Hog Farm, Chapter 1: Pig Odor Permeates!

I grew up on a small grape farm in rural New York. I learned that when I tell most people that I grew up on a farm, the assumption is that we had cows, pigs, or other farm animals. Not us. My dad enjoys growing grapes, but has no interest in farm animals. He actually learned quite a bit about livestock at college in his Ag program at Cornell, and enough to know it was not the life he wanted to live. He also had the grape farm in his family - end of story. So, just because I grew up on a farm, doesn't translate to knowing anything about farming animals. This hog tour was going to be awesome.

I will never forget my 45-minute ride home on my school bus. There were a couple of dairy farms on the bus route. Picture a bus full of mostly elementary and middle school kids, on a warm day with the bus windows open, passing those farms ripe with fresh piles of manure sitting out in the barnyard. The whole bus exploded with a loud and raucous scream of E-EEEE-EE-EEE-EEE-WWWWWW. The bus driver was surely caught between a smirk and deciding when to yell out for us to settle down. He, himself, was also a dairy farmer. I might add, the only real working dairy barn I’ve ever been to!

When we got a message a few days before our visit to the hog farm, reminding us that we were going to be in hog facilities and that there is an odor, so plan our clothing accordingly, it reminded me not only of those days passing by the dairy farms, but also to my college nights at the bars and the smoke-and-beer-stink pile of laundry on the floor the next morning, the odor of which had permeated my entire dorm room. I had to decide what to wear. Farm clothes, a.k.a. play, gardening, work, painting clothes. I’m no stranger to farm clothes, but they aren’t the clothes you wear to “look your best.” I’ve learned we get photographed a lot on these trips.

I opted for the farm clothes – rubber boots, jeans, turtle-neck, an extra shirt underneath for some warmth, and a fleece pullover, all easy to wash – and I am glad I did. It was a cool low-40 degrees with a little breeze. We were mostly inside a building called “the shop,” but we had a short walk to tour the inside of the hog barns. There was no smell of farm animals outside in the fresh air, but once we crossed the threshold of the door leading into the barn, OOUU-WEEEE. It was strong. The odor of pig manure is poignant, like the odor of ammonia, but not. None of the moms had to leave from the smell, but I can imagine on a hot and humid day in July that is not where I would want to be. Interestingly, I did forget about the smell after about 5 minutes in the barn.

And the odor permeates. I did not play in the manure in a pit below our feet, or touch anything, except I did hold a cute piglet, but she did not have an odor. I just simply walked through the barn for maybe 30 minutes.

We left the farm with a lot of knowledge, photos, videos, some fresh pork, AND pig odor attached to our clothes, skin and hair!

It wasn’t terrible, but I could smell it and knew it was there. When I got home, I showered the odor off my body and out of my hair and put all my clothes in the laundry. I didn’t think the folks at the party I was attending in a few hours would appreciate the odor of where I had been earlier that day. Note to self: pig odor permeates!

...Lots more on pig manure in a future post!

Tips for Buying Beef

As I stand over the meat case at the grocery store, specifically the beef, I often gaze over the packages and am not exactly sure what is tender (that will cook fast) and what is not. I also know about grading, but I sometimes have trouble finding the grading label and am not too sure about the difference between Choice and Select.

Michele Aavang is a crop and beef farmer. She was with us (“Field Moms”) on our grocery store tour. In the Field Mom program, we refer to Michele, and other farm women who join us, as “Farm Moms.” As we headed down the beef aisle, Michele stopped and explained beef grading to us.

The USDA has quality grading for the common meats - beef, veal, and lamb. They also have quality grades for pork, but the grading doesn’t carry through to us at the grocery store. When meat is graded, the USDA shield is stamped on the carcass. By the time it gets to us at the store, we don’t see that mark on the cuts of meat, but each package of graded meat should have the USDA shield along with the word Prime, Choice, Select, or Standard.

What does the grading mean?

Well, first of all, regardless of the quality grade, some cuts of meat are more tender than others. Cuts from the less-used muscles along the back of the animal (rib and loin) are more tender than those from the more active muscles (shoulder, flank, and leg). The most tender cuts make up a smaller proportion of the carcass, are usually in greater demand, and are, therefore, usually priced higher.

Each USDA grade is a measure of a distinct level of quality and there are eight grades in the range. USDA Prime, Choice, Select, and Standard grades come from younger beef. Prime is sold mostly to hotels and restaurants. Choice is widely available to us at the grocery store, and our (consumer) preference for leaner beef has increased the popularity of the Select grade and it has become common to find, as well. Standard and Commercial grade beef is usually sold as ungraded or as “brand name” meat. The lowest three grades are almost never sold retail, but are used to make ground beef and manufactured meat items; think hot dog.

Prime grade beef is the highest level of tenderness, juiciness, and flavor. It has abundant marbling – flecks of fat within the lean, which enhances the juiciness and flavor. Prime roasts and steaks are the best for roasting and broiling.

Choice grade beef has less marbling than Prime, but is very high quality. Choice roasts and steaks will be very tender, juicy, and flavorful. Many of the less tender cuts, such as rump, round, and blade chuck will be very good roasted or broiled.

Select grade beef is uniform in quality and somewhat leaner than the higher grades. It has less marbling, so it will less juicy and not as flavorful (fat equals flavor). Only the tender cuts should be roasted or broiled. Other cuts should be marinated before cooking or cooked with moisture to obtain maximum tenderness and flavor.

Michele recommended to us to buy the Choice quality level. Another Field Mom in the group noted that Costco sells Choice quality beef. She also said that if the cuts at Costco are too big for your family, all you have to do is ask the butcher behind the counter to cut it and they’ll happily give you the smaller size you need.

