I may disappoint you with this, but I won’t be citing a bunch of research studies in this post.  You can Google away and find 100 research studies supporting plant-based diets as best, and another 100 saying meat is no harm to human health.
 
I will, however, give you my takeaway from having studied this topic extensively for the last 10+ years- through nutrition school, books, research studies, articles, doctors, scientists, podcasts, documentaries, personal experience, customers… you name it!
 
Before I even talk about the headlines and the studies, I want to state 3 things about meat I feel very confident about after all my research and studies.

• Meat is the single BEST source of protein. There is really no debate on this one. You may have heard that legumes have a lot of protein, and they do—for plants, but they lack a number of critical amino acids. Fulfilling your protein requirements with non-meat foods is certainly possible, but requires enormous planning and effort, more than most people can manage. 
  
  
• Meat itself is NOT the culprit of heart disease. The discovery a half a century ago that saturated fat raises cholesterol levels led to the widespread demonization of meat. But recent research has shown no consistent link between saturated fat intake and heart disease. Here goes the flip flop between eggs are bad, eggs are great; butter is bad, throw the nasty margarine away! Reality is, yes, saturated fat may increase your blood level of LDL cholesterol, but heart disease is a complex condition that involves not only blood levels of the bad types of cholesterol, but inflammation, blood sugar, triglycerides, and a host of other factors. It is definitely an ongoing debate and more research is needed, but if you are cutting back on meat for your cholesterol and or heart condition, yet still eating lots of breads, pasta, cupcakes, and drinking sodas- I got bad news for you!

 

• Meat is a nutritional powerhouse. Animal protein is our only source of vitamin B12, which is essential for life itself. Meat also provides valuable minerals and other vitamins. It contains enzymes that we need to access nutrients, essential amino acids, and cancer-fighting antioxidants like vitamin A, which cannot be obtained directly from vegetables. Vegans often become deficient in B12, iron, zinc, vitamin A, vitamin D and more. Yes, plant foods contain many of these nutrients, but they are much more bioavailable in meat.

 
My belief is quality over quantity.  I absolutely agree that many of us should be eating less meat and more plants (and yes, that would still be a “plant-based” diet!). 
 
Consider this:

• Most of your plate should still be plants. At least three-quarters of your plate should be vegetables and the rest protein. I suggest downsizing your consumption to no more than 4 – 6 ounces per meal, which is a piece that’s roughly the size of my palm.
  
  
• Quality matters most. Three decades of research has proven that grass-fed beef and pasture-raised meat are significantly healthier than grain-fed, factory-farmed meat. Grass-fed meat has much better types of fat than grain-fed—more omega-3s, fewer omega-6s, and more CLA, or conjugated linoleic acid, which boosts metabolism and can prevent cancer. Grass-fed meat also has higher levels of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients.

 
But what about all those recent headlines saying a vegan diet is best for our health? 

First of all, how many of us are reading beyond the news article? or worse, the headline? or even worse, the social media post or meme?!?!
 
When you dig in, you find there’s a few issues many scientists and doctors have found with nutritional studies, especially in the plant-based vs meat studies.
 
#1- Funding
I’ll start with this basic issue, and unfortunately, this is not limited to nutritional studies.  Who is funding the study you are reading?  There are many studies these days funded by corporations and private entities with a profit agenda in play, and this, of course, will skew results.
 
The Vegan Foods and now Lab Meats market is growing rapidly! Think of it- with climate change concerns, exposure to the atrocities of CAFOs, and more regulation on them to farm cleaner, it is becoming more expensive for these big companies to produce cheap meat, so they are getting ahead of the game! Fake Meats as the future! They are way cheaper to produce (and definitely cleaner than CAFOs!).  , and because they are perceived as “healthy” foods they can charge a premium.  Win-win!
 
#2- Observational Studies and the Healthy-user bias
When people read about a research study, we have to pay attention to how the study was designed to understand the quality of the findings.
 
Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are considered the gold standard for clinical research.  They have a high impact on clinical guidelines and on healthcare in general, but these are extremely difficult to produce and rare in food and dietary studies. The majority of nutritional research studies are what’s called Observational studies.  These are ones where researchers look at a certain group of people and try to draw inferences from their behavior about associations with a disease.  These studies are considered low quality research studies. Observational studies were actually never meant to prove a hypothesis, they were meant to generate a hypothesis!
 
The tool used to collect data in observational studies is often a questionnaire, which is extremely weak since people’s memory is not precise and accurate when it comes to what we eat, and we tend to underreport calories and foods consumed.
 
