Affordable sustainable meat in Somerville

[redcolumbine.livejournal.com]

Although I'm not sure exactly what location he's looking at, nose-to-tail no-waste butcher Vadim Akmenko is raising funds via Kickstarter to open a butcher shop featuring local sustainably-raised meat in Somerville. Chip in as little as $5 to help get the project under way. Chip in more, and get a nifty prize (check the listings in the link). I love McKinnon's, but I'm trying to get away from the heavily-subsidized CAFO meat that's been all I've been able to afford so far. If he gets the backing he needs by June 14, I can have my ribs and eat 'em too!

ETA: The Kickstarter page says Somerville in one place and Cambridge in another, so it's not clear where Akimenko will eventually set up or even whether he's got a venue lined up.

Comments

[ron_newman]

What is CAFO?

[curiositykt.livejournal.com]

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations

[redcolumbine.livejournal.com]

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation - a factory farm. Crowded, smelly, unsafe, cruel, wastes tons of water, and the animals are given steady subtherapeutic doses of antibiotics because the crowding would otherwise wipe them all out the first time a bug came through. That breeds superbugs. (We don't have to wonder "What could a human catch from a pig?" any more...)

[m00n.livejournal.com]

Not to mention feeding tons of waste into the gulf of mexico

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

Hey, after all the death and dying caused by the oil spill, all that fertilizer is finally going to come in handy!

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

According to the project page, he's looking to open the place in Cambridge, not Somerville.

[redcolumbine.livejournal.com]

Have LinkPass, will travel!

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Yes, most of Cambridge is still closeby, but it would be nice to edit the post to reflect the actual plan. :)

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

O.O

Whoa. Thanks for the heads-up!

[pzykotic.livejournal.com]

Is sustainable meat more delicious than CAFO meat? Because that's all that really matters to me when I'm buying a giant steak. I tend to think it probably is, but I know nothing about it!

[redcolumbine.livejournal.com]

It's a matter of individual taste, really - grass-fed beef certainly tastes *different,* in a way tha I happen to like, but I've only ever had CAFO pork. Free-range chicken has a bit more flavor, but it's because they eat bugs!

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

on a side note, what happened with the ducks/hens?

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

oh, that's really too bad. I was hoping they would win their appeal. I'm glad the ducks are happy, though.

[pekmez.livejournal.com]

wait, these are/were Cambridge duck & hens, not Somerville ones, right?
I'm still keeping an eye out for news on when Somerville finishes setting a policy on backyard poultry.

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

i wondered the same thing, until my husband came home with some organic, grass fed, all natural, no hormones, etc etc, ground beef from costco. We made it into burgers, and it was fantastic! Just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, we cooked more a few weeks later. Still delicous. I can't describe what the difference was, but it was just more flavorful than any other hamburger i've ever had....

[pekmez.livejournal.com]

And that stuff is *still* produced on a farm big enough to have national distribution to Costco for their high end beef sales, even if it has somewhat improved practices over the CAFO farms.

I think it tastes even better when it's from a local farm, myself.
There are small MA meat farms that should be selling at the Davis Sq, Union Sq, Central Sq, and Arlington Center farmers' markets when they start up in the next few weeks...

[m00n.livejournal.com]

CAFO meat gets most of its flavor from being highly fattening, whereas grass fed meat, while still fattening, has a more flavorful muscle tissue, which means the taste is a bit more complex.

Consider that CAFO meat, much like most other products of giant agriculture conglomerates, is engineered to appeal specifically to the lowest common denominator of taste, which is to say, it's very predictable, and guaranteed to have a lot of fat (which people tend to like, but is really only one part of the flavor mosaic) but not necessarily interesting. It also means that grass fed beef would be somewhat better for your heart. I wouldn't be surprised if we later learned that it had other qualities that make it more healthful than corn fed CAFO beef, too. That seems to be the general trend with products where the status quo is to maximize fat and minimize variability.

That's what critics say, anyway. I don't think I've eaten enough of either to really compare the two.

[arrowintwolakes.livejournal.com]

I describe the difference as "meatier." But it definitely varies from cow to cow when it's grass-fed/organic/what-have-you. If I'm having a real dinner, I'll try to seek out something organic, but if I'm marinating or just bringing something to a BBQ, as far as beef is concerned, CAFO is just fine. Lamb, goat, and fowl, on the other hand, I far prefer the free range variety. CAFO chicken gets the nutritional job done, but it sure is boring.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

How diet affects nutritional value of beef (http://www.csuchico.edu/agr/grassfedbeef/health-benefits/index.html). The link there is to a Powerpoint slide (wtf), but grass fed is better, at least in the sample set, than purely grain fed.

