Two Very Different Books About Meat

This week I had the pleasure of reading two very different books about meat. The first was Howard Lyman's Mad Cowboy: Plain Truth From the Cattle Rancher Who Won't Eat Meat. I'd heard about this book for years, in fact, Howard Lyman was kind enough to write the blurb on the back of my first cookbook. So when I saw a copy in a used bookstore, I grabbed it and ripped through it in a day and a half.

I found myself really liking and admiring the guy. It takes guts to walk away from a life as a Montana cattle rancher and become a vegan activist. And the book offered just what it promised: straight talk and plenty of useful information.

Several days later I happened to see a copy of Betty Fussell's new book, Raising Steaks, about America's love affair with beef. I adored her book about corn, which brings together politics and mythology with a heartfelt appreciation for the food. With Lyman's book fresh in my mind, I grabbed this one.

Fussell does a wonderful job of bring together cowboy lore with a discussion of food safety and the economics of raising beef. She also makes a point to draw a connection between husbandry practices and flavor every step of the way.

The hardest things to reconcile, reading the 2 books so closely together, were their different takes on the impact of grazing cattle on public land. Lyman details the terrible toll that subsidized grazing takes on topsoil, streams and native plants. Fussell focuses mainly on smaller scale ranchers, many of whom are deeply concerned with sustainability, taking good care of the grass so their cows can continue to graze on it in the future.

I think we need both of these voices if we're going to develop a more enlightened relationship with the animals we raise for food. Being vegetarian or vegan is one way of addressing the issue, but there are plenty of wise, intelligent people who are never going to stop eating meat, and plenty of vegetarians who still eat poorly, and even unsustainably. For those folks who are going to continue to eat meat, it makes sense to pay attention to the quality of the product, because really good meat just doesn't come from industrial feedlots.

Whole Foods' Woes

It's been a rough couple of months for Whole Foods. Their sales are slumping, their stock has lost 80% of its value, and the FTC has reopened its case trying to block their acquisition of the Wild Oats chain, even though the merger process is already well underway.

I know it's fashionable to bash Whole Foods for their focus on "industrial organic" products, their high prices and their boutiquey atmosphere, but I really like shopping there. I happen to like their stores more than some of the local coops, where I often can't find items I want. I even appreciate the upscale feel on some level: for better or for worse I think that kind of ambiance has gone a long way towards bringing natural foods mainstream.

I suspect that their recent woes will ultimately make them a better company, perhaps helping them adapt to an economic climate where there's more of a demand for everyday products than luxury items. They do seem to be pretty savvy overall.

What I Learned from "The Flavor Bible"

Everyone's been raving about "The Flavor Bible," the new book by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenberg. I love books about combining flavors-I've learned so much more from these types of books than from conventional cookbooks-so I had to get a copy.

I have to say, though, that I found the lists a bit daunting, and I'm not usually intimidated by that sort of thing. There was just too much information, too many options, and not enough groupings to indicate combinations of three and four ingredients that work together. Still, I'll keep it on my shelf and I'm sure I'll find it useful from time to time.

But I had a great time reading through the introductory material. The authors articulated an idea that I'd intuited but never actually expressed: the reason you can't really count on recipes when you're cooking is that ingredients vary so widely. All apples don't taste the same; neither do all tomatoes. Since I read this I've been paying closer attention to it when I cook, and I do feel that it's changed my approach. I'm more curious, and I taste more as I go along.

The Down Side of Corn Cups

As a foodservice business owner, I recently received a notice from the City of Seattle informing me that, as of July 1 2010, I would have to switch to compostable or recyclable plastic food service products. Around the same time I noticed that the wholesale foodservice grocery had begun carrying compostable cups.

I'm glad to see a spreading awareness about sustainable materials, but I haven't started using compostable food service products yet in my own business. There are just too many things that don't add up to me. I was at Cafe Fiore the other day, and was told that they had no way of recycling their recyclable cups, because the city composting service wouldn't take them. And yet the flyer I received in the mail said that businesses would soon only be allowed to use products that were approved by the composting company.

An article in yesterday's Oregonian detailed additional difficulties: compostable products are often mistaken for plastic, and even a small amount of them can ruin a batch of plastic recyclables. And they don't compost in backyard composting bins: they need a commercial composting operation (although there are difficulties there as well, as I learned at Fiore.)

My own ambivalence also comes from the fact that we're using food crops for disposable packaging when people all over the world are experiencing food security concerns. And why are we using corn? Is it because corn is so heavily subsidized in this country? Perhaps there are technological reasons that I don't understand, but the whole situation makes me feel suspicious.

On top of all this, I've always been turned off by green marketing, and there seems to be an awful lot of it with respect to compostable cups, even from companies who really don't make much of an effort to use sustainable ingredients. Of course, I also know food businesses that use compostable cups and are absolutely sincere about their sustainable practices. But most of the time it just seems gimmicky to me.

I will certainly switch to compostable food service materials at some point, probably before I'm legally required to do so. And I'm sure many of these wrinkles will be ironed out over time. I certainly look forward to seeing what innovations the future will bring, despite my ambivalence.

Magnolia Retrospective

Saturday was the last day of the season at the Magnolia Farmers' Market. It was kind of slow, as it's been for most of the past month and a half. Many of the customers who did show up were sad that it was ending. I told them honestly that personally, I was thrilled. When spring comes around I'm going to be very excited to start again, but right now I'm more than ready to slow down.

Magnolia is, and probably always will be, a small market. It's the kind of venue that attracts a limited following of committed customers, so it's important to stick it out over time and get established. I've been there for 2 years, and this season was a little better than last season. But both years things slowed down dramatically after Labor Day, so I do hope they plan a shorter season next year.

Manna Mills

Whenever I'm in Edmunds I always find some excuse to stop by Manna Mills. Many years ago, when I first moved to the Seattle area, I was thrilled to discover this store, which had more of the feel of an east coast food coop than any store in the area, even the ones that are actually coops.

It's evolved over the years, keeping the same feeling but also developing different emphases. They now specialize in gluten free products, and all of their produce is certified organic. Their products include many obscure gems: you get the feeling they're more willing than most places to take risks on items that are consistent with their mission. (I once found horseradish flavored soy cheese there! I'm no fan of soy cheese, but even I couldn't resist that one.)

But the best thing about Manna Mills is in a jar by the counter: honey flavored candies called Pecan Pearls.

Columbia City Retrospective

Yesterday was the last day of the season at Columbia City Market. It's a relatively long event, running for half of the year, from the beginning of May until the end of October.

We had a good end of the season there, despite the grim economic news this past month. It came down to the weather on Wednesdays in October, which happened to be much better this year than last year, enough to easily compensate for the stock market fear factor. It was comforting for me to realize that many variables influence farmers' market sales, and the overall economy is just one of them.

Columbia City is a kid's market. It's across the street from an elementary school and next door to a park. I sell tons of kids' cheese-only quesadillas there, and also tons of lemonade. Yesterday they were decorating pumpkins in the kids' tent.

Columbia City is also a wonderfully diverse market. It's the only event where my sales take a hit during the month-long holiday of Ramadan.