When It’s Worldly To Go Local

Today some of the most progressive thinkers are telling us not to leave our hometowns.

Huh?

Well, at least when we get our feed on, that is. The whole Farm-to-Table movement revolves around eating healthy, organically and most importantly: locally. Vegetables from one’s own yard are great, but what about when you hanker for something with a little more bite?

Monday, we we crossed the Hudson and revisited the scene of the crime with some friends. You see, it was their wedding anniversary, and we celebrated by revisiting Benmarl winery, the scenic scene of their nuptials, and sampling some of the  Hudson Valley’s local fermentations. It’s interesting to do a tasting while glancing out the window right at the vines  where the grapes came from. Were those grapes looking at me accusingly? Was I drinking someone’s mom?

It seems that the former groom has jumped on the “no corn on my fork” bandwagon and will now only eat grass-fed beef because it’s heathier and more humane. So off to Bettinger Bluff Farms we go to purchase some cow he’s so mad about.

One helpful hint we received while there: If buying from a farmer’s market stall, ask how they finish the beef. This means, what they feed the cows during the last month before slaughter. If they switch from grass at the last minute, walk away. Only 100% grass-fed beef is what you want, or so we were told.

So here’s the deal: grass-fed beef is pricey but tasty. As I’d explained to earlier, we too were fanatical about our beef buying. We only chose those packages from the supermarket that contained the hot pink sticker marked “Manager’s Special! 50% off! Must Buy Today!” (as we’re very picky that way). BBF was having a special that day: 4 ground beef patties for $5.50 instead of the usual $7.00/lb noted on their price list. By way of comparison, I have a package of 4 burgers (85% lean) in the freezer that I bought for $4.03 at Shop Rite at $3.99/lb.

We fired up the Weber Grill yesterday and sampled the patties, and all I can say is, there’s some truth to all the hype. They were — bar none — the best burgers I can ever remember tasting. DELICIOUS.

So satiated on local fare, we went to bed satisfied.

I’d always been told that that bluebird of happiness would be found in one’s own backyard, but I didn’t think I was suppose to eat it.

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