Here’s just one more reason to eat local beef.
Happy cows, happy meat. Happy meat, happy body.
There are multiple reasons to eat locally raised cattle. The picture above says so much. These cows reside on thousands of acres of land grazing on fresh grass daily. While they are currently finished on pineapple tops, sugar cane, and a few other things they are heading toward being completely grass fed.
Grass fed, free range beef is the best way to go when buying beef. It’s good for your body and for the environment.
Meat from grass fed cattle is higher in beta carotene, vitamin E and omega-3 fatty acids than feedlot cattle. Grass fed beef is also lower in saturated fat. While saturated fat isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s still best to not eat too much of it. Everything in moderation, right? On the American Grass Fed Beef website it is stated that grass fed beef is similar in fat content to grass fed bison and commercial skinless chicken breast. It is also stated that there are fewer calories in grass fed beef.
On the environmental front, grass fed beef requires no farmed land for grains and soybeans for food supply. It takes 16 pounds of grain or soybeans to produce a pound of meat from feedlot cattle. While more land is required, that land isn’t being pumped full of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides to grow grains and soybeans for the cattle. While not all grass fed beef is organic, and not all of the land is certified organic, it seems to me that it is still a better option.
Maui Cattle Company land isn’t certified organic, but that is partially due to how much land would have to go through the certification process. The good thing about the amount of land though is that there is way too much land for them to fertilize or spray with herbicides or pesticides. The cattle do the fertilizing for them (if you get what I’m saying).
I’ve hiked the land, slept on the land, and I’ve never seen anything that makes me afraid of the beef I have on my dinner plate. I certainly wouldn’t sleep or hike in a feed lot.
Now, here’s hoping nobody sues me for talking about beef.
I loves me some beef!
Especially grass fed beef. I’m lucky enough to be a part of a coop where I can source grass fed beef and raw milk. I’ve not had the relationship you have, but I feel very confident in the food I’m getting and providing for nourishment for me and my family.
Meat FTW!
Luckily I live on the side of a mountain where most of the land is ranch land. There’s a company here called Maui Cattle Company in which multiple ranches supply beef from their cattle. The cattle is actually slaughtered locally too by a family that has been doing it for years. My boyfriend grew up with close ties to ranching and so tells me about it. Ranching is a major part of history (post contact) in Hawaii. The cowboy actually came from paniolos (Hawaiian word for cowboy) in Hawaii, which came from the Portuguese who moved here.
Hawaiian words of the day:
Paniolo (cowboy) Pronounced pon-ee-oh-loh
Pipi (cow) Pronounced peepee
I’m travelling to Maui for 3 weeks for a visit, I’ll be cooking for a lot of people. Do you know of places to buy local raw (at least non-homogenized) milk, meats and veggies? I’m staying in Kihei, but I’d travel a long way to get the best fooods.
Raw milk is illegal in Hawaii, unfortunately, so I can’t give you a source for that. However, most grocery stores are carrying Hawaii Fresh milk that is not ultra pasteurized. It’s good stuff, but isn’t certified organic. But, just because something isn’t certified organic doesn’t mean the product isn’t good. It often means the farmer can’t afford organic certification, and sometimes with free range animals getting all of the land certified is just too difficult. If you want non-homogenized Alive and Well in Kahului carries Strauss non-homogenized organic milk. It is still pasteurized though. Most milk coming into Hawaii is Ultra-Pasteurized. Clove Organic milk from Northern California is available at Mana Foods in Paia, and it is homogenized and pasteurized, but not ultra pasteurized.
Longs Drugs in Kihei carries Maui Cattle Company beef. It is grass fed and contains no hormones. The cattle are free range up on the mountain. They have very good lives.
For veggies check out the farmers markets and farm stands you’ll find on the roadside. Foodland grocery stores mark which vegetables are local, and so does Safeway. If you head into Kahului you can hit up Whole Foods Market and Down to Earth Natural Foods. If you travel further into Paia town Mana Foods is a great natural foods grocery store with good prices on most things. They also have a large selection of produce.
There’s a farmers market multiple times a week at the shopping mall in Kahului. Every Tues, Wed, Friday 7am-4pm.
Also in Kahului on Saturday mornings is a huge swap meet and farmers market behind the college campus.
In Kihei there is also a farmers market that is gaining in popularity on Saturdays: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kihei-HI/Lipoa-Street-Farmers-Market/126644357357736?ref=ts&__a=14&v=wall It is called the Lipoa Street Farmers Market.
In Kula there is a beautiful farm stand, Kula Country Farms, and they have amazing strawberries. I highly recommend stopping there if you travel up the mountain.
I don’t spend much time in Kihei, but I hope this information will help.