To Market, To Market, To Buy a Fat Pig

If you are aware of this little rhyme, the next line is 'home again, home again jiggety jig'. My attempts to find soy and corn free meat for Elianna has not allowed me a single jiggety jig, but instead has me traipsing all over the countryside.

My search has included the Davis Farmers Market, Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op, Nugget Market, Henry's Market, Davis Natural Foods Co-op, and all over the internet, just to name a few! Thankfully the general public is starting to catch up on the fact that soy is really not very good for you, so soy-free meats are getting easier to find. Corn, on the other hand, is a major staple for most meats in the U.S., even if it is pastured.

I have found grass fed, soy free, corn free beef at the Davis Farmer's Market as well as on the shelf at Henry's Market.

I finally found grass fed, soy free, corn free lamb at Trader Joes.

All farm raised fish has been fed soy and/or corn. Only wild fish is soy and corn free, and at this point I have only found pieces in the store and not the 'good' GAPs parts, such as fins, tails, and heads. (Did you know the fish head has the most beneficial fats?)

Chicken. Now this is a WHOLE OTHER STORY. Soy and corn free chicken is virtually impossible to find, and I find this rather annoying and a tad bit comical. Ninety percent of the chicken farmers I spoke with said: "Our chickens are fed soy and corn feed. Virtually all of the chickens in North America are." This comment alone I found very irritating. I appreciate the information, but it would have been nice to hear 'oh I am so sorry. Good luck.' Some of them even looked at me as if I was crazy. Which leads me to my other point.

Chickens are NOT from North America. They are not even from South America. In fact, they are from India and China, and from what anthropologists can tell, that is where they were first domesticated. Corn, on the other hand, is from North America. Those are not just two different countries, or even different continents. Those are two different hemispheres. Need I say more?

This week I finally found someone who owns a chicken farm locally, and who is willing to do special order chickens for me that are corn and soy free. Hooray!

Next up? I am currently looking into buffalo, venison and pork. Any farm raised bird, I'm afraid, is going to be corn fed. This eliminates quail, duck, goose, etc. SO.......to market to market to buy a fat pig! Wish me luck!