Meat Sources in So. CA?

[Guest guest]

Hi,

As some of you know, I have recently moved from NYC to LA and I'm

still trying to get my food sources lined up. I've found a wonderful

local bison source (Lindnor), but would love to find truly pastured

chicken (and eggs!), beef, and lamb locally and available to buy in

bulk.

You can email me offlist if you wish: jessclaire@...

TIA,

p.s. I found a midwife (I'm due in Dec.) who thinks raw milk is the

way to go!!!! She's a vegetarian (sigh) but respects my food choices.

I'm usually really wary of sharing my food choices with healthcare

providers, but I was pleasantly surprised this time.

[Guest guest]

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>As some of you know, I have recently moved from NYC to LA and I'm

>still trying to get my food sources lined up. I've found a wonderful

>local bison source (Lindnor), but would love to find truly pastured

>chicken (and eggs!), beef, and lamb locally and available to buy in

>bulk.

If someone (?) can point you to Aajonus Vonderplanitz's " secret " food

market/coop/thingamabob, you might find what you're looking for. I never

actually made it in person when I was in LA, but I hear it's pretty good,

and I expect I'll check it out later this year. There must also be regular

farmers' markets in LA... no?

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[Guest guest]

,

<I have recently moved from NYC to LA and I'm

still trying to get my food sources lined up. >

You might want to look into the LA buyers coop run by (310)

664-0630. The last I heard (about six months ago) they had quite a range of

grass-fed meats, raw dairy products, organic veggies, etc.

http://www.taichi4seniors.com

[Guest guest]

So glad you're back ! 's a gem and has already helped me a

bunch. I've been to AV's coop and they do have interesting things,

but it's VERY PRICEY and far away from my house. The farmer's markets

are unbelievable in terms of produce; the good animal foods are harder

to come by, but there are a few good vendors (the bison is fantastic).

Be sure to let me know when you're coming to LA as I'd love to see

you.

> If someone (?) can point you to Aajonus Vonderplanitz's " secret " food

> market/coop/thingamabob, you might find what you're looking for. I never

> actually made it in person when I was in LA, but I hear it's pretty good,

> and I expect I'll check it out later this year. There must also be regular

> farmers' markets in LA... no?

>

>

>

> -

[Guest guest]

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>So glad you're back ! 's a gem and has already helped me a

>bunch. I've been to AV's coop and they do have interesting things,

>but it's VERY PRICEY and far away from my house.

Oh, well, so much for that. I didn't much like the butter from there

either. Actually, I hated it. It tasted kind of like foot cheese, or what

I'd imagine foot cheese would taste like. Or what toe cheese would taste

like if left out in the sun in a dumpster with a lot of other

garbage. I've had delicious raw/soured butters, too, so it wasn't just

that I was unaccustomed to soured butter. ( helped me out too by

picking up a whole box of stuff for me at the AV's coop. The liver

especially really saved the day, though I gather AV gets it unfrozen, which

is a bit of a taste challenge.)

It was a heck of a kick to be able to walk into a Whole Foods and buy raw

milk and even raw colostrum, though, even if the stuff wasn't actually

worth buying.

>The farmer's markets

>are unbelievable in terms of produce; the good animal foods are harder

>to come by, but there are a few good vendors (the bison is fantastic).

Really? What a bummer! There are fewer animal food vendors than here in

NYC? I would've thought there'd be more options, since car and truck

travel into NYC is so constricted.

Then again, some of the vendors here in NYC aren't worthwhile either. In

fact, in an absolute sense, none of them are. Someday...

>Be sure to let me know when you're coming to LA as I'd love to see

>you.

Will do!

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[Guest guest]

,

> I didn't much like the butter from there

> either. Actually, I hated it. It tasted kind of like foot cheese, or what

> I'd imagine foot cheese would taste like. Or what toe cheese would taste

> like if left out in the sun in a dumpster with a lot of other

> garbage.

That would be Organic Pastures at $15/pound. It's totally nasty, IMO.

Luckily, I brought some raw butter from my AWESOME PA farmers with

me. When I go through that, I'll be buying KerryGold or some other

imported European brand (the most yellow I can find!).

> It was a heck of a kick to be able to walk into a Whole Foods and buy raw

> milk and even raw colostrum, though, even if the stuff wasn't actually

> worth buying.

Yeah...it IS disappointing. Sometimes it's better to get things

illegally ; ) There are actually two brands, and I think Claravale

tastes better than Organic Pastures. Claravale tends to be a tad

darker in color than the white white white OP. It's NOTHING like the

raw dairy I'm accustomed to and I'm still bummed about it. I'm

preggers for goodness' sake! I'm supposed to be eating sacred foods!

> Really? What a bummer! There are fewer animal food vendors than here in

> NYC? I would've thought there'd be more options, since car and truck

> travel into NYC is so constricted.

I would say yes, but I haven't been to all of the farmer's markets

here. CA is huge in the agro biz, and that's what people tend to use

their land for. I think Northern CA has more pastured animal

operations. The strawberries, however, are divine.

>

> Then again, some of the vendors here in NYC aren't worthwhile either. In

> fact, in an absolute sense, none of them are. Someday...

