Discussion of Bluegrass Burger review

I think your tongue is in your cheek, but I'll try to answer since the question is lying out there on the table.

Nah. I was being a wise-A , but it was a sincere question. I took your last sentence to mean you were giving serious consideration to going meatless, because afterall, from my experience "ethical" meat really isn't all that easy to find when dining out...or maybe I just don't know I'm eating it (?). Going vegitarian might be bad for business Robin.

I do think ethics has made its way into eating in a big way in recent years, though, with writers like Michael Pollan and Barbara Kingsolver, among others, addressing the issue, and movies like Food Inc., King Corn, Dirt and many more addressing issues of food consciousness and ethics. No matter what side you take, it's a serious issue and one worth discussing among "foodies."

I agree. I guess I am just more in the awareness phase as I am not quite ready to give it up. I do have to say that I am not a huge fan of the grass fed steaks. I don't seem to mind too much with burgers, but the steaks just aren't the same to me. Does meat have to be grass fed to be ethical in your mind? Can it just be humane? Maybe half-assing it would keep the prices down a bit(steping into flame suit ).

[Robin Garr]

I agree. I guess I am just more in the awareness phase as I am not quite ready to give it up. I do have to say that I am not a huge fan of the grass fed steaks. I don't seem to mind too much with burgers, but the steaks just aren't the same to me. Does meat have to be grass fed to be ethical in your mind? Can it just be humane? Maybe half-assing it would keep the prices down a bit(steping into flame suit ).

Oh, no flames from me, Greg. I'm definitely half-assing it by looking for compromises rather than giving up eating tasty animal flesh.

A couple of quick, random thoughts: Our grandparents, and maybe our parents, ate grass-fed beef because that's what there was. Recent generations have developed a taste for grain-finished beef, which is fatter and more marbled. Delicious, maybe at the expense of health? But to some extent I think it's what you're used to. We've found that the flavor of grass-fed beef varies a lot depending on its source. Stan at Dreamcatcher Farm uses an heirloom breed of cattle (Devon) that seems to produce a more flavorful beef with grass-feeding. We love Barr Farms, but don't care as much for their beef, so we buy their chickens instead, which are incredible. So, source control is an issue. So is cooking. Grass-fed beef really doesn't benefit from being cooked beyond medium-rare. Best technique, in my experience is to hit it heavily with fresh, coarse black pepper, do a quick sear in an iron skillet and then cram the skillet and steak into a hot (450F) oven to let it finish. A minute on a side and five minutes at heat are usually plenty for a one-inch steak, but after a while you get a feel for it.

All that said, the current issue with grain finishing seems to be that to get it you've got to truck your cattle to Kansas and basically turn it over to agribusiness. The films I've seen of the feedlots don't look humane. There's also the reality that cattle just aren't designed to digest grain. Bottom line, if humaneness is an issue for you, then I don't see a way to fit grain-finishing into that. I'd be interested in knowing more about the possibility of doing grain-finishing at the small-farm level, but given what I know right now, sticking with grass-fed, getting used to the flavor, sourcing meat from farmers whose beef you prefer, and using cooking techniques that work best for that meat ... all that yields a steak that's more than satisfactory for me.

Greg-
I've mentioned it previously on this site, but it is possible to get grain fed/finished beef that has never seen those awful feedlots that Robin mentioned. The New Albany Farmers market opens
this Saturday and Carr Cattle (Depauw, IN) is a vendor there offering grain fed beef. All their cattle are born and grain finished on the farm. No hormones, no antibiotics and no feedlots ever..

Robin et al,

The Burger at Harvest (on Market) - Local beef on a housemade pretzel bun, with goat cheese and hog jowl jelly- is outstanding! I believe it's either $8 or $9, includes a choice of sides. A friend claimed it was one of the best burgers she'd ever had, but I doubted her... I went last week and had it- it's now in my top 2 ever.

Deb

I went for the first time today and loved it. The beef burger had a nice peppery and charred flavor. The fries were very good and there was a good selection of beer for a place like this. On top of all of that, the staff was extremely and genuinely friendly. Also, the price is definitely right for grass fed and local beef. I will certainly be back to eventually try the rest of the menu.

As for "gourmet", I think the word is as subjective as "artisan" is for bread or cheese or "craft" for beer. Many times, these words are co-opted for marketing purposes. This wasn't an issue for me.

