I spent part of my day with Joe Morris and his grass fed cows in Watsonville, California. It was gorgeous, and such a refreshing experience. In golf we have a saying, Keep It Simple Stupid. Joe Morris and Morris Grassfed Beef keep it simple.
Though that doesn't seem novel on first glance, in today's industrial-fed America, it is. But, don't confuse simple with easy. Corn-fed beef is easy, profit is the only concern. Simple is raising cows the way it's been done sustainably for centuries. Joe uses a holistic approach that considers more than profit. He's focused on what's best for his cows, the environment, community, the health of the consumer as well as for his grass.
The first misconception about grassfed beef is the name. It's hardly grass they're eating. I imagined them in pens chewing on the lawn style grass out of a trough. The reality was much better.
The 'grass' they eat is quite a salad.
When I'm in my garden I sometimes get this strong feeling of a connection to the past. I realize what I'm doing now, my grandparents were doing. And it's what our ancestors were doing when they came over to America. I know Joe gets that feeling. I could hear it when he was speaking about when he was growing up his grandpa raised cows. This day was full of that sentiment for me. This picture sums up one of those moments. This is Joe's right hand man Everett (a fellow Chico State Wildcat Alum) and four of his co-workers.
The future of food is in the past. As my rancher host said, "When we try and control nature we lose." I feel like we have been losing for some time now. I wonder if this stock market crash will help us remember, no one's gravestone has a tally of profits on it. "Here lies Feedlot McCorn, he had wonderful Q3 profits in 2007."
This is a very incomplete diary. I took hundreds of photos today
and a lot more notes. I will update this when I get back with more pictures and info. But now I have to go cook dinner for the family.