[Sca-cooks] OOP: NY Times article on "humane" veal... Hmmm... okay...
Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius
adamantius1 at verizon.net
Wed Apr 18 04:33:31 PDT 2007
I guess this is... a solution... although I'm not sure making veal
the new "lamb", and/or more like beef, is really the best one...
From today's NY Times food section:
April 18, 2007
Veal to Love, Without the Guilt
By MARIAN BURROS
THE most successful animal rights boycott in the United States
started more than 20 years ago and had nothing to do with foie gras.
When photographs of formula-fed veal calves tethered in crates where
they could not turn around appeared across the country, sales of veal
plummeted. They have never recovered. In the 1950s and 1960s
Americans ate four pounds of veal a year on average. Today per
capital consumption is around half a pound a year.
It wasn’t until a few years ago that some farmers finally got the
message and changed the way their calves were raised.
Some returned to the old-fashioned method of putting them out to
pasture with their mothers. John Holloway of Misty Morning Farm in
Cherry Tree, Pa. was one of them. “Unfortunately I was a sinner,” he
said. “I did raise factory veal — all the chemicals, antibiotics,
steroids I used. We wouldn’t let our friends eat what we used to
raise. For our own use we were raising humane veal.” Now all of his
veal is pastured and organic.
Others got rid of the crates but kept the calves in barn pens,
letting them mingle with other calves and giving them room to walk
and turn around. Calves raised this way are still separated from
their mothers, and most still get a milk-replacement formula, not
mother’s milk. But some also get grain along with the milk replacement.
Those changes on the farm have led to corollary changes in the
kitchen — a culinary serendipity that is just beginning to be
recognized. Veal from calves fed sufficient grass or grain as well as
milk has real character and flavor. For anyone who knows only the
bland old-fashioned veal, it is as if a brand-new ingredient has been
discovered. Tasting this new veal is not unlike biting into your
first heirloom tomato from the garden after a lifetime of eating
supermarket tomatoes bred for durability.
Even Stanley Lobel of the fine-meat purveyor Lobel’s of New York —
where veal from crated formula-fed calves was once valued beyond all
others because of its “cut it with a fork” tenderness — says the new
veal is better. “Veal becomes more flavorful if it’s allowed to walk
around,” he said.
Unlike the formula-fed veal — prized for its whiteness, which comes
from a lack of iron — almost all grass- or grain-fed veal raised
outside crates not only is rosy or pink, but has a delightfully
clean, subtle beef taste. The names it is sold under reflect the
changes: meadow, red, rose, pastured, grass-fed, free-range and
suckled. Not all of it can be cut with a fork, but an ordinary dinner
knife works fine.
In a tasting of 20 samples raised by the newer, more humane methods,
the tastiest veal was from animals raised on grass or grain, or both,
along with milk. The samples — from producers, restaurants and
grocery stores — were from calves four to six months old. Those fed
formula only, even under the more tolerable living conditions, were
not as flavorful.
Chefs who once refused to serve formula-fed veal because of its
blandness are now delighted to have the newer version.
“I just never liked it because it didn’t have a lot of flavor,” said
Bill Telepan of the old-style veal. At his restaurant, Telepan, on
the Upper West Side, he now serves veal whenever he can get it from
Duane Merrill’s farm in upstate New York. “This tastes like something
very much like mild beef. If veal is on the menu it sells, and people
like it.”
In a sentiment repeated by other chefs, Mr. Telepan added, “People
are more hip to eating things that are raised right, and they trust I
will get something that is well taken care of.”
At Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant Spago in Beverly Hills, Calif., Wiener
schnitzel from humanely raised veal is the third most popular item.
“If we feed the animals better, treat them better, we will have a
better product and a healthier product,” Mr. Puck said in a telephone
interview. He recently announced that he would serve meat only from
humanely raised animals.
The Animal Agriculture Alliance, a meat industry lobbying group, says
that Mr. Puck has surrendered to “groups that would prefer he not be
serving any animal products at all. “The alliance says its members
follow animal welfare guidelines.
