catbird’s world

As wildly ecstatic as I was about Whole Foods last week because of the local grass-fed beef, I am just as wildly disappointed this week. I just read a news story about how much of the 365 brand organics aren’t USDA certified, as we are led to believe by the packaging, and, in fact, many …

The strangest things make me celebrate these days. I’ve been looking around for a while to find local (i.e. w/in 50 miles) grass-fed beef. We haven’t eaten beef since I read The Omnivore’s Dilemma and I had all but given up hope of succeeding in my search. Several months back Edible Jersey mentioned two grass …

A friend told me she saw pasture fed beef at Whole Foods. So I asked the butcher when I was there this week. As usual, he was very helpful and took me right to the display that had three cuts of beef labeled, quite obviously to my chagrin, pasture-fed. I asked him where the farm …

I’ve been so focused on buying local with my groceries that I hadn’t been thinking about other things we could buy locally until the other day when we were buying beer. We like to buy beer from smaller breweries and there are several good ones in our area: Flying Fish is in Cherry Hill, NJ; …

“Project Grass is a group of Sussex and Warren county farmers who rely on pasture, along with hay and grass silage, for much of their livestock’s dietary needs. These animals spend the majority of their lives roaming the pasture, eating the grass at will, and enjoying the great outdoors.” Several of the farms listed in …

The Slow Food Movement is all about supporting local food producers, sustainability, and fair treatment. The founder is Carlo Petrini, and Italian gourmand who was recently named a great innovator in Time Magazine‘s list of “European Heroes.” Two of his books are on my “must-read” list (after I finally finish Omnivore’s Dilemma, Stumbling on Happiness, …

I was researching recipes on three fat chicks when I saw this interesting tidbit: SUPERSIZE TO BE PHASED OUT McDonalds has announced that they will discontinue the SuperSize menu, stating they want to provide options that support a more balanced lifestyle. The decision comes on the heels of an award winning documentary SuperSize Me. This …

After checking out the link to the meatrix on MetaFilter yesterday, I was wondering how I was going to avoid factory farmed meats short of driving around the countryside. The ASPCA has given me a clue: Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC) certifies farms with the “Certified Humane Raised & Handled” label. Certification requires “rigorous on-site …

Apparently, the beef industry felt left out of the appetizer and snack arenas. Enter cheeseburger fries. Deep fried beef and cheese. Also coming to school cafeterias near you. “Like most bar snacks, cheeseburger fries pack quite a dietary wallop. Each individual fry has about 75 calories and four grams of fat. The fries for schools …

“KFC imposes specific, strict welfare performance standards on its suppliers.” Even when the standards are considered “humane”, they still make a good argument against the mass production of food products. I wonder how many chickens give their lives to become food that is never eaten. The waste must be apalling. By the way, if you …

When fishing for tuna or swordfish in the Atlantic, sharks often fall prey to “bycatching”. This is part of the reason that almost all recorded shark species have declined by half in the past eight to 15 years. “Some fishing processes are actually strip mining the ocean,” said Dave Schofield, the manager of the National …

A few weeks ago, I heard a report on the radio that a community in NJ is upset at the poor nutritional quality of the school lunches in their district. The lunches apparently include many high fat and fried foods. The parents are worried that their kids are eating poorly at school. Although the issue …