t want to run down to the grocery store to buy some meat. Nor did I want to buy it at a restaurant. So, I’ve been mainly eating vegetarian for the past few month or so.
Then the 5ive Points Market opened every Thursday afternoon at our museum — and I discovered three local farms that are selling organic, grain-fed meat raised in a sustainable manner! Yippee!
River Ridge Farms
I know these are chickens! But the River Ridge Farm website doesn't have photos and all I could find were these from a blog about their cows!
This week, we feasted on grilled chicken breast from River Ridge Farms which is located in Ten Mile, Tennessee in Meigs County. Yumee!
Tender and fresh, these breasts had a delightful taste. According to River Ridge Farms’ literature, their “juicy and delicious chicken is raised in protected pens right on the green grass of our pastures. The birds are moved to fresh pasture daily to supplement their all-natural certified organic diet. Our certified organic feed is hormone and anti-biotic free.”
Yes, we paid more for this chicken — $12.75 per pound for a split breast with the bone in. But the price was worth it to us.
River Ridge also sells grass-fed beef, pork, eggs, and turkey. They also produce honey and sell cut flowers. And then there are their vegetables! Oh my, we have had some wonderful veggies from them. One week we gorged ourselves on their heirloom tomatoes. I think I picked out 10 different varieties and Dan and I had a different one each night. Exquisite!
Co-Owner David Waters Milking One of Their Cows
The owners are Dave and Verlinda Waters, and they sell their products at the following:
- Wednesdays: Chattanooga, Main Farmers Market, 4:00-6:00 p.m.
- Thursdays: Cleveland, 5ive Points Market, 4:00-7:00 p.m.
- Fridays: Ten Mile, at their farm, 4:00-6:00 p.m.
- Saturdays: Knoxville, Market Square Farmers Market, 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
All of their animals products are USDA inspected.
Homestead Beef
Happy Cows at Homestead Beef Farm in Rhea County
Homestead Beef in Sale Creek, Tennessee is another local vendor that comes to our Five Points Market. We haven’t purchased beef yet from them. I’m not a super big beef eater even before I began reading about the US meat industry. I’ll eat ground beef, but that’s about it. But we did purchase their breakfast sausage at $6.25 per pound. It was very good, with a wonderful flavor that was not too spicy — but did have a bit of a bite to it. They have been located in Rhea County since 1987. Their beef is USDA inspected, grass fed with no added hormones or antibiotics and is pasture raised.
Humberd’s Beef
New to the beef scene is Humberd’s Beef with owner Kelly Humberd right here in Bradley County. We purchased some frozen ground beef from Kelly which we haven’t used yet. Kelly grass feeds her beef until the end, when she finishes them off with corn. The beef is slaughtered locally at R & D Custom Slaughtering in Dunlap. I’ll report soon on how the beef tastes.
There are lots of other meat producers who sell at the Chattanooga markets. Its just that these three happen to be in my backyard at the Museum, so buying from them is convenient.
Reducing Your Carbon Footprint
I walk out my door at work to the Five Points Market - literally! Yes, I am totally spoiled. Thank you Main Street for coming up with this nifty idea!
Besides supporting the local economy, another reason why it’s important for me to buy locally is because my shopping local is helping to reduce the carbon footprint. The meat I’m buying is not being transported first from the farmer to the feedlot to the slaughterhouse to the grocery store and finally by me to my home. That’s a lot of petroleum — which doesn’t take into account all the petroleum used to grow the corn to feed these cows!
Instead of creating a huge carbon footprint, these local farmers are transporting their meats a short distance to the Farmers Market. And as for me, I’m literally walking out the door of my work (I know how sweet that is!), making my purchase, and driving home. Since the animals are raised on the grass that grows in pastures, there is no cultivation by tractors needed to feed them. This lack of machinery further reduced the amount of petroleum used.
This way of shopping is truly better for me, for the farmer who isn’t using chemicals, and for the environment!
Please drop me a comment if you eat grass fed beef, chicken, or pork and tell me about your experiences! I would love to hear about them.
Tags: farmers markets, grass fed beef, organic, shopping
Luckily here in Meadows of Dan we’ve always had the option of buying beef locally. Most of the time when we were kids the parents would buy a half or whole beef for the freezer from a local farmer. Recently poultry, lamb and beef producers have been attracting local customers rather than ship their animals to market. Better pay for them, better quality for us. But I’m thinking next year that my chicken and eggs may come from my back yard!