And the American Veal Association, a majority of whose members still
raise their animals in crates, maintains that the new kinds of veal
on the market don’t even deserve the name. “We don’t believe it’s
veal,” said Bryan Scott, the executive vice president for legislative
and regulatory affairs. “By definition, any animal that’s grass-fed
or grain-fed has taste and texture and characteristics of beef
animals. We believe they should be called calf or young steer.”
Such assertions carry no official weight: the United States
Agriculture Department has no definition of veal. But “we’re working
on it,” said Steve Cohen, a spokesman.
Farm Sanctuary, an organization that sponsors a campaign urging
people not to eat veal, acknowledges that raising animals in pens
rather than in individual crates is more humane. But the organization
believes, as its president, Gene Baur, put it, that “the least
objectionable way to do it is on pasture.” That said, he added, “We
think vegan is better.”
Pen-raising gets some backing from Humane Farm Animal Care, an
organization approved by the Humane Society and the A.S.P.C.A.
Animals raised in pens can earn the organization’s “certified humane”
label, but they must be fed some kind of forage (grain), and they
must be raised under a strict protocol that governs their living
conditions, their transport to slaughter and the slaughter itself.
The humane treatment of veal calves has become so important that even
the American Veal Association points out on its Web site that calves
that are still kept in crates can lie down in them. Nothing is said
about their inability to turn around.
“The industry moves with consumer demand,” said Mr. Scott of the Veal
Association. So far, that demand has moved the association’s members
only so much: of the veal they sell, 10 percent is now raised in
group pens rather than crates. Mr. Scott said that figure is unlikely
to rise to more than 25 percent because it costs so much to make the
changes.
Jonathan and Nina White of Bobolink Dairy in Vernon, N.J., known for
its cheeses, have watched the turnaround in what shoppers will eat.
They once raised their bull calves for beef, but when the herd grew
too big they started using those calves for veal.
“In 2003 people were horrified at the idea I would sell veal,” Mr.
White said. “It took several years with customers seeing calves
running free with moms to come around to the idea it’s O.K. to eat
them, that they have actually had a life. By 2004 they were
encouraging me to sell them.”
The changes in the industry have had a measurable impact on sales.
D’Agostino, the 20-store supermarket chain in New York, said that its
sales of veal have jumped 35 percent since it began carrying
“certified humane” veal only.
People like Elaine Burden of Middleburg, Va., who stopped eating veal
about 10 years ago, have come back. Ayrshire Farm, an 800-acre
organic farm in nearby Upperville, is selling certified-humane veal
at its Home Farm Store in Middleburg, and she is buying it. “I’m
delighted we can have it again,” she said. “Psychologically you feel
better because it can graze on the fresh field of grass. It’s a more
natural and wholesome way to eat. But in fact, the taste is better.”
Even a vegetarian can have a change of heart. Zach Schulman, a
community garden organizer with Green Guerillas, a nonprofit group
that helps establish and maintain community gardens in New York,
considers himself mostly vegetarian. But he worked for a time at
Bobolink Dairy and enjoys the veal raised there.
“I know the cows at the farm and have seen how they live and where
they live and how they are treated,” Mr. Schulman said. “And it makes
sense from an ethical standpoint, and it makes sense sustainably and
in terms of supporting a small local farm.”
“Eating that veal felt right,” he added, “but it’s really just
occasional — a few times a year.”
Humanely raised veal, particularly the pastured variety, is not easy
to find and commands a premium price. One reason is that many
barriers face small farmers who feed their animals milk, along with
grass or grain, or a combination of the two. Consolidation of the
meat industry has put many small slaughterhouses out of business and
has made it harder for small farmers to find distribution channels.
Most grass- or grain-fed veal is found at farm stands and farmers’
markets.
Not all the drop in veal sales over the years can be attributed to
the boycott. Supplies have also shrunk because the demand for beef
has been increasing and dairy herds have shrunk. (Traditionally,
dairy farmers have raised their bull calves for veal.)
