Shouldn't We All Care What We're Putting In Our Bodies?

As I explained it to my Social Policy class Monday night, I have a new "passion," if you will...educating myself and others about the food, namely meat, that we are putting into our bodies--and the bodies of our children. #1 on my 31 Things for my 31st Year List was to become more aware of what I eat, where it comes from, and how it affects my health.

The first thing I did towards this end was to read Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. This promptly had me not eating animals...if you haven't read it, you should. I have since watched Food, Inc. and investigated a few of the local meat producers, Caw Caw Creek Farms and Wil-Moore Farms. I have also begun shopping more at the All-Local Farmers' Market at 701 Whaley St. in Columbia.

Today I came across two articles that are valid pieces of investigative journalism questioning the safety of the meat we eat in this country--the safety of beef processing as well as the antibiotics fed to the animals.

Here is an article I found on the blog Grits and Gravy: Adventures of a South Carolina Foodie. The article by Michael Moss of the New York Times questions the safety of beef-processing methods in America.

This article I found in my Pew Charitable Trusts weekly e-mail, Pew News Now. It is a report by Katie Couric of CBS investigating if feeding farm animals antibiotics is producing drug-resistant bacteria. (I think, how could it not be?!) Here is the video report, aired on the CBS Evening News on February 9, 2010.

In the midst of all of this educating and investigating and finding out things I never wanted to find out about the meat that is raised and slaughtered in this country, I am also learning about people who are doing the right thing. The right thing not only for the people they are feeding, but also for the animals they raise for meat. Two of those people, locally, are Emile DeFelice, of Caw Caw Creek, and Kristian Niemi of Rosso Trattoria Italia (and Gervais & Vine). Niemi does his best to serve local ingredients when possible, as well as humanely and organically raised meats, such as pork from Caw Caw Creek Farm. See the video below, Episode 1 of a new series called Off Menu with Kristian, where he takes a tour of Caw Caw Creek and then demonstrates a recipe of Grilled Pork Chops with Apple Chutney.



Stayed tuned for more posts highlighting local restaurateurs and farmers doing their best to serve healthy, humanely treated, and locally-grown meats and vegetables.

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Greens & Eggs

I started my chilly and wet morning at the All-Local Farmer's Market with two of my favorite people, my husband and our friend Jason who is in town from Afghanistan.

Keeping up with my 31 Things to do in my 31st year, I purchased some amazing fresh flowers from Floral & Hardy of Lexington, SC. (Love the clever name!) The owners mentioned to me that they are trying to get their flowers picked up for sale by Earthfare, (the store claims to be open to carrying local brands and products, but so far no luck). So, next time you're in Earthfare, do Floral & Hardy a favor and mention to an employee that you would love to see some of their beautiful flowers for sale there.

Beautiful stems from Floral & Hardy. Doesn't the bottom one's petals look like little slivers of pickled ginger? So gorgeous.

I then moved on to purchase Sunflower Sprouts from City Roots and Butter Bibb Lettuce (I think) from Freshly Grown Farms--these are the 2 local farms that are featured in this week's Free Times article Columbia's New Farmers:Urban Entrants Changing Face of Agriculture. Gorgeous, fresh-as-you-can-get lettuces!


I also bought a dozen free-range, antibiotic and hormone-free eggs from Wil-Moore Farms, and then a piece of vanilla pound cake from Tasty Treats Bakery out of Leesville, SC. (I am presently dieting in full-force for the Biggest Loser Challenge, so I can't eat the pound cake, but somehow, just purchasing a piece gives me some of the satisfaction I might get from actually eating it. Then, later I can also live vicariously through whoever ends up eating it).

After the market we headed to Gotham Bagel Cafe for brunch. None of us had ever eaten there, and it was a very nice experience. I love the open, urban, warehousey-feel of the building where Gotham is located, and it's also a plus that it's a part of the revitalized Columbia Main Street. The staff was very friendly and we had very quick service.

Cool architectural details inside Gotham.

Gratuitous shot of the sweets case--just 'cause I can't eat them right now.

Jason ordered a Philly Cheese steak with curly fries, James had a special sandwich called The Legend with potato salad, and I had a 3-egg Cheese Omelet with feta and mozzarella. The Cheese Steak was doused in an authentic-like cheese sauce, and James said the potato salad was very tasty. My omelet was perfect--the cheese to egg ratio was just right and it was nicely seasoned with salt and pepper.

Philly Cheese Steak

The Legend- roasted turkey, swiss, feta, sun-dried tomatoes, and red peppers.

Overall, it was a great easy-like-Saturday morning. How did you spend your Saturday?

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All-Local Farmers Market

So we slept really late this Saturday morning, (the cold has a way of making one not want to get out of bed, no?), but we made it to the All-Local Farmers Market in time to find a few awesome things!
James had never been to this Farmers Market before, and he was in awe...and really, many of the vendors had already packed up by the time we got there, (11:15 am).

The gentleman from Wil Moore Farms said you really need to get there by 9:30 to see everything and have the best selection.

We got his last dozen free-range, all organic eggs, (this display dozen). We also purchased some organic sausage patties from him.

This is a picture of our entire haul for the morning: eggs and sausage from Wil Moore Farms, bacon from Caw Caw Creek, homemade cheddar bread, kettle corn for my mom, and a 14-in-1 spice rub from Kirby's Delites.

James is on a no-carb diet right now, so he's really excited about the meat and eggs and I've had a feta-mozzarella bread from the same woman who made the cheddar bread, so I know it's going to be amazing.

Here's to hoping we can drag our butts out of bed earlier next Saturday!

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