The Sheep and Wool Festival

Last Sunday we attended the the Sheep and Wool Festival at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds, in Rhinebeck, NY. We have been looking forward to this event since we first took a hand-spinning class at The Yarn Tree last spring. The Festival is one the largest in country, and the largest on the east coast. We were overwhelmed by how many vendors and attractions there were.
Some of our high-lights were the sheep shearing demonstrations, learning about new natural dye methods, and seeing and touching many of the breeds we had read about. The whole thing was pretty exciting, so many people from everywhere all there for one reason- the love of wool. And here you could see the whole operation, from sheep to wool to roasted lamb. Also exposed were all sides of the wool operation- Blue Seal (one of the largest American producers of animal feed) sponsoring a building dedicated to showcasing heritage breed sheep. We cam away most excited at the prospect of someday having a flock of sheep (maybe some Jacob (pictured below) or Icelandic). We also have some new ideas for what to put in our weavers garden- like Osage Orange trees. A project we want to start this spring!

A pound of flesh.

Being a doctor must be strange. One must look at the people differently. Butchers are no doctors. They have the relief of knowing they are cutting dead flesh and the worst that can happen is you fuck up the tenderloin. But after just two weeks of separating muscles and cutting meat off of bones- slowly learning the basic skeletal muscular structure of mammals- we are looking at all four legged creatures and bi-pedals differently. We see how meaty the shanks are. Where the atlas bone is- making it easy to separate the head in one quick cut. Where one would remove the loin from the ham. It's strange how the daily abstraction of the animal form- into parts, sections, and commodities- trains one to objectify and systematize all bodies. We can only imagine how a doctor must begin to see people. 

Contradictions in Meat

One of things that we have found ourselves thinking and talking about a lot recently is the relationship people have to meat (flesh). Because of the diverse crowd of consumers at Fleisher's we are exposed many different conceptions and receptions of meat. People want, expect, or believe strange and often contradictory things in terms of the meat products they consume.

Here are just some of the things we have seen:
-People think they want 100% grass-fed meat but they would be outraged at the idea of buying an animal that has been frozen four eight-months. 100% grass-fed animals have a three month period when those animals are ready to slaughter, right after summer, when they have been eating fresh grass all day and gaining wight. The animals eat hay, which has no real nutritional value, all winter and don't put on weight, which means the meat wont be as good. If you want to have grass-fed meat all year long that means the animals must be slaughtered Sept, Oct, and Nov, and be frozen for the year.
-People want to buy high-quality meat- full of flavor, fresh, and tender. But people are freaked out by the fleshiness of meat and cook it till there is no remnants of life, and thus no flavor. Than they are angry that they paid good money for what they think is bad quality meat.
-People want pasture-raised meat, but they expect to see heavy marbling. The kind of marbling we are used to seeing comes from inactive muscles, the result of a penned in animal in factory farming.
-People want to buy sustainably but they expect that every cut of meat should be available to them at all of times. Nose-to-tail butchering is sustainable butchering. It means no parts are wasted, what can't be sold as a cut of meat (for whatever reason) is in to sausage or dog food. It also means that every animal you breakdown that week must sold that week, meat does not ahve a long shelf life. Yet, every animal only has so much of each cut (you must choose between your tenderloins and porterhouses and there is only one skirt per steer).

Nothing is kosher!

Watch artist Christien Meindertsma breakdown how every part of a pig is used as a material: Christien Meindertsma: How pig parts make the world turn | Video on TED.com



We just learned about her and we look forward to exploring her work more. She has also done a wool project similar to ours, go to her website to learn more.

NYTimes Magazine Food Issue(s)

There is a great article, by Christine Muhlke, in this last Sunday's NYTimes Magazine (the annual food issue), titled "Growing Together". The article is all about the way in which food and the current food movement in particular have created different kinds of communities, it is also very honest about the limits of those communities. Everyone should read it, really, it is worth reading the whole issue. Rob Walker describes 'kitchen incubators' in his column 'Consumed'. Michael Pollan, a hero of ours, has a great piece about a 36 hour local food party, we wish we could have been there. Pollan describes the building, the use of, and the symbolic meaning of the communal hearth, an idea that we think and talk about a lot (probably a future SM project). Another short little piece of interest is 'The Cow-munity' about a community of people who buy shares in a pasture raised local steer. It is an example of a good option for those who don't have a Fleisher's nearby, and also of how food can create unusual communities.  Also read Pie + Design = Change an article about food, community, art and social intervention!!! It describes a design collective, very much like us, called Project M, we look forward to learning more about them. Finally, is the the west coast that much cooler than us? Certainly the Bay Area seems to be a few steps ahead of us North Easterners: Food Groups.

Many Meats

The first week of training at Fleisher's Grass-fed and Organic Meats is over. The week really flew by. Fleishers is a unique place for a lot of reasons: the personalities that work there and shop there, the love of food (meat in particular) and the dedication to sustainability. There is a lot to talk about and a lot more time (at least 7 more weeks) to experience and learn new tings.

Obviously, when in a butcher shop that has distinguished itself by its dedication to both sustainability and high quality, it brings lots of different kinds of consumers. Customers come to Fleisher's because it is the best butcher-shop in the area, both in quality of meat and also range in product. Some come because of its cult status in the food world. Some come because of its distinctive and marked political position. Some come and buy that rare and luxurious dry aged porterhouse as a celebration, others come on an almost daily basis and buy hamburger meat or chicken wings. Hipsters, bubbies, New Yorkers, Hedge-funders, Woodstockers who never left, and locals all shop here (as well as many of the most trendy restaurants in NYC). All of this is remarkable, the diversity of consumers and there needs are astounding. This diversity is due to Josh and Jess's commitment to high quality product, sustainability, health, and local economy. It is rare to see all this balanced and the success of that balance is what opens itself up to such a wide range of consumers.

Sierra Club Radio - October 2, 2010

Listen to a radio interview about Sourced Material: Sierra Club Radio - October 2, 2010