Shop Carefully

Today's New York Times had a front page story on food safety in our country. It described a case of E. Coli poisoning that was so serious the victim was paralyzed from the waist down.

Evidently, she became ill from eating a hamburger. The ground beef used to make the burger came from "...slaughterhouses in Nebraska, Texas, and Uruguay, and from a South Dakota company that processes fatty trimmings and treats them with ammonia to kill bacteria." (doesn't sound too appetizing, does it?)

The FDA has proposed new "COOL" regulations to require Country of Origin Labeling on meat. Read labels, people! And if the price seems too good to be true, read labels even more carefully!

My favorite ground beef in Jackson is available at the Jackson Whole Grocer -- it's called 'Montana Legend" and it is made from beef grown in (you guessed it) Montana. The free-range cows graze on grass until they are slaughtered -- no feedlots with 'corn finishing' and injections of antibiotics.

Look around and you can probably find a local butcher with high quality meats. Patronize them when you can!

-Patty