Growers and Grocers

The guiding principle here at Growers and Grocers is that you should know where your food comes from and how it’s produced. This isn’t because we’re all hippies who talk about the Earth Mother. It’s about trust.

We’ve all heard stories of restaurants where the chefs and the waiters spit in the food of unpopular customers or play other pranks. Many of these stories probably aren’t true. But you don’t know, do you? And why don’t you know? Because you can’t see what’s going on in the kitchen.

But even people wary of restaurant antics happily purchase meat at supermarkets, or even from independent groceries, when they have no clue about who produced the meat. How was it raised? How was it fed? How was it slaughtered?Can you feel good about buying it?

It’s easy to believe that the government monitors these things. At least, it has been. But as our publisher Kate has mentioned, the USDA’s track record isn’t so good of late. And, shock of shocks, Japan had barely agreed to re-allow our meat into their country when we broke our end of the bargain and shipped in some spinal cords along with the beef.

So it’s up to you. You can’t trust the government on this, and you can’t trust your supermarket. If you care about the quality of your meat and your health, you—yes you—have to learn about it. Call around. Talk to the farmers at the farmer’s market. Order from a good source. I like Prather Ranch, but Niman Ranch is more widely distributed.

Yes, these are more expensive. American agribusiness is so slipshod precisely because Americans expect cheap meat. So don’t eat meat every day. Save your pennies for meat that is good and good for you. Make it special, something you’ll savor. Vote with your pocketbook and the meat industry will change to accommodate it.