farming

People often ask me why I'm still so rankled by veganism despite having given it up long ago. Unfortunately it's not veganism that gets me fired up, but more troubling political issues at the animal rights heart of the vegan movement. Not long after I stopped being vegan,  I got involved with agriculture. I saw the makings of a cold war between the locavores and the animal rights groups and became troubled by it. Animal rights groups like the Humane Society of the United States and PETA pull in substantial amounts of donations and therefore exert some political clout. They get these donations by pretending to go after factory farms, but in reality small farms are also in the crosshairs. They don't admit this much and publicly don't want to admit it because the general public tends to be sympathetic to small farms.

This year, a history professor, James McWilliams, came out with an anti-locavore book called Just Food. Laughably, I saw some "conservative" outlets endorse the book, probably because of the anti-elite sentiment so tragically beloved by Palinites and their ilk. They probably didn't read it, since the ultimate point of that book is that locavores are stupid because really it's not Chilean strawberries, but meat, that is at the root of all problems. Despite not being an economist*, McWilliams frames his arguments as being all about economic rationality. But I saw right through it from the beginning and it's quite obvious from his recent animal rights posts at the Atlantic that his real beef with locavores is their use of animals. Notice that's not on the jacket of his book.

Can one be locavore and disavow all use of domestic animals? Yes, there are a few small farms practicing veganic agriculture (it's telling that one of this method's main advocates has written a book now called Meat: A Benign Extravagance), but they are few and far between. Because they are so unusual, there is little data on how productive they actually are. Much of the fertilizer used on farms comes from animals and if you want low-impact pest control, hunting is a good way to do it. Not to mention the dietary challenge of being vegan and local in very cold climates.

Animal rights groups also rely on videos of cruelty on farms to win converts. These become less effective on people who have actually been to farms. Animal rights groups rely on people being disconnected from farming and from agrarian traditions. But unfortunately for them, these are being revived. Things have been coming to a head recently with animal rights groups attacking backyard chicken-keepers and DIY turkey slaughter. I love it when people show their true colors— that it's not Smithfield farms they are after, but all farms that use animals**. Often the strategy is to divert: when you talk about soy, parrot back that most soy goes into livestock feed. It isn't until activists are cornered that they admit their true agenda, which is to eliminate all domesticated animal use from lab rats to riding horses to pet dogs to the turkey on your table.

It scares me because I feel that agrarian traditions are beset on both sides by conservatives*** who want their right to munch on their McTroglodyte burgers without worrying about what that means and the leftist movement to make such traditions difficult/illegal, either intentionally in the case of animal-rights activists or unintentionally in the case of the average land-alienated urban liberal.

Why should we care? In my view it's because every good farm is so valuable in preserving the health of humans, animals, and the land holistically. What does it take to make people understand this? 

I've been interested in following the reaction towards A Vegan No More, a post by a woman who left veganism for health reasons:

While my original choice to be a vegan stemmed from the always noble impulse to do the right thing and be as compassionate as possible, it was a mistake and a choice I should never have made. If I had done my research and actually asked the hard questions from the beginning instead of letting the graphic images of factory farms guide me, I would have saved myself 3 years of misguided efforts as well as the deterioration of my physical and emotional health.

What can we do to prevent this? I think engaging people in producing food is the answer. It's a real threat for animal rightists and they know it.

Danish backyard chickens

*nearly every Animal Rightist on the internet fancies themselves an agricultural economist and parrots the simplistic and de-localized idea that animal agriculture is inefficient.

**This isn't to omit the outright terrorism that animal rightists inflict on scientists

*** I shudder to use that word to describe people who obviously care very little for conserving anything

So I have some awesome things to look forward to!

Next weekend Locavore Hunter Jackson Landers, who taught my hunting class, will be in NYC for a goose-cooking event in my Brooklyn neighborhood! The NYtimes just covered the event, so it might sell out soon!

Then in November there is Pigstock! I've blogged about mangalitsa before and I'm excited to participate in this event where slaughter, butchery, and cooking will be taught! Guess who will be there? Dr. Eades and Sally Fallon! If you are a butcher, farmer, or just want to be an educated consumer, I suggest checking these workshops out!