The other problem with nutritional studies is something called “the healthy user bias”. On the topic of plant based vs. meat, observational studies don’t consider anything else in the diet or furthermore, in lifestyle! It is meat vs. no meat.  In general, the majority of vegans and vegetarians #1- eat more fruits and vegetables #2 shop at health food stores and #3 have a healthier lifestyle when compared with the GENERAL meat eater.  And this is my beef with that! Not all meat eaters are the same.
 
For example, there’s a huge body of plant based supportive studies that have studied Seventh Day Adventists, but SDAs overall diets and lifestyle are healthier.  It is part of their religion! So yes, compared to the fast-food eating, smoker, drinker omnivore, hands down plant-based diet will give you a better result. 
 
On the other token, studies have shown that, because red meat has been perceived as “unhealthy” for so many years, people who eat more red meat are more likely to smoke, be physically inactive, and eat fewer fruits and vegetables.
 
So, one of the inevitable results of the healthy-user bias is that many observational studies end up comparing two groups of people that are not at all similar, and this casts doubt on the findings. Correlation vs. causation.
 
#3- A Reductionist Approach
This doesn’t only apply to research studies, but also to the way we are viewing diets in general and even medicine.
 
Philosopher Gyorgy Scrinis came up with the term “nutritionism,” which he defines as:
 
“the reductive approach of understanding food only in terms of nutrients, food components, or biomarkers—like saturated fats, calories, glycemic index—abstracted out of the context of foods, diets, and bodily processes.”
 
In other words, it’s a focus on the quantity of certain foods (like red meat) or macronutrients (like fat or carbohydrate), rather than the quality of the overall diet pattern.
 
This has led some prominent epidemiologists like Stanford professor John Ioannidis to heavily criticize observational nutrition research. In a famous paper called “Why Most Published Research Findings Are False,” Ioannidis points out that “claimed research findings may often be simply accurate measures of the prevailing bias.”
 
Now, besides most of the studies been flawed, here are some issues I find with vegan diets, especially.
 
Is it elitist?
Some critics of vegan diets state that the diet is “elitist” as it requires monitoring of nutrient levels, expensive supplementation, and of course, to be a healthy vegan and even vegetarian diet it has to be done properly.  Many doctors and Hollywood celebrities’ proponents of the diet have the ability to afford all this testing, supplementation, and healthy eating (heck, some have personal chefs cooking for them!) but when it comes to feeding the general population, meat will provide much more nutrition for the buck than that of plants + supplements + medical monitoring.
 
Supplementation Needs.
When studying nutrition, I remember there was always a caveat with plant-based diets- you may need supplementation.  Some nutrients are just not at all available (or too small in amounts) in plants, period.  A vegetarian diet does have the advantage of allowing animal products like dairy and eggs, but vegan diets definitely need supplementation.  We also always learned the best diet is one found in foods, not supplements.  I am not against supplements, these can be very helpful, especially in therapeutic use, but if we are healthy and are eating high quality whole (unprocessed) foods, we shouldn’t need an ongoing daily vitamin to be healthy.  To me, it just isn’t natural.
 
My Conclusion? What to do?
Unfortunately, there is no short answer and no “one size fits all” when it comes to eating meat or not. I don’t believe in “either/or’s” and don’t think this reductionist approach of eliminating certain foods or macronutrients is good.  Having said that, there are extremes in the pendulum of how much meat we need.  For the general population, I know we need to eat less of it and when we do, it has to be better quality.  However, I know from experience, that some people need more meat and some less.  Its just in our nature, genetics, and health conditions.
 
I see it in my own children.  Kids are not conditioned to eating a certain way yet, so it is fascinating to observe their cravings.  Our oldest daughter needs, craves, and loves meat, where my youngest is happy with oatmeal, yogurt and would honestly live on bread and dairy if I let her! Paul needs more carbs than I do.  I need and thrive with more meat.  So our pendulums are different, even in one’s family members.
 
I also have customers with specific health conditions that thrive with more meat than plants. At least 5 of them are prior vegans or vegetarians that due to health issues have had to switch back to meat, others with Lyme disease or anemia, and others with autoimmune conditions.
 
Are you called to or want to try vegan? I say go for it! Try it out!  Many people don’t crave or need meat at all, or very, very little of it.  I would suggest though, to do it with some professional help- be it by at dietician, nutritionist, or “nutritionally trained” doctor that can guide you and monitor your nutrient levels.  There are well documented health risks to vegan diets that we shouldn't ignore- like anemia, increased risk of depression and anxiety, inhibition of zinc absorption, and overconsumption of carbohydrates leading to fatty liver and blood sugar deregulation, so you do have to be careful to be able to get all your needed nutrients.
 