Yeah...someday each community will have a " WAP Approved " farm with the

most amazing pastured, high brix stuff imaginable. My own personal

fantasy is to buy a farm and hire some awesome people to produce

superior food for me. Where do you think the most fertile land is in

our country? Or hell, I'll buy land in France or Italy....

>

> >Be sure to let me know when you're coming to LA as I'd love to see

> >you.

>

> Will do!

Excellent!

[Guest guest]

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>That would be Organic Pastures at $15/pound. It's totally nasty, IMO.

Yeah, in fact I didn't even finish all of mine. I picked up some Kerry

Gold at Whole Foods -- which doesn't seem to have it here, strangely enough.

>Yeah...it IS disappointing. Sometimes it's better to get things

>illegally ; ) There are actually two brands, and I think Claravale

>tastes better than Organic Pastures. Claravale tends to be a tad

>darker in color than the white white white OP. It's NOTHING like the

>raw dairy I'm accustomed to and I'm still bummed about it. I'm

>preggers for goodness' sake! I'm supposed to be eating sacred foods!

I tried them both and I was distinctly unimpressed. Neither holds a candle

to Butterworks cream, which is pasteurized (albeit supposedly

low-temp). But I would've thought that with raw dairy being legal in CA,

the farmers markets would've been overflowing with superior options. Not so?

>I think Northern CA has more pastured animal

>operations. The strawberries, however, are divine.

Urk. If I move anywhere in the near future, it'll probably be to LA, even

though I hate the weather there. (Then again, I've been following LA's

weather on weather.com just to prepare myself, and it looks like summer

there has been FAR more tolerable than summer here. But having no autumn

and no winter would suck spectacularly.)

>My own personal

>fantasy is to buy a farm and hire some awesome people to produce

>superior food for me. Where do you think the most fertile land is in

>our country? Or hell, I'll buy land in France or Italy....

That's my exact fantasy, actually, but I think in order to really realize

it, I'd have to become super-mega-ultra rich, because there's not really

any way to predict where the best land will be as climate change reshuffles

the board, so the ideal would be to hedge my bets by setting up a handful

of farms in different regions. (Not to mention the ever-growing power of

eminent domain, possible terrorist (or " terrorist " ) action, etc. etc. etc.)

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[Guest guest]

,

>

> Yeah, in fact I didn't even finish all of mine. I picked up some Kerry

> Gold at Whole Foods -- which doesn't seem to have it here, strangely

> enough.

Trader Joe's carries it for $2.39 a package. Pretty good deal, IMO.

> But I would've thought that with raw dairy being legal in CA,

> the farmers markets would've been overflowing with superior options. Not

> so?

It's baffling, isn't it? I actually don't know anything about the

state's regulations; perhaps it's really expensive to be " legal. "

>

> Urk. If I move anywhere in the near future, it'll probably be to LA, even

> though I hate the weather there. (Then again, I've been following LA's

> weather on weather.com just to prepare myself, and it looks like summer

> there has been FAR more tolerable than summer here. But having no autumn

> and no winter would suck spectacularly.)

We are in the middle of a heat wave, but you'll love the low humidity

and cool nights that are customary (even in summer).

> That's my exact fantasy, actually, but I think in order to really realize

> it, I'd have to become super-mega-ultra rich, because there's not really

> any way to predict where the best land will be as climate change reshuffles

> the board, so the ideal would be to hedge my bets by setting up a handful

> of farms in different regions. (Not to mention the ever-growing power of

> eminent domain, possible terrorist (or " terrorist " ) action, etc. etc. etc.)

>

Hah hah. Supposedly the $$ is here, so you should come! Personally,

I'd be much more worried about agricultural and industrial

contamination of said land than any " terrorist " action. Or perhaps

the " terrorist " action I'd be most worried about would be entirely

domestic in nature...

[Guest guest]

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>Trader Joe's carries it for $2.39 a package. Pretty good deal, IMO.

Urk. It's $3.99 where I get it. I wish Trader Joe's would open a store in

Manhattan, preferably across the street from my apartment...

>It's baffling, isn't it? I actually don't know anything about the

>state's regulations; perhaps it's really expensive to be " legal. "

Maybe, and maybe they figure it's not worth the competition. For a long

time, Knoll Crest was the ONLY vendor of eggs at the Union Square farmers

market even though they're hideous. People told me that there was no point

in competing, that it would be rude to compete, etc. Maybe everyone is

just used to getting their raw dairy in supermarkets in CA... except I'd

still think people could do well at the markets. Other farms are selling

eggs hand over fist at Union Square now.

>We are in the middle of a heat wave, but you'll love the low humidity

>and cool nights that are customary (even in summer).

I've noticed that now that it's hot in LA, it's dried up, but earlier, the

humidity was insane. What's with that?

>Hah hah. Supposedly the $$ is here, so you should come!

Well, I'm hoping things pan out this fall. I have what's practically the

ultimate concept, so if I can just finish the script in time...

>Personally,

>I'd be much more worried about agricultural and industrial

>contamination of said land than any " terrorist " action. Or perhaps

>the " terrorist " action I'd be most worried about would be entirely

>domestic in nature...

Yeah, well, pollution is a major issue. Is there any such thing as clean

land left? I'm beginning to think the answer is no.

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