Items Tagged With Midwest

World's Columbian Exposition: Chicago, United States, 1893

Thoughts from Ulla:

The Midwest is possibly the most fertile place on earth. Glacial deposits blessed the Midwest and particularly Iowa with prodigious amounts of highly productive top soil. Our ascendancy to becoming THE world power can be traced to the productive agricultural might of the Midwest, and the freedom it gave us to industrialize and no other town has been impacted more by the riches of our agricultural bounty than Chicago. Chicago was the center for commodity trading and the financial center of the Midwest where cattle and hogs were brought and fattened and slaughtered in an unprecedented factory-like manner. The Union Stock Yard & Transit Co., or The Yards processed more meat then any other place in the world from the Civil War until the 1920s reaching its peak in 1924. Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” chronicled the slaughterhouses to the horror of a newly industrialized America, in many ways Michael Pollen’s the Omnivores Dilemma has done the same for this generation; bringing the horrors of our modern day feedlots to the homes of suburban America. Our beef production is now controlled by four large packers who exercise control over the whole process of bringing beef to our plate, this was true back in our gilded age and policy makers where able to wrestle control back to help protect workers and customers. Sinclair’s book changed America he intended to shed light on industrial labor and working conditions, but food safety became a national obsession. Sinclair talked of workers falling into rendering tanks and being ground into "Durham's Pure Leaf Lard". Americans where aghast, coupled with the high death rate of slaughterhouse workers and the exploitation of children and women and the fact that foreign sales of American meat fell by one-half impelled governmental action. Does this sound familiar? Koreans refusing our beef, immigrant children being used in meat packing plants and Americans becoming obese on unhealthy fat? This is true today and I think we have a unique opportunity to take the power back from the consolidation that has happened, we did it back then, why not now?


Notes from Franny on the Union Stockyards:

The Union Yards were established in a purchase of 320 acres of swamp land in 1864 by 9 railroad companies that saw a great opportunity in a consolidated railway shipping center taking the bounty of the west to the east. Originally, live cattle were shipped from the Stockyards east to local markets and local slaughterhouses where cattle production was waning. Pigs, on the other hand, were slaughtered at the Stockyards from the beginning; their meat was shipped salted, smoked, and cured.  In the early 1880’s, the entire cattle industry changed when an engineer friend of the Swift company invented the refridgerated railway car. This was the key to creating the 1st vertically integrated business where could be bought live (on the hoof), slaughtered, and shipped to butchers in local markets. The Armour Company and the Swift Company were among the largest holders of this vertically integrated businesses centered at the Union Stockyards and their hold across the many stages of production and distribution gave birth to the still present tension between small processor and large processor, producer and packer, and nameless slaughterhouse worker and corporate giant.

People noted that the Stockyards were in the truest sense a human machine.  They employed human labor to disassemble the animal parts.  At the time, machines were not capable of dealing with such raw and non-uniform materials as animals, so humans became the working pieces of the machine, setting an example for the marvelous organization of machines to come, machines that would propel American Industry to it’s height of might.  With 2,000 workers and roughly 38,000 animals killed per day, the development of organizational efficiency was key in creating a sustained center of processing that would feed the growing and hardworking American populace. The division of labor saw it’s day in Chicago at the Stockyards at  the turn of the century, and this division of labor model has since trickled into factory systems across the world. 

Although it was called the Union Stockyards, any attempt at starting unions were oppressed by the big operators. There were two Unionizing attempts, one of which was lost in a strike.  It wasn’t until Congress passed the Wagner Act in 1935, which encouraged collective bargaining, that a union was formed by workers at the Union Stockyards.

The stockyards did, however, offer employment to millions of immigrants over the years who dreamed the American dream. Chicago was a marvel as it grew more than any other city in the World in one generation, and this, as Ulla stated earlier was given to it’s place as an agricultural trading center sitting at the crossroads of a country’s farmland and newly industrialized cities.