So, my conclusion in this whole topic is NO- you do not need to eliminate meat and animal products to be healthy.  See and feel what works for you, and look at your overall diet.  Add more plant foods. Eat better quality food. Exercise regularly. Drink more water. Sleep better, and manage your stress!
 
Thanks for reading! Hope you learned something, and if you wish to leave a question, comment, counter argument, etc... please leave it in our post comments, I'd love to hear from you!

Want to dig deeper?  Here are a few resources to check out:

A good (albeit long) podcast debate between a prominent Vegan cardiologist and a former vegan turned Paleo Functional Medicine practitioner.
https://podcastnotes.org/joe-rogan-experience/kresser-kahn/
 
Red Meat and Cancer:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21540747.
A 2011 meta-analysis of 34 prospective studies on red meat and colorectal cancer concluded that the available data was insufficient to support an association between red meat intake and colorectal cancer.
 
Red meat and Heart Disease:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2885952/.
This meta-analysis that included more than 1.2 million participants found no association between the consumption of fresh, unprocessed red meat and the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, or diabetes.
 
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26017245.
This meta-analysis of 11 studies concluded that the scientific literature does not support the existence of a relationship between red meat intake and an increased risk of myocardial ischemia.
 
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8842068.
This study assessed the relationship between dietary habits and mortality in vegetarians and omnivores who frequented health-food stores, based on the premise that health-food store shoppers would be more health-conscious, regardless of whether or not they ate meat. It was found that both vegetarians and health-conscious omnivores live longer than people in the general population and that there was no survival difference between vegetarians and omnivores.
 
https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/89/5/1613S/4596950.
In this study, vegetarians and their omnivorous friends and family (who were recruited with the assumption that they would be more health conscious than the general population) were followed for five to 10 years. The risk of death for vegetarians/vegans and health-conscious omnivores was 52 percent lower than the risk of death for the general population. There was no difference in mortality between vegetarians and omnivores.
 
Chang-Claude J, Hermann S, Eilber U, Steindorf K. Lifestyle determinants and mortality in German vegetarians and health-conscious persons: results of a 21-year follow-up. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2005; 14(4):963–968. http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/14/4/963.long.
The Heidelberg Study in Germany compared lifespan in health-conscious omnivores with vegetarians (a total of 2,000 participants). The risk of death for both vegetarians/vegans and omnivores was 59 percent lower than the risk of death for the general population. They found no difference in mortality between vegetarians and omnivores. The study found that a high level of physical activity was the greatest predictor of lifespan—independently of whether meat was consumed.
 
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016752731401290X.
A meta-analysis of studies comparing mortality in vegetarians/vegans and omnivores found no mortality benefit for vegetarians/vegans. It also concluded that any previous observed benefits were driven by Seventh Day Adventist studies, which are plagued with confounding variables.

"Health risk factors associated with meat, fruit and vegetable consumption in cohort studies: A comprehensive meta-analysis."
Long, but interesting.  Read last paragraph of "Discussions".

It is no secret there is a giant diet trend on becoming Vegan.  The movement has been gaining force for a few years now, strengthening in the last couple years with the IPO of Beyond Meat and introduction of plant-based burgers to fast food restaurants.  The big reasons supporters claim for the movement are #1 it is better for your health, #2 it is better for the environment, and #3 to protect animals, or animal welfare.  

As a nutritionist and health coach, and of course a beef farmer, I get the question a lot, and I figured I would answer to the best of my knowledge and based on my experience. 

I confess I have been trying to write this post for months, getting overwhelmed, and realizing that regardless of how “simplistic” a headline or article might make it seem, the topic is extremely complex.  For that reason, I am dividing this topic into 3 posts.  Today I’ll start with my personal background and story, in a few weeks I will write about “the science and nutritional research”, and in April, just in time for Earth Day, I will write about “a vegan diet for the environment”.

Please NOTE: I am by NO means against a vegan diet for whatever reason you would do it.  There is enough divisiveness in our world today and I see one developing in the plant based vs. omnivore discussions, but I truly believe there shouldn’t be! We can all listen and learn from each other.  We all have reasons why we make our choices, and this is why I start this topic explaining my personal background and experience.  

