We would like to introduce you guys to Emerald Glen Farms! (Check out their Facebook page, they are awesome!) They sell the best meat we have ever tasted (In the US). Their products are all natural (yeah not all meat products are all natural), organic (not all meat products are organic), coming from grass fed animals, humanely raised using minimum processing and LOCAL!

Queremos presentarles Emeral Glen Farms! (Visiten su pagina de Facebook, ellos son geniales!) Ellos venden la mejor carne que hemos probado (en los E.E.U.U). Sus productos son completamente naturales (si, no todos los productos de carne son totalmente naturales), organicos (no todas los productos de carnes son organicos), de animales que han sido alimentado con forraje, criados sin crueldad, con minimo proceso y LOCAL!

So, how did we get into finding a farmer and buying their meat instead of buying the good looking, nicely packaged, cheaper meat at the grocery store? Well, too many important reasons to get into all of them, but we will explain the gist of it.

Pero como nos metimos en esto de encontrar un granjero y comprar su carne en vez de comprar esos pedazos que se ven tan buenos, con un lindo envoltorio, y mas baratos en el supermercado? Bueno, hay muchas razones como para explicarlas todas, pero podemos explicar algunas.

After reading a few books about food, watching some documentaries about the food industry and doing some research, we learned that we, as a society, are being intoxicated by our own food. These huge food companies exercise considerable control over our government and the system that is supposed to protect the consumer (yeah…they have a lot of green and we are not talking about grass); but that is another discussion. We want to talk about the immediate benefits of buying from your farmer.

Despues de leer algunos libros sobre comida, ver documentales sobre la industria alimenticia, y hacer un poco de investigacion, aprendimos que, como sociedad, estamos siendo intoxicados por nuestros propios alimentos. Estos enormes conglomerados de la industria alimenticia ejercen un control considerable sobre el gobierno y el sistema que se supone “protege a los consumidores”. (si…tienen mucho verde y no estamos hablando de vegetacion); pero esa es otra discusion. Nosotros queremos hablar de los beneficios inmediatos de comprar comida a tu granjero.

From the local economy side, if you buy from your farmer your money is going back to your community…think about it…if you buy from a big grocery store your hard earned dollars are going to some corporate office far away. When you buy local they put food on your table and you put food on theirs (isn’t that awesome?).

Desde el punto de vista de la economia local, si comprar de un granjero local tu plata va directo a tu comunidad…piensalo bien…si compras de un supermercado, tu plata va a una caja central en las oficinas corporativas muy lejos de tu ciudad. Cuando compras algo local, ellos ponen comida en tu mesa y tu pones comida en la mesa de ellos (genial no?)

Also, your local farmer uses his land to its best. They use more sustainable practices instead of high tech heavy-machinery that in the long run destroys the soil. What would you like your children to see in the future: a green field or an eroded patch of dead dirt?

Ademas, tu granjero aprovecha su tierra al maximo. Usan practicas que sustentan la tierra en vez de maquinaria pesada que en el largo plazo destruye el campo. Que quieres que tus hijos vean en el futuro: un campo verde o un pedazo de terreno seco y erosionado?

When you buy from a local farmer, you should be able to go visit the farm and see how they treat the animals, what they feed them and if you really want, how they process them. All this is extremely important for YOUR health. Cancer cases are increasing, new illnesses appear everyday and why? Well a very important factor (there are many others!) is our food. All these processes our food goes through to make it look pretty and the crazy packaging we use just add toxins that, albeit small, in the long run makes us SICK! So spend a little more money to put good stuff in your body and save some hospital bills in the future. Come on, you are the most expensive piece of equipment that exists, why don’t you use premium gas??? You wouldn’t use low octane gas in your Ferrari ,would you?? And while we’re talking about this, everyone has this impression that local food is SO much more expensive. It’s really not that far off from what you can buy in the grocery and it’s better anyway, so just fork up a little bit more and save  on your health in the long run.

Cuando compras de un granjero local, puedes visitar la granja y ver como tratan a sus animales, que usan para alimentarlos y, si quieres, ver como los procesan. Todo esto es sumamente important para TU salud. Los casos de cancer continuan aumentando, nuevas enfermedades siguen apareciendo y porque? Bien, un factor importante (hay mucho otros!) es nuestra comida! Todo los procesos que se usan en nuestro alimentos para hacerlo ver apetecibles y los empaques que usamos traspasan toxinas que, a pesar de se pequenas cantidades, en el largo plazo no enferman! Asi que por que no gastar un poquito mas comprando alimentos mas sanos para tu cuerpo y ahorran en visitas al hospital. Vamos, tu eres la maquina mas preciosa que existe, porque no usas combustible premium??? Nunca le pondrias parafina a tu Ferrari, verdad? Y en la misma nota, todos piensan que comprar comida local es MUCHO MAS caro. Pero no es asi, si es un poquito mas caro pero es mejor para ti, haz un esfuerzo y deja de hacer mas rico a tu medico.

Animals should be treated with respect, and should be fed what they are supposed to eat! I understand that some people would argue that we shouldn’t even eat meat, but that is a very difficult battle; some of us grew up eating meat and by now that will not change on a global scale. So, if we are going to eat animals, lets feed them the right stuff. No hormones, no antibiotics, no CORN! Cows eat grass, chickens eat grains and greens and pigs eat everything! Not crushed cow bones – come on they are not cannibals! Why do you think some cows get Mad Cow disease? And let them be free, they belong to this world just like you do, they should at least have space to roam and stretch. Yeah, living on their own feces does not make the meat any tastier or better…just nasty and prone to hazardous bacteria and virus that gets passed onto us.

Los animales deben ser tratados con respeto, y se les debe alimentar lo que se suponen deben comer! Entendemos que hay gente que puede argumentar que no deberiamos comer carne, pero esa es una batalla muy dificil; alguno crecimos comiendo carne y en una escala global eso no va a cambiar. Entonces, si vamos a comer animales, alimentemoslos lo adecuado. Sin hormonas, sin atibioticos, sin MAIZ! Las vacas comen pasto, los pollos comen pasto y los cerdos comen de todo! Nada de maiz, nada de hueso pulverizado de vaca – dale si no son canibales! Porque crees que existe el mal de la vaca loca? Y dejenlos ser libres, ellos pertenecen al planeta tierra como nosotros, deberia tener por lo menos espacio para moverse, caminar y estirarse. Si, vivir en tus propios desperdicios no hace la carne mas rica o mejor….solo asqueroza y con posibilidades de adquirir bacterias y viruses que luego son transmitidos a nosotros.

This post is certainly too short to mention all there is to mention about buying organic and supporting your local farmers, but we hope at least will create consciousness about what we eat and that also starts a nice debate about healthy food and sustainable farming.

Este post es sin duda muy corto para mencionar todo lo que hay sobre comprar comida organica y ayudar a tus granjeros locales, pero esperamos que al menos cree conciencia sobre lo que comemos y que tambien sea usado para generar conversacion sobre comida saludable y practicas sustentable para los granjeros.

If you are interested in reading a book or watching a documentary, we recommend the book “Eating Animals” by Jonathan Safran Foer or the documentart “Food Inc.”

Si les interesa leer un libro o ver un documental, les recomendamos el libro “Eating Animal” de Jonathan Safran Foer o el documental “Food Inc.”