[Sca-cooks] OOP: NY Times article on "humane" veal... Hmmm... okay...

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

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