MaxRedline

Up Next: Meat Tax

Farm Animal Investment Risk and Return (FAIRR), an investor network that advises on factory farming, says it is “increasingly probable” that countries will start taxing meat in order to fight climate change.

FAIRR believes that will occur within the next decade. Frankly, the "climate change fighters" would be a lot more believable if they cut back on jetting around the globe to attend conferences, but video-conferences would dramatically reduce the overall potential for ego-stroking.

Researchers say the issue must be addressed if countries are going to stick to the Paris Climate Agreement, the second anniversary of which is being celebrated Tuesday at a summit in Paris.

Oh, good! They're going to have themselves another "summit"! They just had a "conference" in New Orleans, depositing 60,000 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as they jetted in and then out.

They nod sagely at one another while intoning their views on the climate "crisis" and the need for all of us to reduce our "carbon footprint" - even as they're responsible for far greater emissions than average schmucks like you. As for their meat tax, it's of interest to consider how such a thing might be implemented.

It would likely involve a massive program of indoctrination education, in which schmucks are informed of the health benefits of not eating meat (and of course, this would have to include dairy products as well, because carbon), followed by imposing a meat tax at grocery checkout (followed in due course by a concomitant tax on dairy products down the road). The vegan smug is almost palpable. Surprisingly, as they reduce gas emissions to "fight climate change", they don't seem to be going after cabbage or brussels sprouts.

 

Heard But Not Seen

Several sets of warbirds overflew the house this morning, heading toward the Pacific. Unfortunately, not visible due to extensive cloud cover and heavy rain. As my grandfather used to put it, "like a cow pissing on a flat rock". Well, he ran a small dairy farm, so a lot of his bromides tended toward cows.

Anyway, just from the sounds, I'd venture to say there were four F-16s followed by four F-15 Eagles.

I think their training exercises end in about a week, but they've been fun. For me, anyway.

 

Dairy Queens Will Get You In Trouble

PENDLETON, Ore. (AP) - The owner of a controversial mega-dairy in Boardman has been arrested on charges of patronizing a prostitute and possessing methamphetamine.
 
Lost Valley Farm owner Greg te Velde was arrested during a sting in Kennewick, Washington. The Benton County Jail website says he was booked Aug. 19 and is free on bail.

Greg just wanted to buy some milk....

 

 

Odds & Ends

I grilled up a rib steak last night, with rosemary and garlic baked potato (you slice the tater thinly, just not all the way through. Then you brush in melted butter and olive oil with rosemary and garlic, and bake at 425 for 45 minutes.) - add a bit of small greens to the plate, and you're good to go. The girls love that stuff.

I just ordered more shares from CrowdCow, which should arrive next week. I like their no-feedlot approach, and the fact that the cattle are locally raised in pastures and permitted grazing areas on federal lands.

You never know what you're getting in a supermarket.

FedEx

My CrowdCow order was supposed to arrive last Friday. It didn't. FedEx delivered it this afternoon - in 87 degree heat and in a repackaged box. That didn't look good. It wasn't. CrowdCow flash-freezes and vacuum-packs the meats, and place them in a styro container with dry ice. From Washington state, it should arrive within the day. FedEx really screwed up.

So I sent a note to CrowdCow, noting that $100 or so of beef arrived fully thawed and repackaged, and within an hour got a call back - they're filing a claim with FedEx and sending out a box with the order I'd placed, still 100% grass-fed and finished, free of charge; no shipping charge either. Of course, it'll be from a different ranch, but they're apparently pretty serious about the customer service thing. Unlike FedEx.

Crowdcow

This is an interesting concept:

Harlow Cattle Company raises premium quality Angus/Hereford cross cattle on 320 acres of expansive prairie in central Pierce County, Washington.

100% grass fed for their entire lives, these cows have been treated as well as you would hope and lived as naturally as a cow could.

The Harlow Cattle Company is operated by one woman, Becky Harlow Weed. She worked the ranch with her father as a child, and returned years later to run it on her own. Her fierce devotion and passionate energy has yielded some of the finest cattle in the state.