Also I've blogged a bit about problems with the meat infrastructure in this country. Lack of slaughterhouses, transportation options, and onerous laws mean that good grassfed/pastured meat is more expensive than it really has to be. While I'm excited about infrastructural projects like mobile slaughterhouses, I think this is a problem that needs many solutions. Eating Paleo in NYC has been doing "meat shares" for awhile. We contract directly with farmers to purchase entire animals and distribute them amongst our members. We've sold out every time, but I've found that "cowpool" model doesn't work so well with very large groups. Trying to share an animal equally doesn't work very well because different parts are worth different amounts of money. Our next meat share is mostly composed of paleos, but also of garden variety locavores, so it has its own meatup here: 

A major challenge is that the average consumer is used to going to a store and picking out what they want among a selection of cuts. When you invest in a real live animal you are not sure how much the animal will weigh at the slaughter date or in many cases how much of each cut you'll get. In this meatshare we are investing in the purchase of some animals and people will get to purchase cuts. It's a little like gambling, except you won't lose money. The worst thing that happens is that you might not get the cuts you want and then I'll have to try to sell them to someone else, which shouldn't be a problem since I now have a huge chest freezer (TOTALLY WORTH IT) and I might just end up eating it myself...

Once I get a website for the concept up, I hope to add the ability to chose some cuts. I'm also in talks with some awesome local butchers to bypass the slaughterhouse completely and do on-farm slaughter/educational events. Some guy I met at a tech meetup said that this really has limited appeal, but whatev, since slaughter events regularly SELL OUT in NYC. People want the connection and I think it's important to see how hard and messy getting the meat to your table actually is. I've also learned a lot about cooking and buying from attending such events, though I'm still a bit of a meat n00b.

Erwan Le Corre, John Durant, and Andrew at the farm

 So the Eating Paleo in NYC Meetup Group just did its first meatshare! We met bright and early in the morning to go to Glynwood Farm in Cold Spring, NY to pick up a lamb we ordered several months ago, as well as assorted other meaty goodies. Glynwood has been a farm since the 1700s, but these days its mission isn't just farming, since it is also a non-profit dedicated to improving Hudson Valley sustainable agriculture. Going there was a great opportunity to learn more about agriculture and the benefits of quality meat. Our tour was very diverse: WAPFers, paleos, raw meat eaters, and people just interested in grassfed agriculture! 

Farmer Ken Kleinpeter gave us an overview of how livestock agriculture works. Most of the breeds he raises, like the White Park Cattle, are heritage breeds that do well in pasture. He explained that putting the average factory farmed cow out to pasture does not make for quality grass fed meat. He also told us about how government regulations make it difficult for him to bring meat to market. For example, it can be hard for them to book a date at the slaughterhouse they use, which is one of the few available that is certified humane. The really exciting thing to hear was that he is part of a regional task force that is developing mobile slaughter units for large livestock, which is huuuuuuuuuuuuge. It will make it much less stressful and expensive to process a large animal like a buffalo. Personally, I think slaughter regulations are ridiculous and it's too bad they have to jump through hoops for such nonsense as the regulation that the USDA inspector has to has their own office (they are going to have an office trailer). Furthermore, why is it OK to process chickens on-farm without an inspector but not cows? Are cows magically safe (haha) because of the USDA, but not chickens? Guess this is getting into rant territory, but you can read more on the unfortunate regulatory situation here.

The reason he can only sell frozen meat is that that it's expensive to keep meat fresh and distribution channels are slower. The animals are all very valuable on a small farm like Glynwood and the staff there takes great care during the slaughter process to provide as much comfort is possible. Ken also talked about how eating local grassfed animals raised on land that cannot grow anything else is the most sustainable way to eat, far more sustainable than a veggie diet utilizing grains grown in industrial monocultures or vegetables grown far away using lots of pesticides and petroleum fertilizers. The Vegetarian Myth by Lierre Keith is a good primer about this.

Ken said he feels comfortable eating his own meat raw and talked about how much higher the risk is eating meat raw from industrial sources because it is not just farm to fork...it is processed, shipped, handled by the grocery store... and meat from many different animals is mixed together, which means that it's hard to trace any problems that do arise. Pastured meat also is higher in healthy omega-3 fatty acids, fat-soluble vitamins, and other beneficial nutrients. Ken believes Americans should eat less meat and even though I'm part of this diet is is really kind of meat-centric, I agree. I personally feel better eating less meat, but meat that is higher quality: pastured and fatty gives me the energy I need without overloading me on protein, which makes me feel sluggish. I'm of the camp that thinks you should eat the amount of protein that your body actually needs, which really isn't much. Ken told us he often has trouble selling the really fatty cuts, but all of us eagerly snapped up fatback for making lard! 

In terms of the actual lamb we got, I realized we next time I needed to plan more lbs per person, but I hope everyone enjoys their cuts. My own personal tip, having done a meat CSA before, is not to be afraid if your cut has a weird name. Last month I got pig cheeks and I wasn't really sure what to do with that, but a quick Google search revealed tons of delicious recipes! So I discovered an interesting and cheap cut AND 

 There are more meatshares in the future! If you are in NYC, vote for what animals you are interested in.