So let’s dive in…

My Personal Story

Yoga and “ahimsa”
After a few years of working in the corporate world as a CPA in accounting and finance in my 20’s, I became interested in yoga and trained for a number of years.  I eventually left the corporate world and became a teacher and manager at a yoga studio in downtown Chicago.  During that time, all my yogi friends were vegetarian. I also learned one of the important principles of yoga- ahimsa- “respect for all living things and avoidance of violence toward any sentient being”.  So of course I quickly dropped meat and joined the club!  A month+ into it, I did not feel good. There were no amount of beans, eggs, cheese, avocados, and nuts that would fulfill me.  I was low energy, always hungry, weak, jittery, cold, etc.. but I was determined.  Desperate for answers on what to do, I talked to my beloved yoga teacher- a 70+ year old vegetarian and Hindu man from southern India, and explained my dilemma of wanting to be vegetarian but not being able to feel good.  We had a long conversation, but his message was: “So you are harming yourself so you don’t harm the animals? Eat the meat!” Oh my God! I got the blessing, but I admit it didn’t come without shame that I couldn’t make it work.

Fertility Struggles
Around that time Paul and I were ready to have kids! But fertility was not on my side.  I couldn’t get pregnant and when I did, I miscarried. I wasn’t ready to get into IVF, needles and doctors visits, so I decided to pursue some natural ways.  I went to a wonderful holistic center for fertility where I received nutrition consults, acupuncture and Chinese herbs. This was my first experience with a nutritionist. After looking at what I was eating (and even though I was back on meat, I always tried limiting it) she recommended two things: full fat dairy and more meat.  WHAT? This went against everything I thought I knew about nutrition! After all, don’t the headlines say fat and meat are bad?  Well, "it is not that simple", she explained. Long story short… it helped. I became pregnant and had a healthy pregnancy and birth. And today I know for certain that she was right, it is not that simple.

My Nutrition Studies
This experience sparked my curiosity and fascination on how food can have such a profound effect on our health and how little we actually know about it.  Pregnant with Cecilia I went on to study nutrition at the Nutrition Therapy Institute in Denver, CO. I learned a lot about biology, biochemistry, the function of the different nutrients in our bodies, etc. but I still felt like I didn’t know how to actually work with clients, which is when I later pursued my Health Coaching certification through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.   The principle of their program is “There is no ONE diet for everyone- each body is different and we should eat differently".  Wow! What a revelation that was!  Drinking more water and eating more fruits and vegetables is good for everyone, right? But even that is simplistic.  Some of us should eat a little less fruit, others cannot tolerate beans, and some vegetables are actually not good for some.  They taught us to work with our clients to figure out what is the best diet for them, by helping them use their own experience, observation, and of course, looking at their genetics and health conditions.

Health Coaching
During my work as a health coach, it was fascinating to see how some of my clients actually would thrive with less meat, and others, like me, needed it.  Some didn’t tolerate dairy so well, and for others, it is beneficial. Meat, gluten, starches, sugar, fat, the timing of food, fasting, frequent eating- these ALL depend on YOUR biology.  It was a great experience to work with clients "one on one" and discover together what worked for them- regardless of what they thought was "good or bad for you".

Farming
Through selling our organic, grass fed beef, we have been lucky to meet customers from all walks of life and that purchase our beef for different reasons- some for environmental concerns, others for better animal welfare, and many and most for health reasons.  Most people have heard that grass fed beef is better for you than grain fed beef, but we’ve also had customers with Lyme disease and autoimmune diseases whose digestive systems are so fragile they may not tolerate legumes or other plant sources of protein or whose doctors have recommended grass fed and pastured meats for its valuable nutrients. We have some anemic customers whose doctors were informed enough about nutrition (and most aren't!) to encourage them to eat beef liver and more grass fed and pastured meats.  We even have a former vegan who couldn’t do it anymore for health reasons but always wants to make sure her meat is of good quality and that the animals are living a good life while at the farm.  It has been incredibly humbling and rewarding for us to be able to nourish, and even heal, so many people in our community with food we produce.

While I don’t work as a health coach anymore because we decided to focus as a family on our farm business, I still love nutrition and continue to read, listen, discuss and learn about food as medicine and the powerful ways you can prevent (and even heal) disease naturally. In the next post I will dive into what I have learned about the science of plant based diet and omnivore diet, and the nutritional studies around it. 

I hope you stayed tuned, and thanks for reading along!

Last week we went to Central High School in Kenosha County to present to a Freshmen AP Geography class about Sustainable, Organic, and Regenerative Agriculture.  It was super fun for Paul and I to talk to kids, who are the future of this country, about what is possible with Regenerative Ag.  Something that is catching on in mainstream as a better, healthier way to farm for the environment and for our health.  