She has no hired help, but she has a lot of good grass. That's kind of a trade-off because the big businesses claim their cattle are grass-fed, and they are for about 12 months before they're shipped off to a feed-lot, where they're fed grain to fatten them up fast. The problem is that the cows aren't designed for that: they're ruminants, designed to eat grass and other hard-to-digest plant material.

Actual grass-fed cattle take around another year to get to market because it takes longer to process their natural diets than it takes when feeding them grain. But the benefits, as Consumer Reports notes, are substantial:

Consumer Reports' tests on the prevalance and types of bacteria in ground beef suggest that beef from cattle that are raised sustainably—that is, beef labeled without antibiotics, organic, or grass-fed is worth the extra money. Sustainable beef—especially grass-fed beef—is less likely to harbor superbugs—bacteria that are resistant to three or more classes of antibiotics.

Some ranchers, like Harlow, who produce cattle raised only on roughage, have turned to the crowd-source model: people buy shares in a cow, and when a sufficient number of shares are sold, the cow goes to slaughter, the meat is aged for a couple of weeks, then vacuum-packed and delivered to your door. You can order anything from filet to hamburger to kidney to oxtail - they don't waste any part of it. You don't have to buy half a cow, or a quarter of one, and you don't need a chest freezer.

(Approximately 2 lbs) The Shank comes from the leg portion of the animal. When cooked slowly at a low temperature, it yields one of the most flavorful cuts. It's the ideal cut for beef bourguignon, and can also be used in stews and casseroles.

$18 for 2 pounds. Yes, somewhat expensive, but you know where the beef comes from, and you know it's not been shot full of antibiotics and hormones. Currently available in the Pacific Northwest.

Hypocrite

There's really no other way to describe a guy who flies to Italy to lecture the world about carbon footprints. And wagging a finger at Americans for wasting too much food while eating too much steak. Evidently he forgot about how much food waste was caused by Mooch and her school lunch program.

Party on, Barry!

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How Canadian!

The beaver is Canada's national symbol, and a rancher in Saskatchewan found that they can do more than simply fell trees and build dams when she went out to check a herd of heifers in one of her pastures last Friday.

They can also herd cattle, or so it appeared as she observed 150 head following along behind a beaver as it made its way through the pasture.

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I Came Upon A Road-Killed Deer, A Sorrowful Sight To Behold...

(Sing to the tune of "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear).

Oregonians may soon be able to salvage the meat from roadkill deer and elk under a bill sponsored by Sen. Bill Hansell (R-Athena) and Rep. Greg Barreto (R-Cove).

Senate Bill 372 would allow the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife to issue salvage permits for deer and elk that are accidentally killed in a vehicle collision. The bill passed the Senate on April 6 by a vote of 29-0.

Approximately 20 other states have a similar law on the books, including neighboring Washington and Idaho. Washington enacted its roadkill salvage program on July 1, 2016, issuing 1,100 permits over the first six months, according to Hansell.

Roadkill events are extremely unfortunate for all involved, but since the animal's dead anyway, it makes a lot more sense to salvage the meat than to leave it by the side of the road to rot. And it's fork-tender along the tread-mark!

Unfortunately, it applies only to deer and elk - not to cows.

Taco Special

Barbacoa has been around south Texas for hundreds of years.  Diner Courtney apparently thought she was ordering barbecue tacos. Entirely different. Around that part of the country, they didn't go much for waste.

San Antonio Express-News food writer Mike Sutter confirmed that it's not uncommon to find the odd cow chunk in barbacoa, due to the way the meat is traditionally prepared. 

"The reality is this: Barbacoa is a rough business. It starts with a whole skinned cow's head, wrapped in burlap and baling wire and buried in a smoking hole in the ground overnight," he said. "In the morning, somebody with a sledgehammer opens up that skull and the harvesting begins: all the fatty and lean soft tissue from lip to crown. Sometimes the brains, sometimes the eyes, sometimes the tongue if it's not being held out for lengua." 

Sutter said sometimes "bones, teeth and cartilage" end up in the meat. 

If you're hungry, you eat. And if you're eating Barbacoa, you're eating cow-head. Or pig-head. Or perhaps deer-head. In any case, you're eating - which is what counts. Condiments are your friends.

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