Two old cowboys “chew the fat”…..

While I can be hard on government ag agents, it was one of those critters (since reformed) who set us on the path to grass fed cattle and, indirectly, Devon.

His name is Jim Gerrish, a consultant now, who lives and works out of Idaho.  Jim visited Thistle Hill almost 10 years ago, when we were still a traditional operation using chemicals, feeding grain, and not really interested in eating our own meat.  That really shocked Jim at the time and he immediately pointed out a cow that we should slaughter and taste.

Jim also recommended moving our calving to the Fall, to spare the cows the stress of Virginia’s summer heat.  And he is the one who said: “put some red into your herd”.  That set us on the path that led to our Ruby Red Devon.  So the next time you’re having a Thistle Hill steak, or even a burger, lift a glass to Jim Gerrish.

All this was triggered by an item in another friend’s blog: Kit Pharo, who raises and markets grass fed bulls out in Colorado.  Kit and Jim were raising a glass (or two) recently after which Jim opined:

“We have a debt crisis, a housing crisis, a leadership crisis and a healthcare crisis.”   He continued by saying, “I think the most serious crisis that we have is a health crisis.”

Two-thirds of the U.S. population is classified as overweight.   “Obesity is a failure of fat metabolism – NOT fat accumulation,” explained Jim, “and plenty of people will say that it is too much fat in your diet or lack of activity – but those factors are NOT the problem.”   Jim firmly believes that meat and animal fat are good for us.

Jim said, “If you want to identify the three things that put us in our current health crisis, they are sugar, specifically high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), the increase in grain consumption and vegetable oils.   Fat has nothing to do with it.”   Jim continues by saying, “The simple solution to the health crisis is to eat REAL food – NOT processed commodities.”

Gerrish suggested that people should only shop the outside edges of the supermarket – purchasing items like fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy products – or to shop locally at food cooperatives or farmers markets.   He said, “The inside aisles at the supermarket are where the processed commodities are located – where the HFCS and highly processed grains can be found.”

It’s not exactly the kind of words you hear from a typical government agent today.  But times are definitely changing when two old-timey cowboys—Jim and Kit—get together and wind up discussing nutrition.

A point of clarification:  we assume only Jim lifted a glass.  Kit doesn’t drink.