My hero. This is not just a woman, my friends, this is onehelluva' woman.
I ask all of my potential farmers the following questions (I try to keep it as conversational as possible so I don't sound too obsessive, even though I kind of am):
- What types and breeds of animals do you raise? I want to know the genetics. If a farmer is raising some massive Charolais on grass, I know it's not going to be a good eating experience. Many of these massive beef animal breeds have been bred to get big and fat fast on grain. They don't do so well on grass.
- How long have you been farming?
- Are you a solely grass fed operation or do you supplement with grain?
- What do you feed in the winter? Do you grow your own hay or do you buy it? I would want to know if there's a potential of it being sprayed with pesticides.
- When do you butcher your animals? We always try to buy our animals in the fall, after they've been on a full season of grass. If you can, avoid buying your ruminants in the winter or spring. With that in mind, reserve your animals far in advance, usually the spring, so you are not left empty-handed in the fall.
- How often do you rotate your animals on pasture?
- At what age do you slaughter?
- What do you think of your butcher? Are you happy with their work? There is a huge problem with small abattoirs, both because there are not enough and because it's difficult for farmers to find butchers who will cut meat to their specifications. It's pretty heartbreaking for a farmer to bring in an animal they've raised with care only to have a butcher show disregard when cutting.
- Are you happy with the quality of your meat? I've never had a farmer say yes to this question, but it's a good way to open up a discussion about what they're doing to improve the quality of their product. I appreciate an open mind to improvement and I'm curious by nature, so I love learning what my farmers are up to.
- Can I buy a few cuts to sample your meat before buying a side or whole? If so, I will buy a few ribeyes and a couple of roasts. If you want to learn how to sample a steak, tasting its true essence and texture, I highly recommend reading Mark Schatzker's, "Steak" for directions on how to do just that.
- I always tell future farmers about myself and our family. I let them know that I'm specific, that I know what I'm looking for, that I've been working on livestock farms so I understand the challenges they're faced with. Usually, I'm just trying to talk to them, to understand what they're trying to accomplish on their farm and whether they're satisfied with where things are.
- What is in your grain ration? If I'm talking to a farmer about poultry and/or eggs, I always ask this question. Specifically, I want to know if it's organic feed and what the protein source is in the mix. All poultry, meat birds and layers, will be supplemented with a ration, even when they are pastured. This ration often relies on soy as the protein component. For me, that's a deal-breaker, but this is always the most challenging aspect of finding our food - the eggs. In the past, I've been lucky enough to find farmers that use gristle and fat from the bison they butcher right on the farm (best poultry and eggs ever). The farmers I'm using right now use pea protein and herring in their ration.
- Can I have my order custom cut? I want fat around my steaks, I want all my bones, the tongue, the liver, the heart, and the tail. If I'm paying for an animal, I want it all. I also order all of our roasts bone in when possible. I take the fat and render it for cooking. It's important that I have direct communication with the butcher so I can tell him/her exactly what I want. Unfortunately, I've had far too many orders fill my freezer that had the fat all trimmed away or uneven, careless cutting. Finding a good farmer that uses a good butcher is golden.
- What do you feed your pigs? What breed are you raising? Are they pastured for their entire lives? What type of ration are you supplementing with? Do they root and dig? How is your butcher with curing? Do they dry cure or just wet cure their hams? How are they with bacon (most important)? If you find a farmer that is not feeding grains to their pigs, you are lucky indeed. It can be done, but it requires a steady supply of some nut trees and a dedicated root and tuber supply. I have found farmers using little grain, but I'm still trying to find grain-free piggies. Maybe I'll just have to raise my own.
- At what age do you butcher your animals? This is important. It takes grass-fed cattle longer to properly finish compared grain-fed animals. By far, my biggest frustration has been finding a properly finished animal which results in a weak tasting meat that is pale, tough, and a generally poor eating experience. Regulations regarding mad cow disease make it even more challenging for farmers to bring their grass fed animals to a mature weight given that they have to be slaughtered at an earlier age than what may be preferable.
Other things to consider:
If you're looking at a raw dairy, I would ask the same thing I do for beef. You will find many raw milk dairies that use grain as a supplement, but very few that rely solely on grass. We only consume grass-fed, raw dairy. I'm not interested in consuming grain-fed dairy, raw or not. Grain changes the acid levels in the guts of ruminants making them more prone to infections and requiring their bodies to launch an inflammatory immune response. When we move again, we likely won't have access to grass-fed dairy that isn't supplemented with grain. When this is the case, we buy all the grass-fed, raw butter we can then we freeze it and use that as our power boosting source of vitamins A, D, and K.
Visit the farm. Shake the farmer's hand. Talk. Check out the animals. You don't need to have an inherent knowledge of farming to see that the land looks vibrant, the animals are happily munching on grass, and any milking facilities are clean and well cared for. Some of the best relationships I have are with people that were my farmers at some time or are my farmers now. It's one of the most wonderful fringe benefits of eating healthy food - getting to know your farmer and supporting the hard work they undertake every day to bring good food to your plate.
Trust your instincts. Everything may seem great, but if you are gnawing on a chewy, tasteless piece of meat or the eggs collapse when they hit the pan, things are not right. I've had people rave about someone's "amazing beef"or a farm's "delicious eggs" only to find them unpalatable. I've learned not to rely on anyone's opinion until I've tried it for myself.
Lastly, and I hope this doesn't sound patronizing because it's not meant to: hunt. If you don't know how, learn. There is no way for anyone to truly understand what it is to feed yourself and your family until you experience what it is to kill the animal you are going to eat. The health benefits of consuming wild game are obvious, but just as important is the connection to the animal and the land. You're already a hunter, you may just not know it yet.