Bill Niman, founder of Niman Ranch, who is noted for helping small
farmers raise their animals without antibiotics or hormones, has had
a hard time trying to start a program for humanely raised veal. His
first effort, a few years ago, was abandoned temporarily, he said,
“because the economics of it didn’t work: milk was so expensive.” Mr.
Niman said would try again in the next year or two. “It is best thing
for male offspring of dairy breeds if they actually became part of
veal culture,” he said. “That is certainly what is happening in Europe.”
Dr. George Saperstein, a veterinarian at the Cummings School of
Veterinary Medicine at Tufts, has created a small pastured-veal
success story in New England, where the tradition of eating veal is
stronger than elsewhere in the country. But his vision met resistance
at first. (Though not from me: the sample I tasted was very tender,
juicy and sweet, and it had a delicate beef taste.)
First he had to persuade farmers that they would make money selling
veal; then he had to persuade restaurants to serve it. “I met with
blank stares when I first mentioned it to farmers,” he said. “We’ve
been selling for three years now under the name Azuluna. The first
year we sold about 60; last year between 250 and 300 calves, and we
are representing between 15 to 20 farmers throughout the Northeast.
“It’s sort of retro agriculture.”
Finding Character and Flavor
RETAIL outlets for pastured or pen-raised veal are rare, but they can
be found. The veal can sometimes be bought directly from small
farmers online, at farmstands or at farmers’ markets. Eatwild.com
lists additional sources for grass-fed meat, including veal. Prices
are for one pound.
AMERICAN PASTURAGE Ground veal: sweet and delicate but meaty; $5.46
plus shipping; americanpasturage.com; (417) 258-2394.
AYRSHIRE FARM Top sirloin roast: very tender, juicy, light beef
taste; $20.99. Cutlet: very flavorful, light and meaty; a bit chewy
but can be cut with a fork; $12.99. Ground veal: tasty, juicy,
slightly beefy taste; $9.99. Chop: juicy and tender with good
texture; slightly chewier than the roast or the scaloppini; $19.99.
All sold only at Home Farm Store in Middleburg, Va.; (540) 687-8882.
BOBOLINK DAIRY Leg roast: tender, mild beefy flavor, touch of
grassiness, juicy, clean-tasting; $14. Rib chop: tender, a little
chewy, mildly beefy; $21. Ground veal: delicious, juicy, slightly
meaty, maybe more fatty; $14. Sold at cowsoutside.com; the farm, 42
Meadowburn Road, Vernon, N.J., (973) 764-4888; the Lincoln Center
Greenmarket on Thursdays and Saturdays; and the Union Square
Greenmarket on Fridays.
D’ARTAGNAN Rib chop from rack: pale, bland; $32.99 for 14 ounces plus
shipping; dartagnan.com.
Lobel’s OF NEW YORK Roast: very pale color, very tender, juicy,
bland; $56.98. Scaloppini: extremely tender, very pale, bland;
$56.98. Steak: tender, bland; $56.98. Rib chop: tender, bland; $42.98
All sold at Lobel’s of New York, 1096 Madison Avenue (82nd Street);
(212) 737-1372; lobels.com.
PHILIP MICHAEL Rib chop: juicy, delicate beefy flavor, slightly
chewy; $18.99. Sold at D’Agostino stores in New York City.
RESTAURANTS This type of veal is available at Blue Hill, Il Buco and
Telepan in New York City; Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico
Hills, N.Y.; L’Espalier and Icarus in Boston; Blackbird in Chicago;
and Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif.
"S'ils n'ont pas de pain, vous fait-on dire, qu'ils mangent de la
brioche!" / "If there's no bread, you have to say, let them eat cake!"
-- attributed to an unnamed noblewoman by Jean-Jacques Rousseau,
"Confessions", 1782
"Why don't they get new jobs if they're unhappy -- or go on Prozac?"
-- Susan Sheybani, assistant to Bush campaign spokesman Terry
Holt, 07/29/04
More information about the Sca-cooks
mailing list