Thanksgiving!

Well, after 4 weeks of Thanksgiving mayhem, I have a moment's rest.

It is truly a challenge trying to fit a non-industrial product into an industrial world. Its like putting a square peg in a round hole. My turkeys turned out smaller than we or the farmer expected. So I had to end up giving people two and ordering a whole bunch more - and it is not easy to find 100 pastured turkeys the week before Thanksgiving. To top it all off, fulfilling all these changed orders was a terrific challenge for my fulfillment folks. Ahh, the challenges of being a start-up! But at the end of the day, I am really thankful for (my family, my farmers, all the people who I work with) and especially YOU! Thank you, thank you, my customers, for being so understanding, and flexible! One thing I learned while calling many of you in the past couple weeks (to rearrange your orders) is the amount of support people have for what KOL Foods is doing. It is so nice to have that feedback in the midst of mayhem. Here is an email that I got yesterday from Sara Shapiro-Pleven of NYC:

"Devora, thank you so much. The turkeys were unbelievable. It was as if we were eating a whole different animal; I always thought I hated turkey, but this was delicious. I'm so glad that we were able to shop with you! But most of all, thank you for helping us to inspire our family to think more carefully about the food they eat."


Snif.

Global Warming and meat eating

There was a terrific op ed in the NY Times a couple of weeks ago which separated the issues of industrial animal meat production and vegetarianism. Nicolete Hahn Niman (of Niman Ranch fame) pointed out that the issues raised with eating meat (contributing to carbon dioide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions) are not really problems with eating meat, but with industrial meat production. Using traditional grass-fed farming methods eliminates many of these issues and, if done right, can contribute positively to carbon sequestration.

Here's a good quote: "None of us, whether we are vegan or omnivore, can entirely avoid foods that play a role in global warming. Singling out meat is misleading and unhelpful, especially since few people are likely to entirely abandon animal-based foods."

Click here for the whole Op Ed.

Eating Animals

Julie Steinberg (JCarrot.org blogger) interviewed me for her review of the new book Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. The book is a bit of an investigative report on industrial meat production. It also goes into Foer's family history and his choice of vegetarianism. To read the full review click here.

What to do about industrial meat production?

A Prairie Home Companion has fun with Feedlot Beef & Industrial Corn

Garrison Keillor's show was broadcast in Des Moines last week. He did a terrific job of putting humor into the issue of feedlot/industrial beef and industrial corn in contrast to grass-fed beef. And why not have some fun? Here is the NPR feed for the Dusty Cowboy show (go to minute 24).

He also put a shout out to Grinnell College (in Grinnell, Iowa) where I went to college.

Ecological Intellegence and Life Cycle Analysis

I read a great book recently: Ecological Intelligence, How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything by Daniel Goleman. The main idea is if the consumer could easily compare the social/environmental/ethical impacts of the products s/he buys then the manufacturers would be forced to change their products to impact the world more positively.  Generally speaking, manufacturers are not interested in their products' impacts because it is not economically advantageous. The consumer is at a disadvantage currently because this information is not public (and in most cases, is unresearched). New research is needed to understand the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of all products and then these LCAs need to be made into a easy to use rating/label system.

There are some positive signs of movement on multiple fronts. There are a couple of websites where consumers can already get ratings like http://www.goodguide.com/. Hekhsher Tzedek is trying to put together its own ethical certification of kosher food products. And in the UK, the Department of Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) has put our a call for proposals for "Effective approaches to environmental labeling of food products".

It is time for those who care greatly that what we buy creates positive (or the least negative) impacts on the world to step up!

Humane Veal?

Remember veal? The 1980s symbol for animal raised especially inhumanely? There is an interesting article in the 9/28 Washington Post Food section about humanely raised, grass-fed veal. "Its producers argue that if male calves from dairy cows, an otherwise useless by-product of the dairy industry, are not ethically raised for meat, they are sold to less-humane veal producers or are destroyed."  What do you think? Should KOL Foods sell grass-fed kosher... veal? Click here for the complete article.

Pastured turkey sale ends Nov. 3.

Order your KOL Foods Pastured Turkey by Nov. 3 and you will be automatically entered into our raffle to win a free turkey. Click here to go directly to the KOL Foods turkey page. We will soon add turkey recipes to our website since pastured turkey cooks differently.

We love our poultry farmer, Jake Zook. He has a terrific story, a terrific farm and raises great tasting turkeys. If you are ever near Lancaster Country, PA, pay him a visit. His farm practices are an open book to any customer.

Touring farms is a great way to learn where your food comes from, how it was raised and what it takes to bring it to your table. In this age of industrial agriculture, it is so hard to be thankful for our food when we have no idea where it comes from. At KOL Foods, we work hard to develop relationships with our farmers and to tell their stories. May your Thanksgiving blessings be all the more meaningful knowing exactly what it is you are blessing.  Click here to read Jake's story.