After introducing ourselves and talking about who we are and what we do, we gave a background about the history of modern/industrial agriculture.  Starting with "Old MacDonald", who use to do everything and integrated plants, crops, and a variety of animals, to industrialization bringing machinery, pesticides and fertilizers, specialization and "getting bigger" for efficiency.  These were all things that were welcome by overworked farmers and actually did improve the lives and work of farmers at the time.  However, nobody was able to foresee the consequences of these.  Today, we know what these are- for our health and for the environment.  Read about these in slides #16-#17.

We then talked about what Organic farming, Animal Welfare, and additional certifications we pursued, given that organic standards have gotten relaxed (especially when it comes to animal welfare) once Big Ag got into it.  Lastly, we talked about Regenerative Agriculture as a system of principles and practices that is not only "sustainable" but actually increases biodiversity, enriches soils, improves watersheds, and enhances ecosystem services.

We talked about the importance of SOIL health.  It ALL starts with healthy soil, something I found interesting and contrasting coming from a nutrition world when Hippocrates said "all disease begins in the gut".  in human health, we have discovered most disease starts with an unhealthy gut.  Similarly, we are now realizing, a healthy environment, and healthy food, starts with healthy soil.

We explained the differences of grass fed vs. grain fed cows for beef and dairy.  There are numerous health benefits of grass fed beef vs. grain fed, which includes less saturated and overall fat and more of the good fats like Omega 3s and CLA's in grass fed beef and dairy.

We touched on the economics of farming, a sad reality of our broken food system that pays more for cheap, processed, and industrialized food than it does for "real food".  It is more profitable for many farmers to grow commodity crops like soy and corn, sell them to the market where they get processed into your packaged food, and sold for very cheap at the store- than it is to grow healthier vegetables or pastured animals.  

Lastly, we provided a number of resources of local and some national organizations that have a wealth of information on these topics, and also some interesting books and documentaries we thought the kids (or anybody!) might like.

At the end, we took in questions... with many very thoughtful and interesting questions coming from the kids.  

We welcome questions from you too! Please leave a comment, emil us, or contact us if you have any questions about anything you read in the presentation, what we do, or anything you'd like to ask us! We are happy to answer as best we can!

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for some more "educational" posts coming in the next few months.

​As the year approaches its final, festive days, we look back at 2019 before we look forward, and there is much to celebrate and be grateful for.  Here are some snippets of our 2019 and things we look forward in 2020!
 
Polar Vortex
We started the year with a Polar Vortex that tested all our “winter systems” at the farm.  Paul nervously went to check cows every morning and afternoon during the vortex to make sure water was running and cows were taking shelter.  To his surprise, while many cows where in the barnyard cozying up together, some decided they’d rather be outside in subzero temps- crazy girls! but they all made it through without a hitch!

Farming for grass fed beef takes a lot of work, care, and love, and so when we sell our beef we are proud of our product. We also realize this is in investment you are making in quality beef that is healthy, nutritious, and delicious for you! Many times we see/hear customers grilling their steaks too long, cooking them well done (eek!), or making typical cooking mistakes and it just breaks my heart... so we want to give you some tips on cooking your grass fed steaks properly.

I won’t reinvent the wheel, because much of what I’ve learned about cooking grass fed beef I owe it to Shannon Hayes and the Radical Homemaker’s cookbooks, so I will just quote below one of her very well written and truthful blog posts on mistakes done when cooking grass fed steaks.  Here goes…

5 Typical Mistakes When Cooking Grass Fed Steaks

1. Wet steak.  Thawed steak is going to be moist.  In order to sear it properly, it must be dry before you put it on the grill or in the frying pan.  If the steak is not blotted dry with a towel before you apply salt and pepper, it will not sear, it will steam.

2.  Wrong pan size.  If you are cooking your steaks indoors, be sure to choose a skillet that allows ample room to sear them.  When the steaks are too crowded, even if they have been blotted dry, the excess moisture will cause them to steam rather than brown, leaving them with an unpleasant gray pallor.  Make sure your steaks have at least 1 inch of space around them in the skillet to prevent this from happening.

3.  Wrong direct-heat temperature.   Often in our hunger for a great steak, we fail to wait for our grills and skillets to heat up properly.  If the grill or skillet is not hot enough, the meat will start to roast, but it will not achieve that glorious sear that adds flavor.  If grilling, hold your hand about 4 inches above the grate.  When you can hold it there for no more than 4 seconds, the grill is hot enough for you to sear your meat.  When cooking indoors, place the skillet over a hot flame.  When you see steam rising off the skillet, you are ready to grease it with a little fat and begin searing.