Robin (or anyone),
I've recently started adding more meat to my diet after a long time of being mostly vegetarian (trust me). And I'm trying to stick to meat from ethically raised healthy local animals myself . . . Anybody know of a good resource for finding it, in restaurants and stores? Many thanks!

Thank goodness we eat only 100% Schmoo meat over here..

[Robin Garr]

Robin (or anyone),
I've recently started adding more meat to my diet after a long time of being mostly vegetarian (trust me). And I'm trying to stick to meat from ethically raised healthy local animals myself . . . Anybody know of a good resource for finding it, in restaurants and stores? Many thanks!

Paul, the farmers' markets are a great resource - Bardstown Road has Dreamcatcher, Fiedler and Stonecross. St. Matthews, which opens for the season Saturday, has Dreamcatcher and Stonecross and a bunch more.

You can get some local meats at Doll's and sometimes at Whole Foods, which also has plenty of humanely raised meat not grown locally.

Bill P has told us about a grain-finished local beef that I understand is available at the New Albany Farmers' Market. I've got to get over there and try it.

Restaurants, in addition to Bluegrass Burgers ... Coals Artisan Pizza uses all Dreamcatcher beef, Chef Mike told me. I think you can count on the new Harvest on East Market, too.

So ignoring all this humane, no hormone, locally educated stuff for a minute...Can someone please explain to me why beef from a cow that spent it's entire life munching Kentucky 31 in someone's "back forty" costs 33% more than other beef options ?

[Robin Garr]

So ignoring all this humane, no hormone, locally educated stuff for a minute...Can someone please explain to me why beef from a cow that spent it's entire life munching Kentucky 31 in someone's "back forty" costs 33% more than other beef options ?

Economies of scale. It's cheap to produce industrial beef. Running a small business isn't cheap.

So ignoring all this humane, no hormone, locally educated stuff for a minute...Can someone please explain to me why beef from a cow that spent it's entire life munching Kentucky 31 in someone's "back forty" costs 33% more than other beef options ?

Economies of scale. It's cheap to produce industrial beef. Running a small business isn't cheap.

Ehhhhhhhhh...so exactly what is the expense of having a cow munching on grass in your back forty ?

So ignoring all this humane, no hormone, locally educated stuff for a minute...Can someone please explain to me why beef from a cow that spent it's entire life munching Kentucky 31 in someone's "back forty" costs 33% more than other beef options ?

Economies of scale. It's cheap to produce industrial beef. Running a small business isn't cheap.

Ehhhhhhhhh...so exactly what is the expense of having a cow munching on grass in your back forty ?

Steve, I'm no expert, but I am friends with the people at Sherwood Acres beef since they set up next to us at the La Grange Farmers Market (which also opens Saturday). I know that as a small producer, they need to pay to have their cattle processed at an independent USDA approved facility. I would imagine the processing fee is NOT cheap. In addition, Jon is always telling me how he is up through the night when the calves are being born, paying vet fees, etc. I would imagine there is quite a bit of hidden cost there. I don't know about the other beef producers since I am always at my market selling, but I know that Sherwood Acres runs really good specials, especially on ground beef.

Steve, its the extra expense for cow massage, piped in Classical stereo music, and suicide cow-nseling so they die happy

http://www.grassfedbeefgeorgia.com/blog ... osts-more/


It costs your local farmer more to grow cattle to the ideal weight for slaughter because it takes at least twice as long (2-3 years) to grow a beef to the necessary weight.

It costs your local farmer more to take several cattle to the local butcher whose treatment is humane and who pays the workers adequately than it does to transport hundreds of cattle to slaughter.

Your local farmer receives little subsidization.

The quickest way to increase a cow’s weight is to feed it grain and growth hormones.
Basically feedlots quickly turn an average healthy cow into an obese sick cow. Then they are transported to the slaughterhouse where up to 250 animals are slaughtered an hour.

On the other hand, increasing the size of cattle grazing on pasture takes a long time. The cattle are not artificially fattened, but instead retain their natural weights based on a diet of grass—the diet their bodies are meant to eat. They also receive no hormones or antibiotics (except to save their lives if they become sick).

The downside of the cheap meat is that it is not very healthy. Loading the cattle with grains and hormones makes them sick, and they require antibiotics to stay alive. All of these additives end up in the food system and in humans. There is direct evidence that America’s epidemic of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer is linked to the foods we eat.

Steve, its the extra expense for cow massage, piped in Classical stereo music, and suicide cow-nseling so they die happy

....Cow-nseling. Now there's a good 'ern.