grass fed Archives | Community Food Co-op

Welcome North Cascade Meats

by Melissa Arbiter, Meat Team

Enrique Barrau North Cascade Meats by grazing cows trees

We love doing business with other co-ops, and this new cooperative is bringing local, grass-fed beef to our stores. At left is Whatcom County farmer and cooperative member Enrique Barrau.

Local, grass-fed, and cooperatively owned—we're so happy it’s here!

Having lived in Whatcom County for the past eight years, I have developed a passion for learning where my food comes from. I prefer local over organic any day and, given the chance, I will take a drive out into the county to get a glimpse of where my food is grown. Before working for the Community Food Co-op and becoming the meat department manager at the Downtown store, I was always curious about how and where to get local beef. Driving around the county, I’ve seen many pastures dotted with happy cows, munching on grass.

The question for me has been: where can I buy the meat from these cattle?

Up until now, the Co-op has carried a small selection of frozen, local, grass-fed beef from Matheson Farms located near the Guide-Meridian on Smith Road. Having enough beef from one small, local farm to supply two busy stores is a stretch, which is why we mainly carry Country Natural Beef and Painted Hills Grass-Fed Beef. These are both excellent sources of delicious beef that satisfy our Meat Guarantee, but definitely not as local as I’d prefer.

Thankfully, we now have North Cascade Meats: A Farmer’s Cooperative. This farmer-owned-and-managed cooperative has begun work to establish a new USDA meat processing facility, in partnership with Del Fox Custom Meats in Stanwood, to service farmers in Island, Skagit, Snohomish, and Whatcom counties. They’ve already established the North Cascade Meats grass-fed brand in the region to provide their cooperative members with a marketing program offering an above-average return on their livestock. This means that those happy cows you see while enjoying pastoral views of the countryside may very well be what’s available on our shelves.

cows walking on grass by fence with mountains and trees in background

Barrau Farms offers lush pasture with a view that most any farmer (or cow) would envy.

North Cascade Meats is currently providing us with pasture-raised, grass-fed beef from two local farms: Forest Cattle Company in Skagit County and Barrau Farms in Whatcom County. As more farms join the North Cascade Meats cooperative, we’ll have more beef available. For the time being, what we have on our shelves from week to week will vary depending on how many cattle are processed from each farm.

So far the meat that has arrived is gorgeous and is competitively priced. Each cut is labeled with a “local” and “grass-fed” green sticker as well as a sticker noting which farm that particular cut came from. Looking for a particular cut? Just ask us at the meat counter!

Learn more at northcascademeats.com and forestcattle.com.

Grass-fed Beef

In general, grass-fed beef has a deeper, “beefier” flavor than its grain-finished counterparts. Nutritionally, it contains less saturated fat but more of those healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Typically, you’ll want to cook grass-fed meat less as it tends to be quite lean.

My favorite way to enjoy grass-fed steak? A nice ribeye, brought up to around room temp, seasoned liberally with salt and pepper, and placed in a rocket-hot cast iron pan with some fat (bacon grease, ghee, or coconut oil are all good choices). Sear both sides and when it’s about 10 degrees away from the desired doneness pull off the heat to rest, covered, for at least 8 minutes (this allows it to finish cooking and ensures all those tasty juices stay in the meat).

As always, your meat department experts love what they do and are more than willing to share cooking tips and ideas … just ask us!

raw steak with rosemary whole peppercorns garlic cloves salt

Grass-fed Beef: What Beef Was Meant To Be

by Matt Bernstein, Downtown Meat Assistant Manager

cows grazing free range on lawn near trees

Grass-fed cattle at Matheson Farms in Bellingham enjoy grazing native grasses in open fields. The farm’s philosophy is to “make holistic decisions that are socially, ecologically, and economically sound and balanced—and to help others do the same.”

