You may remember that back in January we made a few New Year's Resolutions, and number three was "Buy Locally." We did, in fact, sign up for the Marin Sun Farms Meat Club CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Program and became the proud owners of six months-worth of Package #3, which we share between two families.
In truth, we have been decreasing our meat consumption over the last few
years and adding more produce and grains to our diets, so as a result,
we've gotten very picky about the meat we do consume. Last December, as we were mulling over the idea of joining a meat CSA, we had the opportunity to attend a talk given by Michael Pollan. He mentioned Marin Sun Farms specifically, and after some research we decided that the MSF
products and delivery system were the best match for our lifestyles.
We've learned that signing up for a CSA is not only helpful to the
farmer financially and logistically, but that members pay about 10% less
than retail for MSF meat (we've seen it at Real Foods in San
Francisco). MSF
enlists co-producers so that they are able to provide customers with
meat and poultry all year round and the co-producers
follow the MSF farming protocol. MSF drops off meat orders once per month at a neighborhood location and we pick it up during a designated window of time. Our eagerly awaited first package contained mostly beef cuts with some ground pork. In case you're interested, we received:
- 3 1-lb packages of ground beef
- 2 1-lb packages of ground pork
- 1 lb beef rump round, tied
- 2 lb sirloin roast, tied
- 1 lb filet mignon
- 3 New York steaks, boneless
In addition to being 100% grass-fed and sustainably raised, the taste of the beef we've tried has been exceptional. We used our London Broil Marinade for the New York steaks, though this time we marinated the steaks for only 15 minutes, then seared them per the recipe and poured the marinade over the steaks while they roasted in a 225 degree oven for 45 minutes. They were perfect! We've also used the ground beef in a Stroganoff from Simply Recipes and Marcella Hazan's Bolognese Sauce. It's important to note that grass-fed beef cooks up differently than "regular" beef, and on average takes about 30% less cooking time. For more information on cooking grass fed beef, visit http://www.americangrassfedbeef.com or http://www.grassfedandhealthy.com.
Last but not least, it's hard to ignore recent research on the health benefits of grass-fed beef, According to Gourmet.com's Beef Buying Guide, "(Grass fed) meat is not only much lower in saturated fats but also higher in
healthy omega-3 fatty acids. It’s higher in the antioxidant vitamins A
and E as well as in CLA (conjugated linoleic acid, found in the fat),
which, recent studies show, may help prevent breast cancer, diabetes,
and other illnesses. Researchers have also found that cattle fed grass
or hay for a short period before slaughter have a much lower incidence
of E. coli 0157:H7, the virulent, relatively new strain of bacteria
common in feedlot cattle."
If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area and are interested in the CSA program at Marin Sun Farms, you can contact the CSA Manager Danny Kramer at danny@marinsunfarms.com or (415) 663-8997 ext. 203. For more Bay Area meat CSA options, you can visit http://bamcsa.ning.com/.
