Local grass fed beef and making bone broth with Oystergirl

Hamburgers made from New England Grass Fed ground  beef. Yum!

How much meat do you eat and how important is it to you how the animal was raised?

We eat a lot of plant based meals, but chicken and bacon are often on our menu and Art Girl and I love fish (Computer Man and Computer Boy would rather eat sticks and rocks). We are not big red meat eaters but when we do eat it, ground beef is usually the meat of choice.

I am trying to buy as much pastured meat and dairy as I can these days, but finding 100% grass fed anything in the supermarket is not always easy. Add trying to support local producers to the list and you really need to know a farmer or supplier to buy from! Luckily, many of our local farmers markets now have local meats for sale and some even have CSA programs.




I was very interested to meet one of the speakers at the monthly meeting of the Providence Chapter of the Weston A Price Foundation   (held at Laid Back Fitness in Warwick, RI),  Pat Beck from New England Grass Fed. Pat's company has an interesting business model. Instead of raising his animals on his own land, he pastures the herd out to several local farms. Periodically, he rotates the cows between the farms so they have new grass to forage from. All his animals are 100% grass fed. You can learn more about his business, the breeds of cow he raises and information on where to buy his product on his website.

You can go to Pat's house and purchase directly from him which is great for someone like myself who wants to buy a lot of just one or two cuts of meat. A CSA share wouldn't work for my family. This is when buying local and knowing your farmers works best!

The proof is in the pudding as they say, and the pudding didn't last long! I purchased a pound of ground beef from Pat at the meeting and made hamburgers with it.They were very very good.

Vanessa brought some of her beef bone broth for us to try. I used it to make a carrot and leek soup.

After the vegetables had cooked in the broth, I added seasoning and pureed the soup, adding a touch of cream. It was really delicious. Great job with the broth, Oystergirl!

My friend Vanessa also spoke at the meeting on the benefits of making bone broth from pastured animals. Vanessa has her own blog about her paleo diet called They Call Me Oystergirl, She videotaped both her talk and Pat's and has posted it on her site. I'll let her tell you about the health benefits.

Click on the image to link to the video.

Pastured meat is not cheap, but the quality and taste cannot be argued against, not to mention the quality of the lives of the animals. It certainly is an investment in your health. Learning how to make the most out of that investment for me is key. Knowing how to stretch out a cut of meat over several meals, using the bones to make broth to use in soups and stews, then using the rendered fat to cook with, increases the meat's value and lowers the perceived cost.

Get ready Pat, I have a large cooler and I'm coming over. At an arranged time, of course!

Can you find local pastured meat where you live?

Sue