Cows are ruminant animals, naturally adapted to digest grass, yet most American cattle are fed a supplemental diet of corn and soy. When presented with a grain-fed diet, cattle can face serious health problems, including the development of harmful bacteria. As a result, they are often administered antibiotics, and lots of them. Grass-fed cattle, on the other hand, live a much healthier, more natural life, and are much less likely to experience bacterial infection as they graze on native grasses in open fields that are generally pesticide free.

grass-fed beef is leaner and is much higher in omega-3 fatty acids

Feedlot cows are fed grain and soy in order to develop more marbled fat in their meat. In contrast, grass-fed beef is leaner and is much higher in omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to promote better cellular and cardiovascular health, just to name a few of the many health benefits of choosing grass-fed beef. For omnivorous people who are avoiding Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), eating grass-fed meat is a great way to go, as the vast majority of feed contains GMO corn and soy.

The Community Food Co-op is proud to carry two excellent local options for grass-fed beef that would be a great addition to your summer grilling line-up.

For a great summer burger try ground beef from Matheson Farms, located on Smith Road in Bellingham. In addition to their delicious ground beef, we also carry a number of steak options from Matheson Farms in our freezer section.

No summer barbecue would be complete without a juicy beef frank. 3 Sisters Family Farms, located on Whidbey Island, has been providing the Co-op with juicy grass-fed beef hot dogs for the last two years. They come in both regular and quarter-pound sizes.

When you light up the grill this summer, remember to do your taste buds, your body, and the environment a favor and go grass fed.

Learn more about the farms at: mathesonfarms.com and 3sistersbeef.com.

Drink Up the Benefits of Organic Milk

Most of us have been there. Standing at the dairy case and comparing milk prices, then wondering if it’s worth spending the extra bit of money for organic. Wonder no more.

A Washington State University study has confirmed the benefits of organic milk, finding that “organic milk contains significantly higher concentrations of heart-healthy fatty acids compared to milk from cows on conventionally managed dairy farms. While all types of milk fat can help improve an individual’s fatty acid profile, the team concludes that organic whole milk does so even better.”

Why? The short answer is that cows on organic dairy farms are pasture raised and spend their days outside grazing on a variety of grasses and legumes, and they are raised hormone and antibiotic free. As compared to conventionally raised cows that spend their days in barns, or otherwise confined, are fed a diet high in corn and soy (both at high risk to be GMO), and are treated with large doses of antibiotics and hormones.

The resulting human health benefits from organic milk include 62 percent more healthy omega-3 fatty acids, including ALA which is an omega-3 that cannot be found in fish, and 25 percent fewer omega-6s (unhealthy fats found in disproportionately high levels in the American diet). You may also want to note that many nutritionists now recommend whole milk, rather than 2 percent or skim, as it provides more beneficial omega-3s since skimming off the milk fat also skims off the omega-3s.

Even our environment benefits from organic milk, because of the careful stewardship of organic dairy farmers who maintain healthy pastures free of GMO crops, persistent pesticides, and synthetic fertilizers.

The Co-op carries two high-quality brands of organic milk, Organic Valley and Fresh Breeze Organic. Organic Valley is a nationwide dairy cooperative. In the Northwest region 27 farms provide milk to the cooperative. Among them are Hans and Colleen Wolfisberg, owners of Edelweiss Dairy and Organic Valley members since 2005. Some of you may have visited their picturesque 80-acre farm along the Nooksack River in Everson during a recent Whatcom County Farm Tour. Another local Organic Valley farmer is Andrew Dykstra, one of the first dairy farms in Skagit County to earn organic certification and join the Organic Valley cooperative.

The Co-op’s other brand of organic milk comes from Fresh Breeze Organic Dairy, a fifth-generation Lynden dairy farm located on property homesteaded by the family in 1901. They bottle their organic milk right on the farm—and it doesn’t get any fresher than that.

So, here’s to your health—and to the health of dairy cows and our environment. Enjoy some peace of mind knowing that the benefits you reap from purchasing organic milk far outweigh the small extra expense.

Welcome North Cascade Meats

by Melissa Arbiter, Meat Team

Grass-fed Beef

Grass-fed Beef: What Beef Was Meant To Be

by Matt Bernstein, Downtown Meat Assistant Manager

Drink Up the Benefits of Organic Milk

by Laura Steiger, Publications Editor

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