Eat Local

It’s winter, the season of luscious slow-cooked stews and hearty steak dinners. What is a beef-craving consumer to do?

Here, in Centre County, we have many options. The best and most logical is to know where your beef comes from. We are lucky to have farms all around us and many raise animals for meat. Making the connection between grower and consumer is easy.

At Tait Farm in Boalsburg, organic beef is for sale to the public several afternoons a month. Bill Callahan from Cow-a-Hen Farm in Mifflinburg and Sarah Rider, who raises Highland and Angus beef at her Blue Grass Beef farm on Upper Brush Valley Road, alternate selling dates at the Harvest Shoppe… and are happy to speak with consumers about their methods.

Lyn Garling, from Over the Moon Farm, sells pasture-raised beef to clients who sign up in advance, though she often has extra cuts available.

At the Granary, you can buy organic beef raised by Natural Acres Farm in Millersburg. Natural Acres products are also available at Nature’s Pantry, where Cow-a-Hen meats can be found in the freezer case.

“It is always safer if you know the source,” said Rider, who has been fielding many questions since the story broke. “You can talk to the farmer and find out where the animals are from and what they eat.” [Anne Quinn Corr]