Breezy Hill Update 22110

• Baby chicks are due Feb 23.  It takes about 7 weeks.  There will be 50 in each batch.  Bob and I will get another batch every 3-4 weeks.  Now is the time to start placing your orders; we will notify you when pick up will be.  I guess the grass will get green; it has plenty of moisture.  It sure doesn't look like pastured poultry weather with ice on the trees.
• My cured and smoked bacon turned out great. The ponhaus is also good.  My son, Pete, said it is awesome. 
• We had the best brisket ever last Sunday.  We will put the recipe on the web site.  Of course, we recommend grass finished brisket.
  
  Here is recent customer comment.  
  

Truly sorry that I was not able to be here when you delivered the beef, but absolutely wanted to provide feedback.

First, with the half-hog that we purchased, I must say that we are quite pleased, though we have not yet eaten a significant portion.  I have sampled the bacon, sausage, chops and a roast and have been duly impressed.  Never had bacon smell so "bacony" before.

Beef is, however, my preferred meat.  This past weekend, I finally got to tear into a steak.  I recently purchased a new grill which I am still trying to figure out as it is much hotter and consistent than my last.  Grilled a couple of rib-eyes and unfortunately they were certainly well-done.  I was amazed at how tender a well done steak was able to come out...with no seasonings whatsoever, they tasted great.

Last night, I achieved my goal of a medium rib-eye to perfection and was not disappointed.  The flavor and tenderness were near perfect.  Will say that I chose the rib-eye because, of the better cuts, this is my least favorite as I prefer the leaner cuts.

Also, the hamburger...I cannot believe how lean it is..which is a good thing in my book.

Very happy I made this decision...even though it was essentially made in a day and well before I had intended to make it.  Probably the best quick decision I have ever made.

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  Here’s another Jerry Brunetti video.  You’ll learn a lot.  This guy is really smart. He's an animal nutritionist.  He survived cancer and he is sharing things learned.  You may want to share this with someone who is facing a similiar challenge. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na6jopSorlM
  
  The following is a news release by R-Calf's, Dr. Max Thornsberry.

Billings, Mont. – Country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for meat has become the law of the land, and you’d think a pig had been stuck with a knife considering all the squealing coming from the multinational beef packing industry and its trade associations.

The U.S. was the last country in the Western Hemisphere without some form of COOL for meat. COOL never would’ve come to pass here unless consumer groups had joined the fight. A few thousand independent cattlemen were no match for the millions of dollars raised by those opposed to COOL, mainly the beef packing industry and grocery store groups. Once millions of consumers became incensed about melamine in their dog and cat food, COOL became a reality. 

Well, it wasn’t quite that simple, but almost.

The mandatory COOL law was written to accommodate trade with our neighbors. “Born and Raised in Canada, Slaughtered in U.S.,” or “Born in Mexico, Slaughtered in U.S.,” are legal, proper labels. Initially, the packing industry simply labeled all meat products “Product of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.” 

A simple ‘North American’ label, but it misleads consumers when it is applied to beef that is exclusively of U.S. origin and does not provide consumers with their right to exercise choice in the marketplace.

Wendy’s restaurants proudly advertise their hamburgers are made from North American beef. The North American label is a mixed label and is not what Congress intended for beef produced from cattle born, raised and slaughtered in the United States of America.

Packers like Tyson Foods labeled their beef with a mixed North American label. Yet, once forced to actually label red meat properly, several packers placed the origin label in such small letters it takes reading glasses to actually read it, if you can even find it.  

Until meatpackers begin to properly distinguish beef from U.S. cattle from the beef from Canadian or Mexican cattle with a conspicuous and legible label, the marketplace will not function properly and the benefits of COOL cannot materialize. If COOL was implemented as the law is written and if USDA would enforce the rules as Congress intended, consumers would be able to exercise choice in the marketplace, and the demand created by their choices would determine the relative value of cattle from the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Unfortunately, these relative values for domestic and imported cattle are being arbitrarily decided by the multinational packers that are politically motivated to destroy COOL.

These packers are now making it difficult for Canadian and Mexican cattle to receive the mixed label (cattle imported from Canada and slaughtered in the U.S. are eligible for a mixed label that states “Product of Canada and U.S.”). This has prompted Canada and Mexico to file a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO). U.S. cattlemen who feed Mexican steers are being discounted by the packers, if the packers even choose to buy them. This is going on even though the beef from those cattle is eligible for a mixed-origin label that includes both the U.S. and Mexico.

While all this is happening, USDA does nothing – by design, I think. USDA did not support COOL, and I believe, is setting up COOL for a complete failure. If this occurs, beef will be generic in the U.S., and the U.S. consumer will have no idea where their beef originated in the world and no choice as to which country’s beef they choose to cook for their family’s dinner. 

The long-range goal of the huge multinational food corporations is to acquire food anywhere in the world where it can be produced for the least cost, where cheap land and cheap labor can be exploited. We have seen in this country what “too big to fail” has wrought in the financial industries. Do we really desire to turn over food production to multinational corporations? 

There basically is only one industry left in Rural America sufficiently dispersed to provide nearly every rural community with the opportunity to generate new economic activity. That industry, the independent U.S. cow/calf sector, produces a new set of wealth each spring. If this sector fails, grocery stores will be full of food from around the world, and the average American will have no choice as to which country’s beef her family consumes. 

It will be generic beef.