"Diet significantly altered the lipid profiles within beef. Grass diets produced a product lower in overall SFA, higher in PUFA and a more desirable Omega 6 to 3 ratio. Grass-based rations increased CLA by 50% and Omega 3 FA by 40%." (SFA - saturated fatty acids; PUFA - polyunsaturated fatty acids; CLA - conjugated linoleic acid and no I don't know what that means)

[dilllll.livejournal.com]

It's just saying that cows fed grass ended up w/ meat that had lower amounts of "bad" fat, and higher amounts of "good" fat (where "bad" fats do things like clog your arteries, and "good" fats do things like help brain development, and potentially even fight cancer in the case of CLA).

[syntheticnature.livejournal.com]

You could pick up some River Rock Farm beef at Dave's Fresh Pasta for a test drive. Or, in a couple of weeks, at the Davis Square Farmer's Market.

[gruene.livejournal.com]

I don't eat chicken in this country unless its heavily heavily marinated. The meat has no flavor whatsoever. If you're ever in a third world country, try the chicken. So much better!

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I never knew how good chicken can be until I ate chicken in Japan (and that's not even 3rd world). My eyes rolled all the way back in my head, it was that good (and it was just chicken meatball yaki tori, nothing fancy). My though at my first bite was "I haven't tasted this in 30 years," and indeed, it brought back long lost memories of what chicken tasted like when I was a very young child. Just an explosion of flavor.

[arrowintwolakes.livejournal.com]

Local and sustainable? Sign me right the F up!

Yes, the taste and texture is noticeably better

[tom-champion.livejournal.com]

I am SO on board with this!

Thanks RedColumbine for the tip.

And for those not familiar with naturally raised meat: the texture is noticeably less spongy and there is simply more flavor of all kinds: more complexity, more concentration, more nose.

I, too, appreciate McKinnon's, but this type of meat is in a category all its own.

Even if we have to go all the way to Cambridge to get it.

[pekmez.livejournal.com]

I can't wait to get my hands on stuff like bones and scraps, too.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

What are you going to make? (just curious)

[pekmez.livejournal.com]

soup stock, roasted marrow bones, and sausages. oh, and pate, too.

I don't know how to butcher (though I'm hoping to learn more!) Right now, I buy my meat from a CSA that has already butchered and vacuum-packed it before it gets to me frozen (though I can occasionally get random things like offal and bones from them as extras), but I like the idea of getting more scraps. I realize he'll use them to make many of the same tasty things himself and sell them in the butcher shop, but I like making them myself, too!

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Cool! It's good when more of the animal gets used. Also, I'm a huge fan of Anthony Bourdain and he is a big advocate/appreciator of offal, so it interests me to see the yummy uses people find for it.

[findingthegirl.livejournal.com]

Sherman Market in Union Square sells a variety of locally grown animal products. They keep their facebook and twitter accounts up to date with daily shipments.

[obie119.livejournal.com]

I think the biggest taste difference between CAFO and locally-raised "happy meat" is in the pork - but it's all more flavorful...also cooks faster too so be careful.

After I read this article though: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/31/us/31meat.html?_r=1&scp=5&sq=ground%20beef&st=cse I won't buy commercial ground beef - I am not squeamish but the s*** they put in ground beef is just criminal.

Interesting data point - I finally had my chloresterol tested after three years of eating 85% grass-fed animals/eggs. (not 85% of my diet, but 85% of my total meat intake - I'll still eat at restaurants or whatever) - my HDL went up 15% and my LDL went down 15%. There were no other major dietary/lifestyle/exercise changes between the two time periods. So who knows if that's the direct cause, but I'll take it!

Arlington farmers market has one vendor (Smith Family Farm) with pretty cheap ground beef if you want locally-raised but less expensive. It is a farmer making cheese, so the cows are older dairy cows. It's supposedly not as good because the cows are raised for dairy and not beef, but frankly I can't taste the difference when it's on the grill. I'd double-check with the farmer re: grass fed vs. grain and all that, because I don't rmember the details.

But yeah, basically all the farmers markets these days have a meat person of some sort - and Dave's Fresh Pasta also has some good local stuff too.

[pekmez.livejournal.com]

Arlington farmer's market also had Chestnut Farm meat for sale the past several years, unless they're planning not to be back there this year for regular market sales.

[duffless2323.livejournal.com]

Funny, that is the same title as my personal ad!

[redcolumbine.livejournal.com]

*snurk* I'm not touching that with a 10-foot meat hook.