Nothing Is What It Seems. Smoke And Mirrors To Fuck Over The Consumer. Irish is Pissed. Here's My Rant.....

 

 Stay with it if you like.  

You really can't trust any motherfuckers out there any more. This just adds to the list from politicians all the way down to the bastards that screw you everyday.

 

 

Reader, commenter and submitter Nemo sent an email checking on us and wishing yours truly, and the boss, a Merry Christmas.  I responded in kind and said I was going to make a Prime Rib for the Christmas meal. I purchased a good name beef that I trusted as far as the information I have gotten in the past.

Many times I have had the Delmonico steaks from a "farm" called Cedar River. I love to cook them on the grill, just under medium rare, with only a little salt and pepper. They are delicious.  Friends have always raved about how good they are.They are advertised thus:

Doesn't that look mouthwatering?? You would pay extra for some really tasty Natural Beef from an idyllic farm named "Cedar River" correct?

One of the local restaurants has the sirloin and lists it as "Cedar" for a wee more than a small pot of gold.

14 oz Cedar Sirloin plus extras $32 

 

Don't get me wrong, I have ordered it once or twice and the meal was very good fine dining.

Moving along,

I wanted to pass on the brand to Nemo so he could try it. Cedar River Farms. I figured a google search would lead me to their website. 

Head to google, type in Cedar River Farms, and ... expect to see something like this:

 Google results yield:

 Hmmm, what's the second hit from cairncrestfarms?

Irish heads over and starts to read at Cairncrestfarms:

LINK HERE<<<<<

Writing a farm blog can be difficult. Livestock is theoretically an endless source of topics, but cows and pigs rarely behave in the tidy, didactic, narrative-friendly manner of the animals in a James Herriot story. (Not that he was making them up, but he had a lifetime of experience as a vet, and I suspect he took a good bit of literary license at times.) Then there are the more abstract matters of food and agricultural policy, which I am informed enough to have opinions about but also informed enough to that many of them could well be wrong. Much easier would be to go after other farms that aren’t doing things right in my view. I don’t do this because farming is hard, situations are specific, and I have a great deal of empathy for anyone who’s sticking it out. I don’t often succeed, but I try to view other people with the same generosity I hope they will extend to me. Given all that, you’d be right to wonder why I’m about to take a hatchet to Cedar River Farms.

The first and biggest reason is that it is neither a farm nor a collection of farms. ( Wait What??) You cannot visit Cedar River Farms and see a herd of cows out grazing. The brand does have specific age and feeding requirements, so it’s possible there is a feedlot or a particular section of one filled with cattle destined to be packed under the Cedar River label. (Good luck to you if you try to visit that!) Instead of being an actual place or discrete number of places, despite the implication of the name, it is just a brand that aims to provide marginally more consistent beef than the generic stuff in the supermarket cooler.

 

^^^ What the actual fuck? ^^^  

 

Irish slumps in his chair. Is nothing sacred anymore?  I remember when Bluemoon was outted<<<

 

 

     The steaks I've been enjoying and sharing with friends are nothing more than a slight of hand trick.

Simple effective advertising, a good sales pitch and nothing more. Granted it may be a slightly better cut of meat but not for the price you pay. 

I searched for JBS and found this:

July 31, 2013

JBS USA announces the launch of CedarRiverFarms.com, an interactive website that highlights our premium Cedar River Farms® Natural Beef program. The website serves as an easy-to-use sales resource and informational tool for retail and foodservice operators, as well as a useful source of information for consumers.

"With the launch of CedarRiverFarms.com, we dispel the mystery of Natural beef," said John Punis, director of Natural beef brands at JBS USA Beef. "This new site explains our Natural approach to producing consistently superior beef, shares delicious consumer recipes and provides our customers with a valuable resource to make their business stronger." 

A google search of the address yields grassy pastures and acres and acres of beef cattle....not.

 

 

 I need a drink.......

More later....