4.  Failure to allow for indirect cooking time.  High heat is critical only when we begin cooking steaks to achieve the sear.  A steak should be exposed to high direct heat for no more than 2 minutes per side.  After that, in order to guarantee tender and juicy meat, it should be removed from the flames and allowed to finish in indirect or low heat.  If you are cooking the steak on the grill, simply move it off the flames and put it on the side of the grill that is not lit, set the cover in place, and allow it to cook for about 5-7 minutes per pound.  If you are cooking it indoors, once the steak has seared, transfer the skillet to a 300 degree oven for about 5-7 minutes per pound (or to a 200 degree oven for about 10 minutes per pound).  During that indirect time, the internal muscle fibers will come up to temperature slowly without contracting too tightly and toughening.  Also, the proteins and sugars will have time to caramelize over the surface of the meat, giving the steak that characteristic glossy look and rich taste.

5.  Wrong doneness temperature.  USDA temperature guidelines suggest that beef should be cooked to a minimum temperature of 145 degrees.  Yuck.  When you are using reliably-sourced grassfed meat, you don’t run the same risks of consuming food borne pathogens.  Thus, cook the steak to an internal temperature of 120 degrees for rare, 140 degrees for well-done (or better yet, don’t cook it well done… ever!)

6.  Marinating the wrong meat.  Did I say there were only 5 commonly-made mistakes?  Oops.  I just thought of another one.  So there are actually six.  At my market booth, folks have a tendency to purchase the rib eyes, top loins, porterhouse, t-bones and sirloin steaks when they are planning a steak dinner.  Those are perfect if you are planning to season them only with a little salt and pepper.  However, if you are planning to marinate your meat, these are the wrong steaks to bring home.  These tender cuts of meat have the most delicate flavors, and their beefiness is easily upstaged by most marinades.  Furthermore, if marinated too long, the acid in marinades pre-cooks the meat, turning it gray and leaving an otherwise tender steak mushy.  If you have a marinade you plan to use, select the lower-priced cuts, such as the sirloin tip or London broil (top round steak).  Those cuts have enough extra flavor and connective tissue to stand up to the marinade.  Their more pronounced beefy flavor won’t be overpowered by the stronger seasonings, and the acid in the marinade will help break down some of the connective tissue.

 So there you go… enjoy your grilling season and grass fed steaks! And for cooking advice of other cuts, check out an earlier blog post I wrote on Cooking Grass Fed Beef.

Last month we talked about Nose to Tail eating, what it means, and why it is so important for sustainability, the environment, respecting the animals, and even your  health!  Read that blog post if you haven't and then come back..

Today (and appropriately during Earth Day week)  I will tell you "how to" buy, cook, and eat nose to tail the way that is appropriate for YOU and your family.

Nose To Tail "How To":

1. Go piece by piece. If you’re used to eating the same cuts of beef and are new to nose-to-tail cooking, start by experimenting with one or two new cuts. Usually, the most non traditional cuts are inexpensive but can really surprise you with how delicious and great they are! Build up your repertoire before buying in bulk.  
2. Get Inspired. Buy a grass fed beef cookbook (contact me if you want recommendations on a few of our faves) or check out my recipes on this blog, and monthly cooking demos on our Instagram profile (Highlights section).  These are short video snippets of me cooking a recipe of a less traditional cut of beef.  
3. Buy in bulk.  This is obviously the best way to eat "nose to tail". If you have the ability and are ready for it, buy in bulk! Buying a quarter, half, or even whole cow will save you money in the long run.  Check out our Bulk buying FAQ page or feel free to contact us if you have questions.
4. Enroll in the Starry Nights Beef Box- Bulk too much or nos freezer space? Try our Starry Nights Beef Box! You get 10lbs of different cuts of beef from our farm every month for 3 or 6 months (home delivery included!) Read more here...
5. ENJOY! Enjoy the variety, new flavors, and new (most times super easy) cooking methods you will experience when eating nose to tail!

And as farmers and stewards of our land and animals, we THANK YOU for helping us in our mission to a more sustainable food system and planet! 

Sustainability
These days I hear “Nose to Tail cooking” as a culinary trend and I’m happy about that! Nose-to-tail cooking is all about sustainability, and this is very important to us- and it should be for you too!  See, a farmer can’t raise a pork chop. A farmer can’t raise a rib eye steak, or a leg of lamb. You have to raise a whole pig, a whole lamb, and a whole cow.  It’s pretty simple: Tossing out valuable parts of the animal doesn’t make sense environmentally or economically.
 
