Printmeat from humanely raised animals
I have been trying to avoid meat from feedlot animals. This limits our restaurant/menu choices, when we eat out. I have 2 questions:
1. are there restaurants out there who offer meat from animals that were treated humanely, and how do you find them?
2. if I see "exotic" meats on the menu (like bison or venison), can I assume that they have been raised humanely, or are there now feedlot-type places for deer, also.
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24 Comments:
I don't eat meat, but someone gave me this site ( http://cornucopia.org/dairysurvey/index.html ), which rates major organic dairies.
KarynMC at 8:22AM on 02/20/08
Restaurants that feature humanely raised / free range / hormone free / organic fed meats usually make it known on the menu, since these meats are still unfortunately more expensive. Bison is farm raised but in my experience they need to be free roaming, and hence are not kept in feedlots. I am not 100% sure of this though, you might want to do some research on it. (There is a bison farm near my parents' house in upstate NY though, and they are always out in a big pasture, even in the winter snow.) Venison is always wild and only available in months of and subsequent to the deer hunting season.
seyo at 9:34AM on 02/20/08
Agree with Seyo. Restaurants that feature [insert buzz word to describe cows raised with bunnies here] will always advertise it. And expect to pay more for it. If you are not sure you can always ask. The restaurant may or many not tell you the truth. Independently owned restaurants (i.e. not Applebees) will tend to be better than this.
I tend to avoid 'exotic' meats unless I am in another country where the 'exotic' meat is part of their culture. However I don't count Bison or Venison as 'exotic'. But since neither is typically purchased by mainstream America or big restaurant chains they are treated better.
bravian at 10:31AM on 02/20/08
I don't think restaurants can sell wild venison, actually. I think most venison's shipped from New Zealand, though there are some small deer farms on the East Coast . . . .
KarynMC at 10:37AM on 02/20/08
Alot of venison is farmed in the US....here is a resource page:
http://www.venison-meat.com/html/suppliers
An option you might have would be to seek out farms in your area that raise meat the way you like, and ask them if they supply any restaurants in your area...then patronize those restaurants....knowing how the meat was raised.
mepolo at 11:11AM on 02/20/08
o.k....messed up that link:
http://www.venison-meat.com/html/suppliers.html#NY
mepolo at 11:12AM on 02/20/08
wow, I just assumed it was hunted meat, because there are so many hunters upstate. Our neighbor gave us a 6 pound tenderloin earlier this season because he had so much of it. And there is a butcher nearby that sells venison kielbasa. Goes to show what I know... Many thanks for that link!
seyo at 11:48AM on 02/20/08
I don't like to see animals abused, but point in fact, no matter how "humanely" you raise them, you can't eat them until you KILL THEM!
srhcb at 12:20PM on 02/20/08
newsflah: You have to kill plants to eat them too.
seyo at 12:31PM on 02/20/08
no prob seyo....I just typed venison suppliers into a search, and came up with that site. I wasn't sure myself...I know there are deer farms near me here in upstate NY....so I knew some was farmed....wasn't sure how much though.
love your last comment btw.... ;-)
mepolo at 12:56PM on 02/20/08
seyo - C'mon. The "you kill plants, too" argument? That's like saying that neglecting to water your house plant is the same thing as "forgetting" to give your dog water and food until it dies.
Argue for meat consumption if you want, but try to use a better argument. ;-P
KarynMC at 1:20PM on 02/20/08
well, seriously, what is the difference? Plants feel pain. They have sex, they wage war upon each other. They have families, they worship the sun more devotedly than any one of us can claim to worship our gods. Just because they don't have eyes, ears, legs, mouths, are not fuzzy and cant make cute yet unintelligible sounds to reminds us of ourselves, doesn't mean they are any less alive, and doesn't mean they enjoy life any less than we mammals do. If you think about the meaning of life, and about the sanctity of all life, you will realize that vegetarianism is just another form of racism, in that they assume that plants are somehow inferior forms of life just because they are different. I am an equal opportunity eater. I don't discriminate. You can argue, quite convincingly even, that vegetarianism is more ethical from an economic standpoint, but that's it.
seyo at 1:44PM on 02/20/08
It must be one of those days...another "snow day" with the kids home from school. But I actually read this as "meat from human raised animals" and thought "are we having a discussion about why mothers eat their young? if so, the answer is SNOW DAYS! Especially in a week where said young had a day off for president's day already."
Sorry, I know it is off topic, sort of, but that is how I read this post.
