Lovin The Farmer's Markets and Wright's Dairy

happy grass eatin cows!

Wright's Dairy Old Truck

a calf that you can pet at the Dairy

This week I actually went to three local farmers markets! I was able to get some interesting veggies that I posted about previously, a super sweet small watermelon and some miniature plums! It makes dinner time more fun to be able to cook with some fresh new ingredients.
Today, I made hamburgers out of actual GRASS FED beef that I got at Wrights Dairy, a dairy farm about 20 minutes away that also raises some cows for eating and has organic milk and cheeses that are delicious. If you have never tried organic milk, you should! Even the 1% tastes like whole milk and the cheeses couldn't be more fresh and delicious!
The beef was of course more expensive than the usual corn fed type, costing 5.00 a pound, but just one pound was enough to make a hamburger each for the four of us and the taste made it worth it! There was very little fat in the pan when done cooking and the taste was great!
I saw Food Inc. last summer and learned that the big corporations that own most of the main poultry, beef and pork companies feed an inexpensive corn mix to the animals to make them fatten faster so as to keep productivity high. The documentary doesn't advocate a vegetarian only diet or anything, but just was informative as to how the rich corporations benefit financially while the quality of beef, poultry and pork has gone way down.
Growing your own vegetables or supporting the local farmer's markets helps the real farmers who care about the quality of their crops, make a living. Many farmers in the midwest that were bought out by the corporations, now grow the poor nutritional corn that becomes animal feed and high fructose corn syrup but they are not proud of what they grow, they just do it to make a living. This is not the same corn as the corn on the cob that we eat, but a genetically altered version that has a higher fat and sugar content.
The best quality eggs and poultry come from free range chickens, which can be harder to find, but even Walmart has cage free organic eggs for only a little more than the regular ones.
Of course, I have no way become exclusive to these more expensive organic foods, but I try to get whatever I can at a good price. Try getting your vegetables and fruit at a local farmers market and I think you will get hooked!
click on the link below to find a market in your area!
Local Harvest Framers Markets USA
(There was much more to Food Inc, but it would take forever to tell you in this post! The dvd was very good and I recommend you to see it if you can!)