BigHornRam
Well-known member
Zimo: Hunters and anglers eat locally
Pete Zimowsky - [email protected]
Edition Date: 11/18/07
Eating locally is the big thing these days with all the green talk about cutting carbons and stuff, but hunters and anglers have been doing this for centuries.
Avid hunters and anglers leave a small carbon footprint when it comes to food. They're the ultimate in eating locally, and most probably don't realize they are pretty trendy.
Their meat isn't shipped from thousands of miles away by semi-truck or plane. Their fish don't come from Asia. Their meat hasn't been locked up in crowded pens and filled with hormones and antibiotics.
I know the grouse we had this fall came from the Boise Front 16 miles away. I know the upland game bird had been free-ranging in the mountains eating organic berries and leaves and nothing else.
HEALTHY BIRDS
I knew the birds I saw were healthy by the way they were flying and how I was missing shots. I know the chukars we ate along the banks of the Salmon River were as organic as you can get. Talk about super delicious.
The ducks and geese we eat aren't from a meat packing plant near Chicago. They're fresh from the Snake River about 60 miles away.
Even though we burn gasoline to get to our hunting spots to bring home some meat, my four-cylinder compact truck has nowhere near the impact of a plane or semi.
Although the northern ducks and geese are from about 1,000 miles away, they come here under their own power while migrating south, not in a big rig burning fossil fuels.
The deer and elk shared by family members come from the mountains of western Idaho. The trout we have are as close as the Boise River and raised in a hatchery in Nampa.
I'll admit it: We do travel a little further for steelhead - 150 to 200 miles.
But it's still in the same state. It's a lot better than most of the food you get in the supermarket that can come from 1,300 to 2,000 miles away.
EATING LOCALLY
We've been trying to eat as much local food as possible - even the stuff we don't shoot or hook.
Our eggs come from farmers as close as the Boise Foothills. We've gotten our free-range chickens and turkeys locally in Treasure Valley.
We've stocked up on pork from a farm in Caldwell and a lamb from a farm in the Meridian area. The buffalo we've had in the past came from the Bruneau area. We're on the prowl for more local buffalo.
We've gotten to know local meat processors and how they run their operations. Although I've cut up and packaged deer and elk in the past, I didn't want to take on the job of butchering a hog or lamb.
Still, it's good to know where your meat comes from and how it is taken care of. Hunters really know where their meat comes from because they've looked it right in the eyes.
You can't help but knowing its quality because you shoot it, dress it out, cut it up, wrap it and freeze it. It doesn't get any more personal than that.
MYSTERY MEAT
It's not like unwrapping a burger at a drive-in and having no idea about where the food came from. You have no idea what that animal was like, where it was raised and how it was cared for.
This week, as we sit down to Thanksgiving dinner, we're going to have turkey like a lot of folks. But we know the turkey was a free-ranging farm bird raised locally. I think we even know its name.
But along with that for dinner, we'll also have smoked duck, goose and steelhead. Those meats came fresh from Idaho's rivers. We saw the birds and fish and know the meat personally.
We'll also have some mushrooms from Garden Valley in the turkey gravy.
Hunters and anglers have been going green for centuries. And when you go hunting and fishing, you respect what you shoot, hook and consume.
Pete Zimowsky: 377-6445
Pete Zimowsky - [email protected]
Edition Date: 11/18/07
Eating locally is the big thing these days with all the green talk about cutting carbons and stuff, but hunters and anglers have been doing this for centuries.
Avid hunters and anglers leave a small carbon footprint when it comes to food. They're the ultimate in eating locally, and most probably don't realize they are pretty trendy.
Their meat isn't shipped from thousands of miles away by semi-truck or plane. Their fish don't come from Asia. Their meat hasn't been locked up in crowded pens and filled with hormones and antibiotics.
I know the grouse we had this fall came from the Boise Front 16 miles away. I know the upland game bird had been free-ranging in the mountains eating organic berries and leaves and nothing else.
HEALTHY BIRDS
I knew the birds I saw were healthy by the way they were flying and how I was missing shots. I know the chukars we ate along the banks of the Salmon River were as organic as you can get. Talk about super delicious.
The ducks and geese we eat aren't from a meat packing plant near Chicago. They're fresh from the Snake River about 60 miles away.
Even though we burn gasoline to get to our hunting spots to bring home some meat, my four-cylinder compact truck has nowhere near the impact of a plane or semi.
Although the northern ducks and geese are from about 1,000 miles away, they come here under their own power while migrating south, not in a big rig burning fossil fuels.
The deer and elk shared by family members come from the mountains of western Idaho. The trout we have are as close as the Boise River and raised in a hatchery in Nampa.
I'll admit it: We do travel a little further for steelhead - 150 to 200 miles.
But it's still in the same state. It's a lot better than most of the food you get in the supermarket that can come from 1,300 to 2,000 miles away.
EATING LOCALLY
We've been trying to eat as much local food as possible - even the stuff we don't shoot or hook.
Our eggs come from farmers as close as the Boise Foothills. We've gotten our free-range chickens and turkeys locally in Treasure Valley.
We've stocked up on pork from a farm in Caldwell and a lamb from a farm in the Meridian area. The buffalo we've had in the past came from the Bruneau area. We're on the prowl for more local buffalo.
We've gotten to know local meat processors and how they run their operations. Although I've cut up and packaged deer and elk in the past, I didn't want to take on the job of butchering a hog or lamb.
Still, it's good to know where your meat comes from and how it is taken care of. Hunters really know where their meat comes from because they've looked it right in the eyes.
You can't help but knowing its quality because you shoot it, dress it out, cut it up, wrap it and freeze it. It doesn't get any more personal than that.
MYSTERY MEAT
It's not like unwrapping a burger at a drive-in and having no idea about where the food came from. You have no idea what that animal was like, where it was raised and how it was cared for.
This week, as we sit down to Thanksgiving dinner, we're going to have turkey like a lot of folks. But we know the turkey was a free-ranging farm bird raised locally. I think we even know its name.
But along with that for dinner, we'll also have smoked duck, goose and steelhead. Those meats came fresh from Idaho's rivers. We saw the birds and fish and know the meat personally.
We'll also have some mushrooms from Garden Valley in the turkey gravy.
Hunters and anglers have been going green for centuries. And when you go hunting and fishing, you respect what you shoot, hook and consume.
Pete Zimowsky: 377-6445