SayWhat at 5:24PM on 02/20/08
I know that meat must die to be eaten but if the animal is happy and healthy studies show it is better tasting and a better meat. Some buchers do sell hunted meat depending on the area's laws. If you ask at any reaturant the waitress should know but coming from the midwest those are few and far between.
love2cook at 11:50PM on 02/20/08
@SayWhat...
8-D (that's me all bug-eyed and laughing hysterically)
Perfect post. The most logical one in the thread IMHO. We don't have snow days in seasonless so calif, but as a mom and step-mom of six, and a step-granny of three, I can so totally relate to what you are saying! And I believe you are absolutely right!
Hope your week improves!
xoxo
LoCo at 12:06AM on 02/21/08
Papillon, you can search restaurants in your area at localharvest.org. Most have fairly thorough descriptions on the sources of their meats.
Tactful_Cactus at 11:55AM on 02/21/08
bravian, I think your snide designation of humanely raised/free range/grass or organic fed/hormone and antibiotic free meats as "exotic" is absurd. In the 10,000+ years that man has domesticated animals, animals were raised this way. It is only in the last 50 - 60 years that we have switched over to massive scale industrialized animal farming. These meats that you scoff at are produced in what are the real "normal", time tested manner. Your hockey puck burgers and boneless skinless chicken breasts sold under shrink wrap in the supermarket are the "exotic" meats, exotic only in their cruelty, inefficiency, waste of resources, and toxicity, both to the environment and to those who consume them in large quantities. Do you pay attention to the news at all? Did you hear anything about the recent beef recall? Do you think that sick cow being dragged through the mud and it's own feces looks like good eating to you? I hope you think of this the next time you make comments. And the next time you eat a crappy, cheap, fast food burger. Your statements are those of someone who is either cynical, dishonest, or willfully ignorant. My guess is you are at least two out of three in this regard.
seyo at 12:23PM on 02/21/08
I read an article recently, (I think it was in Gourmet but I'm not sure), about the stance that Wolfgang Puck is taking regarding this issue. He has made the statement that his restuarants will only serve meat that has been humanely raised. Whether it is for publicity or a strong ideals regarding this issue I'm not sure. I do know that it is difficult for the average consumer to aquire humanely treated, hormone free etc.. meat. I know that I do whenever possible but sometimes it is very difficult and much more expensive. Maybe if this issue gets more press it will become easier for us regular people trying to feed thier family and make the ethical choices they believe in.
A little off subject but in the same vein I keep looking everywhere for wild caught shrimp, in my area of the world (MI) it nearly impossible.
Angie_Earthy at 12:58PM on 02/21/08
@seyo, I could be wrong, but I took bravian's use of the term "exotic" to simply mean meats from non-native species, not to mean responsibility raised meats. I think bravian's on "our team", s/he's just warning to beware of the culinary equivalent to "greenwashing." Not to speak for bravian -- I could be wrong...
Tactful_Cactus at 1:20PM on 02/21/08
Just to shake things up, if we're talking exotic as non-native, then bison and venison couldn't be exotic, as they are the animals that were native to the continent. Cows pigs and sheep were all imported by europeans. (sorry, I've been reading a book about american food)
Sparkiy at 1:43PM on 02/21/08
...yeah, that's what I thought bravian meant, since bison and venison wasn't considered "exotic." But, yes, that sort of does exclude the most common animals we eat in modern times!
Tactful_Cactus at 2:55PM on 02/21/08
It was this comment that made me respond to bravian the way I did:
"[insert buzz word to describe cows raised with bunnies here]"
That is clearly a patronizing statement of contempt for the whole concept of humanely raised (and all the other "buzzword" qualifiers) meat. My bad for lumping it in with the "exotic" thing.
seyo at 3:13PM on 02/21/08
To clarify, my use of the word "exotic" was not to imply non-American meats. But simply those that do not show up as often on menus -- that is meat that is not beef or chicken (in general).
Anyway, you guys have given me a lot of great ideas and websites to look into. Already I have found a farm just a few miles from my house that raises heirloom breeds of poultry, and their eggs.
Still haven't found a restaurant that fits the bill -- but the Wofgang Puck lead is intriguing (there's on about 1/2 hour from me).
Thanks for everyone's input.
papillon at 6:57PM on 02/21/08
"humanely raised meat" concept is an oxymoron, IMHO.
MadelynRodriguez at 7:58PM on 02/26/08