My friends know the story: when my wife proposed that we move back to South East Iowa to live near her family, I could not conceive of making the move unless we found a town that had access to good quality, healthy, natural foods. When we identified that the small town of Fairfield Iowa was home to an established natural foods store, Everybody’s Whole Foods Store, we began packing.
During one of my first shopping experiences in Everybody’s I could not find pepperoni (for pizza) or grass fed ground beef. I asked an employee something close to “where’s the beef?” I can recall his reaction of shock, as if I had just walked up to him and spoken in tongues, “beazula mira mira azzzzkanam feed mew deeevil BEEEEEEF!”
Grass-fed roasted tenderloin with crab meat, by MJ Rehm
As with most of the common knowledge in this town, I was slow to understand that Everybody’s isn’t your average Natural Foods store, because after all, this is Fairfield, which isn’t your average town. While Everybody’s does attract non-meditator customers like myself, the store exists because it has primarily served the meditator community since opening it’s doors 1995. And the meditator community is largely vegetarian, and for reasons I have never been able to figure out, those that do eat some meats, are OK with chicken, turkey and fish.
When asked why Everybody’s doesn’t carry natural beef products, Manager Adam Pohlman explains, “The number one answer is the demand for beef and pork is greatly lacking especially for frozen. We have considered carrying a few items but found there to be push back by a number of customers when we conducted surveys. The combination of not having a lot of demand and the fact that those who did not want, really did not want it and were adamant in there comments on the idea.”
But there is hope for other Fairfield residents who enjoy the taste, and the ethics, of naturally raised, grass-fed beef – Yoder’s Natural Farm. Located in nearby Bloomfield, Iowa, Yoder’s Natural Farm offers grass-fed beef, pastured broilers and eggs, and pork. You can get an order form from them (call 641-664-2060) and have your meats/eggs delivered to the Farmer’s Market right here in town.
Raised on the family farm in Southern Iowa, Robert Yoder started Yoder’s Natural Farm in 2006. “It is my goal to maintain a farm that provides a superior natural product for my customers while still caring for the land, animals, and the environment in a positive and natural way.” I’ve ordered steaks, hamburgers and bacon from Yoder’s several times and their meats are delicious and affordable.
Why should meat eaters choose grass-fed beef? Read this article at FoodRevolution.org by John Robbins. In short, it tastes better, is healthier for you, and healthier for the environment.
Would you like to see more access to grass-fed meats at Everybody’s and Hy-Vee? Let us know along with any other thoughts (both omnivores and vegetarians welcome).
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Sounds like a job for HyVee? Especially when (if ever) the super Walmart is built, HyVee should be looking for competitive edges and I would think local, grass-fed beef is one area. I doubt folks are going to be okay with beef at Everybody's….. to many moral objections from the majority of their customers.
What is the moral objection to beef? Why chicken/turkey/fish but not beef/pork?
Thanks for the info, Will! I have been wondering where to buy grass-fed beef as well. I have been disappointed that Everybody's doesn't stock nicer quality meats. The closest place that I have ever found to buy it is at the Pioneer Co-op in Coralville. However, that is a little bit of a trek. Would you say the meat that Yoder's sells is choice or prime cuts?
Those people willing to buy in quantity (quarter or half) could buy grass fed, natural (usually not strict organic) from local farmers and have it processed at Packwood or Brighton. I raise my own beef for personal use. I was amazed at how much better my beef was compared to what is available in the store. I have also heard good reports on the Yoder beef. Garry Klicker, also from Bloomfield, sells beef too.E-mail Addres glklickr@netins.net Phone: 641-675-3851
Save the Planet: Eat More Beef* – in this week's Time magazines is all about grass fed beef.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,...
I think the TM community rejects beef because Maharishi was forgiving of consuming fish and chicken but regarded cows as possessing a higher level of consciousness. In India cows are not consumed and are given free roaming privileges in city streets/markets.
I've heard of no proposed boycott of Everybody's if they carry beef??? Really? The only "TM" related "boycott" I ever saw was the university's refusal to advertise their events in the Fairfield Weekly Reader because it carried ads for other spiritual systems. That's why the Heartland Spirit weekly existed for a while.