Our tour of the grocery store and the insight from the Farm Moms was really helpful. There is even more to learn about the different cuts of meat, but for now, I am going to start paying more attention to the grading labels and if I can’t find them, I’m going to ask the butcher. I’d like to try to mindfully buy Choice.

Source of grading information: USDA publication "How to Buy Meat"

Book Review: Healthy Eating, Healthy Weight for Kids and Teens by Jodie Shield and Mary Catherine Mullen

In our first 2014 Illinois Farm Families Field Mom tour, we had a workshop with Registered Dietician, Jodie Shield. She talked about family nutrition, how to read food labels, she gave us great tips for picky eaters, how to think about portion control, and suggestions for making our favorite recipes healthier. Jodie and her colleague, Mary Catherine Mullen, have recently published a book called Healthy Eating, Healthy Weight for Kids and Teens. I bought a copy of her book at the workshop and this is my review of that book.

Healthy Eating, Healthy Weight for Kids and Teens is a book written for the typical American family who is busy and always on the go, has a picky eater, eats fast food more often than we like, wishes our kids weren’t so wired to the electronics, has a family member with a health risk (like type 2 diabetes or obesity), or just plain wants to make some simple changes to make our family nutrition plan a little healthier.

Each chapter of the book discusses one of her eight strategies for Healthy Eating, Healthy Weight. They include Eat with a Plan!, Turn off the Tube and Move!, Pop the Soda Habit!, Practice Portion Control!, Fill Up on Fruits and Veggies!, Slow Down the Fast Food!, Sound the Alarm!, which is about eating a healthy breakfast, and Come Together!, which is about eating together as a family and including the kids in the preparation of the meal.

The book consistently references the USDA’s My Plate website, which was introduced in 2011. “My Plate” replaced the “Food Pyramid.” My Plate is much easier to use than the Food Pyramid; for example, just looking at the icon for My Plate, you see how the four food groups should appear, proportionally, on your plate. The website is full of information about healthy eating for healthy weight, healthy eating tips, as well as interactive tools.

Her writing style is very easy to read and makes sense. In fact, as you read, you will be familiar with most everything you are reading – we’ve heard it all before – but, she has organized the information in a way that makes sense, is easy to follow, and if you’re trying to revise your family’s nutrition plan, it seems very do-able. Knowing kids, she includes a lot of useful tips in every chapter.

In Eat with a Plan, she starts off talking about the four food groups. She explains and lists out “Go For It” foods and “Take It Easy” foods in each group. She spends six pages addressing “Snacks – An Important Part of Healthy Eating.” She answers who should snack, why should kids snack, when should kids snack, where should kids snack, and what should kids snack.

In Turn off the Tube and Move, she offers real suggestions for unplugging the electronics, age-appropriate activities to get them physically active, and explains how food fits into their activity level.

In Pop the Soda Habit, she explains, in detail, the importance of water, milk and juice – and explains what the sugary and caffeinated drinks are made of that is so bad for the kids.

Practice Portion Control. Portion size may be one of the biggest and easiest factors in our diet to change. You’ve heard that before, right? She basically says that when we eat out, the portions have become beyond too large; sometimes four times what we need. In the book, she brings in the My Plate information and organizes it in a very legible way. I can tab these pages and refer back to them when I make a weekly menu plan.

Fill Up on Fruits and Veggies. The fruits and veggies chapter was the most interesting to me. I know we need to eat more of them, but she explained in great detail the health benefits of different groups of veggies. Some have more protein, others more starch. She explained how to rotate and balance them in a menu plan. The most important part of this chapter, for me, was that more than half of the chapter is devoted to how to get kids to eat the fruits and veggies and manage the challenges of the picky eater. I have a picky eater, going on 6 years old. This was the main reason I bought her book and I am hoping we can overcome the bland white food. She writes, “Put a rainbow on your kids’ plates!,” and offers some tips that I will try.

Slow Down the Fast Food. I am as guilty as the next person for taking my kids to fast food for lunch too often. We are on the go, between activities, and I didn’t pack a “car picnic” lunch. Rather than simply write us off and say, “eat there less often” – she does say that – but, she lists out healthy alternatives to the items we might normally order. For example, at the burger chain, she offers two “Quick-Pick Menus for Kids” and they are the following: hamburger with bun, topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, and mustard; French fries (small – split them!); and a carton of low-fat (1%) milk – or – cheeseburger with bun, topped with ketchup and mustard; a side salad with fat-free dressing; a soft-serve ice cream cone (small); and water or diet soft drink.  Each menu contains less than 500 calories and at least three food groups. Not so tough, if we can get past wanting the Happy Meal! That darn toy.

At the end of the book, she lays out a three-week meal plan to get us started if we choose. She also includes some recipes for that meal plan. The recipes are easy and use common, every-day ingredients.

In my opinion, this is a book to read and then keep handy on the shelf with the cookbooks. It’s a starting point and a good reference for improving our family nutrition. I am going to tab the pages I know I will want to reference for portion size and nutrient content and I’d like to use it to make a better meal plan for our family. She lists several other websites that I can use to find even more information when I'm ready for it.

If you are interested in solving one of the food challenges she addresses, this book is easy to pick up and read what you need. It’s not necessary to read from cover-to-cover.

It is written for families with kids, but the nutrition information applies to adults. If you are trying to make a change in your own diet and want to navigate the My Plate website, this book would serve as a good point of departure. If you can find it through the library, it is a quick read to get yourself started.

I've added some online links to my blog sidebar that are from the book. They can provide sample menus, menu-planning ideas and strategies, and recipes.