Young NFU members with President Tom Buis at the 2008 Convention

There must be a voice to represent those who are working on the land, those who must deal with the swing of commodity and fuel prices, feeding families, and retaining ownership of working agricultural lands. The interests of farmers and ranchers, who don’t have the lobbying weight of the big 4 packers, must still be fairly represented when policies are being made (or not made). The National Farmers Union gives independent producers a voice in Washington. When we talk about Grass-fed Change on this blog, we always come back to the need for effective policy change and the work of the National Farmers Union has proved a devotion to active grassroots development of new policy through programs such as the Farm Bill Listening Sessions. They work on issues surrounding taxes, renewable energy, conservation, country of origin labeling, fair trade, and fair competition, among others. They take part in the crafting of the Farm Bill, and work to see that the laws created in the bill are enforced and regulated. This week, we were able to interview Liz Friedlander, the director of communication at the National Farmers Union, to find out more about how the NFU is helping to give small farmers a voice in our nation’s agricultural policy.

What historical conditions gave rise to the formation of the National Farmers Union?

National Farmers Union was founded in 1902 in Point, Texas, to help the family farmer address profitability issues and monopolistic practices while America was courting the Industrial Revolution.


How does the NFU assist producers in retaining ownership of their commodities further to the processing channel?

NFU passed a policy position in 2008 recognizing consumers’ increasing demand for fresh, source-verified, direct from the farm food. This is the fastest growing sector of the food industry and a win-win for both farmers and consumers. Many of the Farmers Union state organizations have embraced the idea as well. A few examples: North Dakota Farmers Union owns two restaurants in Washington, D.C. – Founding Farmers and Agraria – that specialize in local food; Kansas Farmers Union’s members sell their products to local school districts for school lunches; Missouri Farmers Union has formed Heritage Acres Pork, natural pork products direct from the farm and supplier of the Chipotle restaurant chain.


What are some major accomplishments in Washington that the NFU has made on the behalf of it’s members?

In 2008, NFU was a key player during the farm bill debate with several of our priorities, most notably the creation of a permanent disaster program and implementation of mandatory country of origin labeling, becoming law as part of the final bill. In years past, we have advocated for emergency disaster assistance which has resulted in billions of dollar to farmers who sustain losses as a result of natural disasters. We’re continuing to monitor USDA’s implementation of the new farm law to ensure the U.S. Department of Agriculture follows Congressional intent. NFU has also been a long-time advocate for increasing the use and production of renewable fuels and were the first agriculture organization to support establishing a national Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS).


How does the NFU work to support co-ops, and how do the co-ops offer farmers and ranchers greater independence and control of their products and income?

NFU promotes rural economic and cooperative development by supporting existing agricultural co-ops and helping form new farmer co-ops and other rural businesses. The primary objective is to help family farmers and ranchers add value to the food, fiber and energy they produce. NFU assists producers to retain ownership of their commodity further into the processing channel and enhance market returns on their investment. By working together with other persons and groups, Farmers Union helps family farmers and ranchers advance their farm, ranch, co-op and community enterprises. We also advocated in strong support of the Value-Added Producer Grant program, included in the farm bill, which provides grant dollars to producers who wish to pursue creative strategies to add value to their raw commodities.

How can a small farmer benefit from being a part of the National Farmers Union?

NFU provides a voice for farmers, ranchers and their rural communities. The key to NFU’s success is our grassroots structure. All NFU policy is developed by our members, beginning at the local level, before being formally adopted by delegates to the organization’s annual convention. It is these policy positions that NFU staff and members advocate during visits with policy decision-makers both in Washington and across the country.

For more information about the National Farmers Union activity and commitments click on this link. Also, their check out their blog and gallery to see profiles of members and pictures from their events.

This week we focus on the Midwest and because Chicago was so important in the creation of our beef industry I wanted to showcase two beef recipes. The first recipe  was made popular by Italian immigrants who worked the infamous Union Stock Yards: the Chicago Italian Beef Sandwich.  The second recipe is a steak house recipe because the history of American beef is not complete with out talking about steak and the our love of steak houses. Steak has always followed the money and that is why the best steak houses are in financial centers.  Steakhouses use commercial broilers to cook their steaks, and Chicago is famous for its charred very rare steaks which is perfect for grass-fed steaks because they are best rare. 

