Chopbiscuit on the road: Celebrating with the Niman Ranch Family

Who's cuter, me or the baby pig?

There are far too few of us that take a dream and make it a reality. This is exactly what Paul Willis did over 40 years ago. Back in 1970 Paul saw the way farmers were beginning to raise hogs in his native state of Iowa and he soon realized this was not in the best interest for the hogs or the environment. He decided that if this was the future of farming, then he would no longer farm. This was a big statement considering he comes from generations of hog farmers, but Paul knew that Confined Animal Feeding Operations tore apart everything that he believed farming to be. So, he kept farming the only way he knew how and that was "free range."

A couple of folks like Paul seem to have taken credit for the free range labeling, but as he will tell you it was just called farming back when he was a kid. Free Range Pork (HOGS) are given the opportunity to live in open pastures, or in deeply bedded pens when the sows are farrowing (Farrowing means to give birth to piglets like the one day old one I'm holding in the picture above) and allowed to run, play, eat, and roll in mud and do naturally what pigs do. Paul also felt an obligation to be a steward of the land that included farming multiple crop rotations and keeping the pastures fertilized between crops. Paul ran his dream farm and yes, there is a really large red barn on the farm called the dream farm and it's featured on his cookbook that he co-wrote with Bill Niman. The dinners in that ole big barn are legendary but I'm getting away from an important point - the problem with the way Paul was farming was the huge cost and having no real way to tell the great story of how different his hogs were treated and cared for. If you have ever eaten and Niman pork you know exactly what I mean.

The way the pork commodity system was currently set up it seemed as if the business model was stacked against how Paul was farming. The other issue was the price of his pork. Paul had to get a higher dollar amount for his end product, but if folks didn't understand why his pork was more expensive most were not willing to pay the price. In the mid 90's Paul met a man that would change his life forever and for me personally, it would change the way I would eat for the rest of my life. Paul met fellow rancher Bill Niman who had been raising beef in Bolinas, CA since the late 60's under the name Niman Ranch. Bill was also moving towards a natural state of raising animals on his farm.

Shortly after the Niman Ranch Pork Co was created, I began reading about Niman Ranch and at every chance I could.  The most obvious thing to me is that it tasted like beef and pork from my youth and I was hooked. I was hooked on the product, hooked on the culture that these hero's of the animals have created and I knew that from this day forward I would "vote by proxy" or by fork from here on out. Unfortunately there's been a dark turn. I will never ever eat Niman Ranch Beef again under any circumstances.  The reason for me is simple. In 2007 Bill was basically forced to sell all of his shares and give up all of the cattle he had been breeding for 37 years. This is truly unfortunate. As I previously mentioned, these farmers and ranchers are hero's in my mind and it was both a career high and a personal high meeting both and staying in contact over the years. Last Janurary I took a couple of friends out to walk the famous Bolina's Ranch,  (another personal and career high) and I've also had the chance to attend the Niman Ranch Annual Hog Farmers Appreciation Dinner  a few times. Once as a guest and another a guest chef.

Paul and I recently chatted and I told him what has happened brings tears to my eyes. On my second visit as a guest chef at the Hog Farmers dinner, a chef from Denver and I snuck out to the dining room to get a glimse of the farmers and their families enjoying our food when this little girl pulls on Chris' apron and whispered to him, "thank you for saving my daddies farm, he loves his farm very much." It was a heartening moment for us both.  There are certain events in your life that change you for the better and if you live long enough and have an open mind, you'll get to enjoy these moments knowing that what you do and what you buy makes a big impact to so many people.

Be Well, Eat Well and Live Well

~Mark

Chopbiscuit on the road dining review: Gott's Roadside - St. Helena, CA

Welcome (again) to another delightful ad hoc Chopbiscuit inspection of some of the USA's most frequented saloons, dining halls, dive bars, food trucks, in-room dining and high end bistro's. At least one of your humble contributors is on the road virtually every week and luckily have the opportunity to dine at some of the finest institutions and loathsome watering holes known to man. Now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, some deity would permit us to be pirates and savage our nutriment.

We like eating. It fascinates us. We sit and look at the food for hours. We often eat while laying down in my hotel room with a bib in my lap and my outlook calendar open. Eating is our tweeting, except it's much cooler. Food is often made into the celebrity of carnage, which makes us appear to be pompous and scarce in regards to the act of eating itself. You eat because you fuel. We eat because we're hungry. We eat because it's our job. We go out to these establishments to consume their lineups with arrogance.

I then judge it. (Poncho Sinatra style)

It's a burger you "Gott's" to try...Ha, I made a funny!