But what does “nose to tail” mean? It means eating and using all parts of the animal- its less popular steaks, roasts, organ meats, bones, even the tallow has (once again) become a popular fat to use for cooking.  This is why by selling in bulk, we encourage sustainability, and a more economical way for our customers to get quality grass fed beef.

Nose to Tail Around the World
Using the whole animal is a practice that is still common in many countries around the world. We experience this firsthand in travels to Uruguay and Argentina- where they are so proud of their (grass fed) beef and will gladly talk to you for hours about where it comes from, the different cuts, how to cook it, and how to eat it. In Barcelona, we went to the famous market “La Boqueria” where they sell everything under the sun, including EVERY cut imaginable of meat.  I admit seeing the lamb’s head for sale blew me away!

However, aside from this ultra-foodie “nose- to tail eating” trend, it has largely slipped from the Western mindset. I think this is mainly due to the lack of connection we have from our food sources, embodied by the fact that meat has become industrialized and is now perfectly portioned into pink patties, shrink-wrapped in plastic and resembling in no way whatsoever any known animal.  Unfortunately for us, in our finicky attitudes about food, we’ve been overlooking fine cuts of meat, tasty delicacies and, of course, the spice of life — variety!
 
Honoring the Animal and Our Environment
To maximize the nourishment you can receive from a living creature is to honor that it was, in fact, living. By not using the whole animal, we’re not respecting other living creatures. Giving thanks to the animal for supplying your meal is a good start, but it’s really when we choose to honor the whole animal that we take a step forward in mindful consumerism and changing our food supply system. In so doing, we encourage a mindset that fights excess waste and increases appreciation for the animals that nourish us.
 
For Your Health
A direct effect of eating the whole animal is- it’s good for your body. As I learned in my nutrition studies, Americans tend to promote certain cuts more than others (i.e. chicken breast, salmon, tenderloins, etc..) but the reality is, just like humans, animals store different nutrients in different parts of their bodies, and by eating the same cuts over and over, you are getting the same nutrients and neglecting to get other important ones.
 
Our Own Experience
A few years before starting our farm, we bought our first ¼ beef steer from our farming mentor, and now friend, Krusen Grass Farm in Wisconsin for our own beef consumption.  I won’t lie, when Paul told me about trying it out, I hesitated.  At that point, I knew nothing about “bulk buying”, how it works, how much beef I was going to get, and exactly what cuts.  I was used to cooking with ground beef and the occasional steak Paul would throw on the grill, but beyond that, I knew nothing about a pot roast, a round steak, and slow cooking beef was a concept beyond my culinary repertoire.
 
The experience of buying in bulk opened a new world of cooking and flavors for us! We had to do something with the cuts of beef I knew nothing about- so I’d look for a recipe, cook it up (way easier than I ever thought) and be surprised by how delicious and easy it was to cook all these different cuts!. We were very pleased by chuck steaks, and top butt steaks, rump roast, sirloin tip, round steaks, and even tried a couple of liver pate recipes that actually delighted us!
 
This idea that by buying a ¼ of an animal, splitting the entire animal with others, gave us a good feeling that we were honoring the whole animal as well as helping the farmer go through its inventory.
 
We encourage our customers to buy in bulk, but otherwise to try different cuts of beef. We are here to help with cooking instructions and/or recipe ideas! And stay tuned for next month when I will blog about “Nose to Tail How-To”.

  Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Tamari
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
• 4 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons diced shallot, chives, leeks, or green onion
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons Mirin (sweet Japanese cooking wine) or sherry
• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
• 2 pounds thinly cut round steak
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil

Directions:

Add the tamari, ginger, sesame oil, honey, shallot, garlic, mirin, and crushed red pepper to the small bowl of a food processor.  Puree.  Place the marinade in a glass bowl and add the beef. Turn to coat. Marinate for at least 1-2 hours or overnight (covered) in the refrigerator.

When you are ready to cook the steaks, remove them from the marinade and blot dry.  Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add just enough oil to lubricate the pan, then add the steaks, laying them flat. Take care to cook only a few at a time so that there is ample space around each piece of meat, otherwise it will not brown. Fry 30 seconds per side, or until browned. Repeat with remaining steaks, using additional fat if needed. Serve immediately. 

We like these served with brown rice and a side of sauteed veggies!

Serves 6.

