Locally Bred and Locally Fed

A happy cow grazes at West Wind Farms.

According to a Reuters-NPR poll, meat is the item most often cited as being a cause for concern when it comes to food safety. Over the past fifteen years, phrases that were not part of food talk as we know it were suddenly being muttered with the same kind of fear that poxes and polio held for our great- and great-great-grandparents.  Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease and other scary but often misunderstood terms gave names to the fear that can come with being so separated from the sources of our food.

For many, it became a zero sum sort of problem, with the only workable solution being the eradication of meat from the pantry.  What many Nashvillians don't realize is that there are alternatives to buying meat from livestock that is fed and processed in environments that compromise the safety and quality of our food supply. Local farmers, many of whom are regular vendors at the ENFM, provide a wide range of meat that is much safer and frankly, tastier than the meat offered by local chain supermarkets.

Hatcher Family Dairy introduced ground
beef  to their product line last week.

How do you know what's right for you?  Here's a quick rundown of some of the terms you might encounter:

grass fed -This means that the animal was allowed to graze on grass until it was time to be processed.

grass finished - grass finished livestock are allowed to graze in a pasture right up until they are slaughtered

organic -  this designation meets USDA standards for all organic foods

grain fed/vegetarian fed - these animals are not fed anything that contains animal byproducts.

Peaceful Pastures offers soap and wool
as well as meat products. 

Aside from the wide variety of meats available: chicken, pork, beef, lamb and goat; the members of the ENFM who specialize in the stuff that moos, quacks, oinks and clucks also offer products you might not expect.  Check out the websites below for more information.

Hatcher Family Dairy: ground beef, butter, milk, cream, ice cream

Peaceful Pastures: beef, chicken, pork, goat, lamb, duck, sausage, wool, soap, eggs, CSA available

West Wind Farms:  beef, chicken, turkey, pork, lamb, cheese, pet food, produce, CSA available.

Over the course of the summer, we will be talking with each of these vendors to find out more about what they do.