Gott's
933 Main Street
St. Helena, CA 94574

Who doesn't love a classic American roadside burger joint? If you don't - get out of my country and take your Marxist ways with you. You communist fascist. Okay, if you've ever been to Northern California and haven't taken the time to experience the tray gourmet at Gott's, may god have pity on your soul. Gott's is a standard in wine country and nothing beats a day of tasting your favorite California wines and then heading down to Gott's for a great Niman Ranch burger with local farm raised sides and the infamous Black and White Milkshake.


What I Ingested:

I felt my inner gluttony calling after a day of touring the CIA Greystone Culinary Campus. I chose to chew on the double cheeseburger with the secret sauce which is on a fluffy, buttery egg bun. All the burgers are cooked to medium-well, so just a little pink tenderness on the inside. One of the best burgers I've had in a very long time and deterred my need for swinging by In-N-Out - my usual stop for any West Coast jaunts. I also bought the fried zucchini, straight from their garden out back. They had great flavor with a nice golden brown breading. For the finale I went double. A thick black 'n white milkshake and a pint of Trumer Pilsner. Yes, I know. Gastronomy and greed at it's finest. A P90X workout routine should have followed.

Concept and Design:

Gott's is the stereotypical roadside joint. A nice large, spacious parking lot with an abundance of outside seating on the classic American picnic table. Their push is tray gourmet, which makes sense by the quality of product they use from Niman ranch ground beef to the fresh garden out back for their vegetables.  They are able to push the longest of lines through with courtesy and respect and have strategically placed an "add-on" bar to slurp down your favorite cold beverage while you're waiting for your grub. Good thinking management! A great, classy American burger joint that's a must stop out in Northern California.

Tainted Meat = Know Thy Farmer

Recently the Oxford Journal Clinical Infectious Disease released a very alarming report: Almost 50% of the beef, pork, turkey & chicken bought in 5 major cities by researchers contained drug resistant Staphylococcus aureus. This is very alarming and most importantly unacceptable and "we" consumers can stop this. There are numerous health related issues with this bacteria that include mild skin irritations to the even more serious issues of heart infections (read the link attached) to Sepsis. Sepsis can be a serious situation (like the first two issues weren't freaking serious enough) and can be a life threatening disease calling for urgent and comprehensive care! The initial treatment is antibiotics but.... 52% of the staph bacteria found in by researchers in all of that contaminated meat is resistant to up to nine of the most commonly used antibiotics by your physician according to Lance B. Price the senior author of the report from Translational Genomic Research Institute.

Now most staph bacteria is killed during the cooking process provided you are not eating a med-rare to rare hunk of meat or a plate of carpaccio. And let's don't forget one of the most common issues of cross contamination: The mishandling of your food, defined briefly as using a cutting board after cutting raw meat and then using that same board for cutting vegetables that will be used in a raw dish. The mishandling of foods happens quite often and can land you in the hospital or just a mild case of praying at the porcelain altar. One of the most frequent symptoms is when you have that "I don't feel so great" feeling or you have the "I'm getting a cold/flu" feeling and then several hours later you say "man I'm so healthy I just kicked that colds ass" statement!

Here is the best news "We consumers set the bench mark for what is acceptable and what is not". Yes, I've written this before so just for good measure I will write it again in big bold letters for easy reading:
 
CONSUMERS SET THE BENCH MARK FOR WHAT IS ACCEPTABLE AND WHAT IS NOT.

Get it? Got it!

So with every issue, problem or challenge I like to present you with a solution: KNOW THY FARMER. Not just meeting them at the farmers market, go to the farm and don't just take their word for it ask the hard questions and snoop around.  Of course with their permission.  The point is you are building a relationship with your farmer and your community and bake some great cookies or bread and share your love for food, because "breaking bread" with folks is one of the most primal ways to begin any relationship.

So get off your ass, stop watching mindless & countless hours of reality television, load up the family and friends, grab a couple of Republicans and GO VISIT A FARM NEAR YOU. Don't forget to wear your boots and make sure you take an ice chest with you cause more than likely the folks you are going to visit love nothing more than sharing.

Another way is to research the farms on line and find out where you can buy them. For example on my way home from the New England Culinary Institute Friday I stopped by one of my new favorite General Stores in Pittsfield, VT called oddly enough The Original General Store where you can purchase locally produced farm products, so I bought some great grass fed beef, baby bokchoy and eggs from Amee Farm a working organic farm just down the road ( you can actually stay in a beautiful rustic lodge on the farm) and some great hot Italian Pork Sausage from The Royal Butcher all under the same roof.

Folks my point is simple, it's all about RESPECT and is it worth the chance to jeopardize your heath,the health of your family, your kids and the well-being of the animals? I don't think so. I'm not perfect, but I work hard all the time to make sure I vote with my fork and I work hard to support the products that represent the kind of world I chose to live in.

Be Well, Eat Well & Play hard!

* Pictured at the top is Paul Willis ~Founder and Manager of Niman Ranch Pork Company. Great guy.