Ingredients:

• 4-5 garlic cloves​
• Salt
• Pepper
• 3-4 lb Chuck roast

Mustard Cream:

• 1 cup sour cream
• 2-4 teaspoons Dijon mustard*

*you can substitute the mustard for 2-4 teaspoons grated horseradish.

Directions:
Season the chuck roast with salt and pepper and rub minced garlic all over the meat.
Allow the roast to come to room temperature on the kitchen counter while you preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
place the meat in a pan and roast, uncovered for about 24 minutes per pound or until the internal temperature is between 120 and 140 degrees.
Let rest of a few minutes, cut, and enjoy!

In the spirit of “new year, new you health resolutions”, I figured I’d talk about one of the healthiest products we have at our farm.  Beef liver.
Now hold on, don’t go… I know many of us didn’t grow up eating liver, and maybe you are disgusted by it (I was!), but I beg you to please stay with me and at least read the rest of this post.
 
Health Benefits:
While studying nutrition, I heard so much about the health benefits of beef liver- it was even sometimes called a “super food”! Interestingly, it was once a popular and treasured food source, but liver has fallen out of favor. This is unfortunate because liver is possibly one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet, and inexpensive too!
It is rich in protein, low in calories, and packed with essential vitamins and minerals. People often look to fruits and vegetables for vitamins and minerals, but liver far surpasses them all in terms of nutrient content. A small amount of liver provides well over 100% of the RDI for many essential nutrients.
 
Here are some nutrients found in a 3.5-ounce serving of beef liver:

• Vitamin B-12: 3,460% of the RDI. Vitamin B12 helps the formation of red blood cells and DNA. It is also involved in healthy brain function.
• Vitamin A: 860: 1,100% of the RDI. Vitamin A is important for normal vision, immune function and reproduction. It also helps organs like the heart and kidneys function properly.
• Riboflavin (Vitamin B-2): 210–260% of the RDI. Riboflavin is important for cellular development and function. It also helps turn food into energy.
• Folate (Vitamin B-9): 65% of the RDI. Folate is an essential nutrient that plays a role in cell growth and the formation of DNA.
• Iron: 80% of the RDI, or 35% for women of menstruating age. Iron is another essential nutrient that helps carry oxygen around the body. The iron in liver is heme iron, the kind most easily absorbed by the body.
• Copper: 1,620% of the RDI. Copper acts like a key to activate a number of enzymes, which then help regulate energy production, iron metabolism and brain function. The body also cannot maintain normal magnesium levels in the blood if copper is low.
• Choline: Liver provides all of the Adequate Intake (AI) for women and nearly all of it for men. Choline is important for brain development and liver function.

 
How to Include Liver in Your Diet:
I admit it, liver has a unique taste, which some people love, and others hate.  I know it was tough for us to stomach it the first time we tried it, so I’ll give you that, BUT… here are some suggestions on how to include it in your diet and get these great nutrients:

• Pan fried. This is the most traditional way. You probably have heard of  sauteed "liver and onions". Liver does work well when pan-fried with onions and other nice, strong flavors like bacon.
• Spaghetti Bolognese, or Burgers? You can use your food processor to mince the liver into very, very tiny pieces, then freeze it in ice cube trays. Whenever a recipe asks for ground beef, add a few cubes – only 1-2 to start! Suddenly your Bolognese sauce, burgers, chili, and meatballs have a LOT more nutritional oomph to them!
• Add plenty of seasoning. Adding lots of spices and strong flavors can help disguise its taste. Think garlic, rosemary, wine, cayenne pepper, etc.
• Soak the liver in milk or lemon juice before cooking. This will reduce its strong flavor and helps with tenderness.

 
Recipes to Try:
While our recommended way to start eating liver is the "mince, freeze, and add to ground beef" method, here are a couple of good recipes if you want to try.

This might be the best Liver and Onions Recipe we've found:
http://ediblearia.com/2009/07/23/not-your-average-liver-and-onions/
 
Beef Liver Pate:
https://autoimmunewellness.com/bacon-beef-liver-pate-with-rosemary-and-thyme/
 
P.S. Beef Heart has a much, much milder flavor than liver and has some of the same nutrients. It’s a lot like ground beef, but I would classify it as “sweeter.” Whereas you’d only add 1-2 cubes of liver to any dish, it’s pretty easy to add up to a quarter pound of heart to a pound of ground beef, even in grilled hamburgers!

***Both Beef Liver and Beef heart are FOR SALE on our web store- so give it a try and REALLY get healthy this new year!***