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By Root 871 0

saturated fats and higher vitamin E, beta-carotene, and omega-3 levels in meat from cattle fattened on pasture grasses (their natural diet), compared with CAFO animals. In a direct approach, Mother Earth News hosts a “Chicken and Egg Page” on its Web site, inviting farmers to send eggs from all over the country into a laboratory for nutritional analyses, and posting the results. The verdict confirms research published fifteen years ago in the New England Journal of Medicine: eggs from chickens that ranged freely on grass have about half the cholesterol of factory-farmed eggs, and it’s mostly LDL, the cholesterol that’s good for you. They also have more vitamin E, beta-carotene and omega-3 fatty acids than their cooped-up counterparts. The more pasture time a chicken is allowed, the greater these differences.

As with the chickens, the nutritional benefits in beef are directly proportional to the fraction of the steer’s life it spent at home on the range eating grass instead of grain-gruel. Free-range beef also has less danger of bacterial contamination because feeding on grass maintains normal levels of acidity in the animal’s stomach. At the risk of making you not want to sit at my table, I should tell you that the high-acid stomachs of grain-fed cattle commonly harbor acid-resistant strains of E. coli that are very dangerous to humans. Because CAFOs are so widespread in our country, this particular strain of deadly bacteria is starting to turn up more and more commonly in soil, water, and even other animals, causing contamination incidents like the nationwide outbreak of spinach-related illnesses and deaths in 2006. Free-range grazing is not just kinder to the animals and the surrounding environment; it produces an entirely different product. With that said, I leave the decision to you.

Pasture-finished meat is increasingly available, and free-range eggs are now sold almost everywhere. Here is the recipe for one of my family’s standard, easy egg-based meals. If you feel more adventurous, you can get some free-range turkey meat and freak out your kids’ friends with my parents’ sausage recipe.

VEGGIE FRITTATA

Olive oil for pan

8 eggs

½ cup milk

Beat eggs and milk together, then pour into oiled, oven-proof skillet over medium heat.

Chopped kale, broccoli, asparagus, or spinach, depending on the season

Salt and pepper to taste

Feta or other cheese (optional)

Promptly add vegetables and stir evenly into egg mixture. At this point you can also add feta or other cheeses. Cook on low without stirring until eggs are mostly set, then transfer to oven and broil 2–4 minutes, until lightly golden on top. Cool to set before serving.

SPICY TURKEY SAUSAGE

2½ pounds raw turkey meat, diced, including dark meat and fat

½ cup chopped onion

¼ cup chopped garlic

½ tablespoon paprika

1½ teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons fresh oregano (or 1 teaspoon dry)

2 teaspoons fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dry)

1 teaspoon ground black pepper 2 teaspoons cayenne (optional)

Hog casings (ask your butcher, optional)

Combine seasonings in a large bowl and mix well. Toss with turkey meat until thoroughly coated. If the meat is very lean, you may need to add olive oil to moisten. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Then grind the mixture in a meat grinder or food processor. You can make patties, or stuff casings to make sausage links. An inexpensive sausage-stuffing attachment is available for KitchenAid and other grinders; your butcher may know a source for organic hog casings.

Download these and all other Animal, Vegetable, Miracle recipes at www.AnimalVegetableMiracle.com

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15 • WHERE FISH WEAR CROWNS

September

Steven came downstairs with the suitcases and found me in the kitchen studying a box full of papery bulbs. My mail-order seed garlic had just arrived.

His face fell. “You’re going to plant those now?”

In two hours we were taking off on our first real vacation without kids since our honeymoon—a trip to Italy we’d dreamed of for nearly a decade. My new passport had escaped, by one day, the hurricane that destroyed