Thanks to those that have "enlightened" me on the walking meat vs. flying meat perspective.
Regarding the issue of boycotting Everybody's if they served beef (even grass fed natural beef): that's the way I took Adam Pohlman's statement, but I don't want to put words in his mouth. I made that assumption because I have heard claims from several people in Fairfield that they would not shop at Everybody's if they carried beef. But like the claims from people that said they'd drop AT&T if the cell tower was put up in town, mostly those are emotional statements.
Given that Everybody's is the only Natural Foods store in town, I doubt people would stop shopping there.
The way I look at it is that people are going to eat meat regardless of whether Everybody's carries it or not. But the more stores that carry sustainable meats, the more consumers that will switch over from factory farm meats, and the more pressure on competitors to carry those products. So even for someone who doesn't eat beef, it seems like a win.
WIll, if the beef were frozen, would you still buy it? I'm curious because Everybody's sells a small selection of other frozen meat products. Maybe they could be persuaded to sell small cuts of beef / hamburger.
Just so you all are aware we at Hy- Vee do carry what we can get in the way of grass fed beef . We currently carry ground beef in 1lb. rolls along with ground beef patties and also new york strip steaks as well as ribeye steaks. The steaks will be coming the first week of February. If you have any questions feel free to email me at 1180meatmgr@hy-vee.com
Thank you,
Scott Vaughan, meat manager
Hy- Vee food store, Fairfield
Scott, thanks for the reply. Can you provide more details on the grass fed beef products carried? Like what brand, where they are located in the store . . .
The last time I asked the meat counter at Hy-Vee about grass fed beef (this was summer of 09), I was told you didn't carry any.
I wanted to recommend a great book on the subject, "Holy Cows And Hog Heaven: The Food Buyer's Guide To Farm Friendly Food," by Joel Salatin. Joel is my new farming hero after watching the movies, Food Inc and King Corn. My plan is to get the little meat my family does eat from Yoder's Farm.
Joel writes:
"Every day you get to nudge our world either toward or away from farm friendly food. Do not go into a guilt-induced depression over the magnitude of the task. Do not be discouraged over its enormity. You are not responsible for fixing it all. I think the central question each of us needs to ask ourselves at the end of the day is this: "Today, which food system advanced because of me — farm friendly food or industrial food?
Joel Salatin is a great farmer, and one of his interns lives right in Kalona Iowa. Galen Bontrager sells beef chicken, lamb, and eggs, all humanely raised, grass fed, and "beyond organic." He has a website, and sells direct to customers, very cool!
If it is "natures law", then why do millions of animals die every day due to being eaten by other animals?
Bennetts Natural Grass Fed Beef! http://www.windrushhill.com/beef Ann Bennett 319-986-2199
She offers free samples to try, sells by whole, halves or quarters
The distinction for some people is a consciousness thing – fish and chicken ("flying vegetables") are considered low consciousness, whereas red meat animals are thought of as higher consciousness. Would you eat a dog/puppy or cat/kitten? Also, in India cows are considered sacred as they are thought to reincarnate as brahmins. There ya go. That's the story. Ann Bennett in Mount Pleasant also sells grass-fed beef that she raises: windrushhill@farmtel.net
I love Everybody's, but it would be more accurate to call it "Anybody's", as in "anybody who follows Maharishi".
I find it a bit righteous for the TM movement to threaten to boycott the only Natural Food store in town if they were to carry sustainable beef products. I can respect their moral code that allows them to eat fish, but not beef, but to claim the moral majority and insist that perspective be enforced on everyone else in the community (or go to HyVee) is disappointing. Both the TM'ers and the townies need to start acting like we're one community.
Animal exploitation utilizes the sad "might makes right" doctrine that allows one group to dominate another group without ever acknowledging the wrongful aspects involved.
Animals are now subjects of horrible abuse due to economic reasons disguising itself behind the mask of entertainment, science, food and clothing. None of the industries mentioned here require the use of animals as necessary in these modern times. Animals are now killed for either economic purposes or for the sheer pleasure humans get from eating them.