Chicago Italian Beef Sandwich
Ingredients:
1 (3-pound)La Cense bottom-round beef rump roast
2 tablespoons fresh oregano or 2 teaspoons dried oregano, minced    
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, minced
5 cloves garlic, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups beef stock
salt and pepper to taste
For sandwiches:
Italian sweet peppers, sautéed
Giardiniera(Italian picked vegetables)
Hero Rolls

Preparation: Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 500°F.  Pat roast dry and sprinkle all over with 2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper set on rack and place beef stock in pan.  Mix parsley, oregano and garlic and olive oil spread over roast. Roast, fat side up, in a roasting pan 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F and continue to roast until thermometer inserted into center of meat registers 120°F, 35 to 45 minutes more. Transfer roast to a cutting board and let stand, uncovered, 15 minutes.  Boil drippings, this will be the sauce. VERY Thinly slice meat across the grain and serve with sauce or make an Italian Beef Sandwich.

I served this for dinner-- hot --with left over mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving it was so good! Then I made the sandwich for lunch the next day. I recommend doing this because the roast is so good fresh out of the oven!

To assemble sandwich: heat sliced meat in sauce, place on hero, add sautéed Italian sweet peppers. Enjoy!

Chicago Steakhouse Style Grass-fed Steak



The secret to mimicking a steakhouse style steak in the comfort of your own home is to heat your broiler 20 minutes before you put the steaks in. You want the oven really hot! Some people go as far as to broil the steaks over a rack that is placed over an aluminum tray filled with salt so that it catches the juices. With a grass-fed steak you want to broil it about 5 minutes on each side. But each broiler is different so do please use your personal discretion. Make sure to season the steaks with salt and pepper. I made herb butter with mine because I love the flavor of the charred steak with herbed butter!

Herb Butter: In bowl, blend 1/2 cup softened butter, 2 cloves finely chopped garlic and 2 Tbsp. finely thyme and parsley.

The maze of livestock pens and walkways at Chicago's stockyards, ca. 1947 courtesy of The National Archives.

Franny and I talked a bit about the history of Chicago and the rise of the Union Stock Yards and how Chicago’s growth as a financial hub, and city, coincided with the consolidation of agriculture in America in our last blog post. The Chicago meat packing industry was made infamous in Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” which chronicled the conditions' of workers and animals in Chicago’s Union Stock yards.  Stories of workers falling into rendering tanks and being ground up in "Durham's Pure Leaf Lard" captivated and angered the nation. Americans where sickened by the conditions and manner their food was being butchered and demanded change.  It was Theodore Roosevelt that brought it with the passage of the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which established the Food and Drug Administration.  “The Jungle” changed America.

We are at a similar juncture now. I think that Michael Pollen’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” has introduced the perversity of our industrialized agricultural system for the first time to many Americans; not to mention the news articles about deadly e coli out breaks and stories of young immigrant children being abused in meat packing plants in the Midwest.

Crowd to meet Theodore Roosevelt at Chicago photo courtesy Bain News Service

I think this photo of a crush of Chicagoans congregating to meet Theodore Roosevelt in his reelection campaign really captures for us the momentum Theodore Roosevelt had as he busted trusts. Theodore Roosevelt was a small-government republican but he was able to wrestle a lot of control back from large corporate entities for the benefit of America. The large packers that dominated the Union Stock Yards faced new regulations that helped to make the American food supply safer. Ironically enough today many grass-fed farmer’s will tell you that is the FDA and their strict guidelines that stand in the way of true grass-fed change.  Notwithstanding,  I feel that we have started the dialogue much like Upton Sinclair did back in 1906. We might need to reevulaute the FDA, so that we can make it easier for small producers to compete against large packers, but impetus is now there: Americans want change, and that is the only way change happens.