The Santa Fe Rodeo is kicking up dust at the Rodeo Grounds this week and I don't know about you, but rodeo means one thing to me: hot guys in chaps. Yee haw! I love watching
ProRodeo
on ESPN and it doesn't bother me one bit that I have no idea what's going on. When they say it's time for "tie down roping" I'm thinking hell yes! That's like in
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
when Antonio Banderas tied Victoria Abril to the bed until she agreed to marry him, right? Well, the rodeo version is basically the same thing, only with corn-fed, clean-shaven cowboys practicing their bondage skills on big-eyed calves. The whole thing makes me
want to tie down a cowboy and then celebrate my conquest with
a big steak.
Speaking of steak, did you know that beef is second only to milk as New Mexico's largest agricultural commodity? I learned a whole bunch of fun facts like that one when the New Mexico Beef Council took me along on their annual "Gate to Plate Tour" last
month. Rural folks take great pleasure in educating lily-livered city slickers like me about the way the world works, and I'm only too happy to be schooled. I'll share with you some of the things I learned over two dusty days.
1. City people have become so "civilized" that we're dangerously useless.
There are an awful lot of Santa Fe kids still drinking from sippy cups while their age-mates in Santa Rosa are breaking in new saddles. Does your second-grader know how to herd cattle, give vaccination shots and patch up castration wounds with pine tar? Ranch kids do. Most 30-year-olds I know can't point to the part of a cow that produces a flank steak (hint: it's the FLANK), but at Carrizozo High School the students operate a full meat processing plant, handling every step of slaughter and butchering, from steer to steak. When they graduate, they're ready for jobs that pay an average of $17 per hour. My last three boyfriends wouldn't have qualified for an Albertson's Preferred Savings card, but in Roswell, pre-teen 4H kids take out bank loans to buy their first calves, which they'll raise to maturity and sell at auction. Come the apocalypse, I'll be clinging to a kindergartner out in Corona, begging for help, I'm sure of it.
2. The Omnivore's Dilemma happens in the dairy aisle every day.
Michael Pollen's new book about the origins of our food has many people rethinking their commitment to organic above all else. The New Mexico dairymen I met scoffed at my defense of organic milk and, although we agreed to disagree about the importance of organic feed and the dangers of hormone supplements, they were very persuasive with the argument that buying local milk supports local farmers. Obviously, local and organic is best, but we don't always have that option. Creamland is owned by a huge parent company (the largest milk processor and distributor in the country; they also own the Horizon Organic brand), but they do buy from local farmers. Rasband Dairy (just south of Albuquerque) is a small family-run business that doesn't give their cows growth hormones, but isn't organic. One close compromise is Organic Valley's "Rocky Mountain Pastures" brand. It comes from cows in Colorado, but is also relatively expensive and can be hard to find.
3. Beef tenderloin is tender but boring; you can do better for your money.
I've always thought filet mignon was ridiculously overrated and overpriced. It comes from one of the least-used and least-marbled muscles on the animal-that's why it's so tender you can cut it with a fork, but also why it lacks the meaty, juicy flavor of a rib-eye. Looking to make more money from less popular cuts, butchers are now crafting steaks from cuts that used to be sold as hamburger or roasts. The flat iron steak comes from the chuck, or shoulder, but has great beefy flavor and is the second most tender cut of beef. It's also
waaaaaay
cheaper than tenderloin or rib-eye steaks. For example, at Kaune Foodtown (511 Old Santa Fe Trail, 982-2629), flat iron steaks run $3.89 per pound compared to $20.98 for tenderloin and $18.98 for rib-eye.
4. Ranchers and environmentalists aren't always on opposing teams.
In New Mexico we have enormous amounts of federally controlled land and ranchers pay for grazing rights on much of it. While they often butt heads with tree-huggers on issues like the reintroduction of wolves, it's important to remember that the land cattle graze on, whether federally owned or privately owned, is generally land not occupied by strip malls, mini-mansions or Super Wal-Marts. It is in ranchers' interest to keep that space open and healthy. One cattlewoman I talked to leases grazing land from Phelps Dodge, the mining company. In danger of losing the water rights for the property, Phelps Dodge asked her and her husband if they wouldn't mind using some of that water for farming (and thereby showing the "legitimate use" that would preserve their water rights). So the ranchers rehabbed the old ditches on the land, diverted some river water and planted winter wheat. What happened surprised everyone, including biologists. Migrating birds were attracted to the increase in vegetation and made the property a favorite breeding ground. Biologists deemed it "critical habitat" for the birds. Now the ranchers work closely with scientists studying the effects of farming and grazing on other species that share the land.
Tell me where to eat! I need your input. Send all of your tips, gripes and raves to
.
