eating local

[bluestarliz]

I just finished reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, and its' one of the most inspiring things I've read in quite sometime. I've had an interest in eating local for a while as well as giving up factory farmed meat, and after reading this book I'm going to go for it. One of the interesting points made is that eating local is

Comments

[squeegeebob]

While not technically local you may be interested in looking up some bison herding operations. The meat is better for you than beef or chicken and the animals aren't mistreated in any way (they're just too big and dangerous to handle or confine) or over-medicated. Plus, because most of these places are small (read locally owned and managed) they either do their own processing or have a wild game processor prep the meat before shipping. There are also a couple of places in Texas that sell wild game meat if you are interested in eating things that really lived a natural life.

[bluestarliz]

Yeah, I saw a couple places I could get venison from nearby - I'm a big fan, especially of chili and sausage. I'll look into bison - is it much more expensive than pastured beef?

[squeegeebob]

I know it's more expensive than beef but not how much more. The key with wild game is to remember that they have much lower fat content than beef so if you try to cook it for the same amount of time you end up with dry, chewy, overcooked meat.

[ongir]

[dorian_hero]

The Rahr Beer brewery has a customer appreciation day every Saturday afternoon. I went about a month back with some friends of mine. When you arrive you're given four bottle caps which you can trade for a refill of whatever mug you've brought with you. Pretty good way to start your day, as it only lasts from noon to 2 I believe.

And its amazing the sheer amount of products that contain HFCS or sugar of some kind. I was eating some queso at my parents and noticed it tasted a bit sweet. So I check out the container and sure enough there is sugar listed as the final ingredient!

[bluestarliz]

Mmm...day beer! One of my favorite things! I will definitely check it out.

I got ruined from HFCS after having Dublin Dr. Pepper about a year or two ago (yeah, I'd never had it before). After tasting Dr. Pepper without HFCS, it pointed out just how much it takes over the taste of everything. Shortly afterwards, my soda habit took a nose dive. Am I morally opposed to HFCS? Nah - my family's pecan pie recipe uses Karo. But it's in everything and generally, it doesn't bring any positive flavor. Corn syrup in queso? Nasty!

[dorian_hero]

The surprising thing about the queso was that the sugar wasn't HFCS. It was plain sugar.
As for the Dublin Dr. Pepper it wasn't until sometime during the last 904B that I'd ever tried it. So I'm with ya on the relative late comming to that fine beverage. There is, however, good moral reason to be against HFCS. Not only is it strangely produced - corn syrup is treated with a fungus - the human body can't process it like it can real sugar.
Not to mention the only reason its in everything, aside from how sickeningly sweet it is, is because its cheaper than sugar due to the subsidies placed on corn.