There are many reasons (human health, global warming, water pollution, grain shortages) to stop eating animals but ending the violence and ushering in a new era of compassion is the best reason.
Some call for more humane slaughter of animals, but what can be humane about it when in fact animals do not wish to be slaughtered? It's no longer the ice age folks! We have a choice, so there is no morally justifiable reason to eat animals.
Eating Animals Kills the Eater Too
Before a person eats any animal, the animal is killed. And because animals are actually aware of what's going to happen to them, they secret adrenaline and other chemicals that are toxic to those who consume them.
When you opt for meat, you are opting for early heart Disease, Stroke, Cancer, Osteoporisis, Kidney Disease, Diabetes, and other degenerative diseases.
So eating impacts the environment and everything in it, namely us. This is not rocket science or new age hoopla. These are the facts and they are backed by modern research and by the world's oldest tradition of knowledge, the Vedas of India.
If we want to live long and happy lives, we just have to let the animals live long and happy lives. It's Nature's law, not mine.
What about killing plants?
Plants do not secret dangerous chemicals when they die nor do they suffer when they are killed. Their nervous systems are not developed enough for that. In the Veda of India, the world's oldest tradition of knowledge, plants are said to find their fulfillment in being eating.
Dan, did anyone actually threaten a boycott if they carried beef? I'd never heard anything like that.
At any rate, I can't agree with your first sentence. I never had anything to do with Maharish or the TMO, but always enjoyed shopping there.
Dan, the "TM movement" — the official Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation (see http://www.tm.org) — has threatened no boycott of Everybody's that I know of.
Don't confuse the righteousness of individuals with the movement at large. Those of us who practice TM are a diverse bunch. In my family alone we have a vegan (but who will drink milk and eat cheese), a mostly vegetarian (but who will eat eggs, fish and seafood), a mostly vegetarian (who will eat eggs, fish, seafood, and chicken), a college student who will probably eat anything you put in front of him, and me who will try anything at least once.
Really, it's too bad for the people in town who would boycott Everybody's if they would carry beef. We all need to be more tolerant.
People, people, will ya relax? There is no boycott or would there ever be one. There are a few fanatic individuals who protest but would probably continue to shop there anyway. I love animals, that's why I don't eat them, except occasionally chicken or fish…. because I want to avoid being a fanatic. I think most people fall into this category. Why does everybody assume there's some sort of "Big Brother" organization telling people what to do? There isn't.
Yes there have been threatened boycotts. That's what yermama and Adam (who works at Everybody's) means when they indicate that there would be push back.
My first sentence was a joke. I'm not "in the program" but shop at Everybody's. yermama says that someone wanting beef should go to Hy Vee. That's my point! Everybody's is focused on pleasing the TM demographic. Just pointing out the reality.
Interesting observations blueski. This topic can spark strong opinions. This might be a "distinction for some people", but it is not being a vegetarian. The vedas (if interpreted directly without applying the filters of any particular meditative movement) strive to apply ahimsa, or non-voilence, or an abstinence of violence against the animal kingdom. Flying vegetables or an attempt to justify various forms of meats based on one's assessment of a level of consciousness is often applied, but it is not following ahimsa.
There is a need for Everybody's to cater to their community because it is a matter of economics. But, perhaps the community is changing and diversifying (it is still a test to see if the community will actually diversify or simply block all of those thought to be different/challenging in any way). I am a vegetarian, but quite used to natural food stores selling high-quality meat (to varying degrees based on the community they serve). Aren't there other items that can't be purchased at Everybody's (no peanuts in the bulk bins, for a while no vital wheat gluten, etc.).
The meat I've gotten from Yoder's is not the best I have ever had, but I did try their fillets and enjoyed them as well as their hamburger patties. Their whole chickens and turkeys are very excellent!
Thanks for the link.
Strange – the article is dated Jan 25 2010. Am I trapped in time?
Oh of course. The items I get from Yoder's are frozen.
Nature expresses differently in humans and animals. Humans can transcend time and space and experience higher states of consciousness. When they learn to transcend, they spontaneously move away from eating animals as they find it affects the quality of transcending.
You don't have to stop eating meat, to learn TM, but habits that hamper the experience naturally drop off over time.