A couple weeks ago, The Chicago Reader’s front page article  The Charcuterie Underground, by Mike Sula,  featured the burgeoning trend of less than legal home businesses centered around cured meat. The article mentioned that one of the companies, E & P Meats, shared a vendor with such high scale restaurants as Frontera Grill, and North Pond. No where was it stated or even implied that these restaurants ordered from the home sausage makers. Nevertheless, yesterday Frontera Grill was raided by the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDA) and forced to throw out an 80 lb box of meat that lacked a sign of  IDA, or USDA inspection (but was inspected by the Wisconsin Agriculture Department). It is possible North Pond will face an inspection as well.

What saddens me is that this raid also caused the owners of E &P Meats to announce they will voluntarily cease operation.  I would rather purchase meat from guys who will willingly tell anyone who buys their sausage what goes in it, and use a farmer who raises and slaughters his pigs naturally, than take a chance on commercially produced meat raised in a Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) that has God knows what in it (MSG anyone?).

I may get a little rant-y from here on out.

I understand they operated outside the law, but really with all the costs and hurdles the USDA imposes on getting approved it can be nearly impossible for a small business to cut through the red tape.  The bottom line is the inspections are meant to save people from food borne illnesses, as without a system to track food sources it would be impossible to determine the origin of an outbreak thanks to our industrial agriculture system. BUT IF YOU KNOW THE FARMER, YOU KNOW THE SOURCE.  Any department that doesn’t understand the value in safety of a local food economy  not to mention the economic value of a local food economy is beyond me.

I hope one day the door to E & P meats opens again, and that I can figure out a way to get on their email ordering list.

I love my NPR. It is always my go to radio station, whether I’m in the car or in the kitchen. In Chicago we are incredibly lucky to have the amount of programming Chicago Public Radio makes available.  But lately my blood has started to boil when I hear the sweet voice of Michele Block mention that support for their program is provided by Monsanto.

It’s sort of the same feeling I get when people try to tell me that Ethanol is good for the environment, but worse.  Monsanto is  targeting a market of people who are statistically more socially responsible and would likely not support their practices. In marketing we call this The Halo Effect.  By connecting themselves with a trusted news source Monsanto is hoping people with equate their brand with good.  What people need to know about Monsanto is that it is an agriculture giant that sues family farmers for saving seeds and developed the Terminator seed forcing farmers to purchase new seed every year.

Please don’t be fooled.  Monsanto is just another giant super corporation that will do anything for a profit.

You know it’s fall when The Simpsons airs its annual Treehouse of Horror episode. This years episode snuck up on me as I can’t really fathom how we’re more than halfway through October already (sidebar: they have Christmas decorations up at The Home Depot already, wtf?) . Thankfully the hubs remembered to set the DVR.

The second sketch parodied the zombie flick 28 Days Later when the new offering from Krusty, The Burger² (meat from cows that were fed cows), turns everyone into human flesh eating zombies called Munchers.  I won’t spoil the entire sketch which I  found to be be the most amusing of the episode, but it did leave an uneasy feeling when I remembered hearing about the recent beef tongue recall brought on by fears of mad cow disease.

When I first read Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation I began to worry about eating commercially produced meat. After I read Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals I stopped buying meat produced in Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs).   It was incredibly easy to do.   I did some research (read: googled), and placed an order with Arnold’s Farm and stocked my freezer with 25 lbs of different cuts of beef.  It broke down to a little more than $5 per lb, and didn’t even take up all the space in our very small apartment freezer. It’s better than CostCo!

I love knowing that I am supporting a local family operation, and also eating food that is better for the environment.  Sure, you can get CAFO free meat at Whole Foods but you loose that direct connection to the farmer.  For more reasons why to give up CAFO meat click here.

A couple years ago some friends and I went to see the raunchy puppet musical Avenue Q on a trip to New York.  I remember great belly laughs while we watched the puppets perform songs like “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist” and “The Internet is For Porn”. But underneath the adult rated humor was the underlying story that followed the main character on the typical post-graduate search for a meaningful livelihood with a B.A in English.  This resonated with me as I (like so many 20-somethings) have been looking for my “purpose” ever since I graduated college. I started culinary school after narrowing my passion down to *something that involves food*–still not the MOST narrow calling.  But, yesterday memories of vulgar (sometimes naked puppets) flooded back into my mind, when I think I finally found my calling.

I was inspired in a way I have not been in a long time as I read about the public school system in Batimore. It motivated me to take action and the links introduced me to Farm to School, which lead me to the Healthy School Campaign and a list of other programs developed for Illinois.

As I’m a 26 year old with no kids it may seem odd improving our school lunch program is the cause that pulls at my heartstrings. I  just believe that by getting rid of the garbage our schools get away with feeding kids and educating children about where food comes from we can solve so many other issues in our society (health care anyone?).

So, moving forward I’ve contacted a bunch of the organizations I’ve found to see if there is anything I can do to help them with their cause (in my abundant free time…gah!). If anyone knows of any related opportunities please let me know. And for the long term I now have something bigger to focus on once I’m done with my culinary certificate.

This is really exciting. The USDA is starting and initiative about how local food is better for the local economy, environment, and nutrition. Here, here! Let’s start the conversation.