Food News: Give 'em a Chance, Steers Will Eat Grass

"FROM his roomy shed three hours north of New York City, a chocolate-brown calf can see acres of Hawthorne Valley Farm's prime grassland.

As soon as he's big enough, maybe in a couple of months, the calf will be free to roam the fields. For two years, feeding on as much summer grass and winter hay as he wants, the calf will grow into a 900-pound steer.

During that time, his manure will help the people who run Hawthorne Valley Farm fertilize a dozen acres of vegetables. His grazing habits will keep the pastures vibrant. And when the time comes, the steer will become dinner for a month's worth of shoppers at the Greenmarket at Union Square in New York City.

The premium price they will pay - $5.99 a pound for ground beef and as much as $19.99 for tenderloin - will be plowed back into the farm's budget.

It's a food chain, Manhattan style.

Although vegetables and fruit grown near the city have been the stars of the Greenmarkets for almost 30 years, pork, beef and lamb from local pastures are fast becoming the new darlings of the stands. New Yorkers, who are among the nation's early adopters of culinary trends, are learning that there is more to meat than uniform grain-fed slabs laid out on plastic trays."

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June 3, 2005

Food News: Give 'em a Chance, Steers Will Eat Grass