Pray For Mother Nature Jeans release a new video featuring the bison, a powerful symbol of nature. “The centerpiece of the commercial is ‘Cody the Buffalo’. We chose the Bison as a symbol for both the importance of preservation, and the enigmatic spirit of nature.”
Pray for Mother Nature from Funk Factory Films.
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Friday, July 29, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
PURE PIG: Ranch finds modern market for old-world product
HOUSTON, Minn. — The pork raised at the Buffalo Gal Ranch isn’t like the pork your father raised — you’d probably have to go back more than a hundred years to find something similar.
That’s because Mike Fogel and Valerie Shannon raise heritage breeds like Russian wild boar and Ossabaw and Swabian pigs on their farm north of Houston. Some of the breeds trace their origins back to the 15th century.
Due to a Minnesota law that bans the raising of Russian wild boars, the Fogels are the only breeders and producers of the species in the state — their operation dates back to before the law was passed.
Ossabaw pigs, too, are a rare breed to own. The breed traces its heritage to Ossabaw Island off the Georgia state coast, where the breed was abandoned when the Spanish left. The breed went feral, and now wildlife agencies there are trying to kill off the pigs.
At the Buffalo Gal Ranch, littered with detritus and outbuildings from a bygone era of farming, the Fogels are all about doing things the old-fashioned way.
The Fogels let the pigs roam around in their pens or around the old dairy barn converted for their operation.
Outside the barn, litters of pigs roam with mothers, while inside breeding specimens and pigs almost ready for the butcher are housed in individual pens and get hands-on attention and care from Valerie. Lloydie, the stud used for most Russian wild boar breeding, gets regular baths and special meals.
The Fogels have no farrowing pens — small enclosures that hold mothers and piglets — nor do they use steroids, hormones or antibiotics.
“If a weak pig is born, we let nature take its course,” Valerie said.
The pigs are all raised and bred in small groups. “Heritage breeds are not conducive to factory farming,” Valerie said.
Lenny Russo, the chef and proprietor of the Heartland Restaurant and Farm Direct Market in St. Paul, buys all three of the Fogels’ breeds for his restaurant.
Each breed yields different flavors and textures, and Russo mixes them for each day’s menu.
Russo uses the Russians for products like pork chops, pork roasts and pork shoulders.
He also utilizes the whole pig, “from tip to tail.”
Heads are used to make head cheese, while bones are roasted for stocks and sauces.
“We have a really close relationship. It’s been excellent working with the Fogels,” he said.
While area restaurants are big customers for the Fogels, they also sell their products all over the country through their website.
“The Internet has changed so much for us,” Mike Fogel said. “We used to have to go to the brokers with extra merchandise, and they would cut us to the bone on profits.
“Now we send our customers emails about specials, and we sell out.”
Leave it to the Fogels to find a modern way to market a decidedly old-world product.
That’s because Mike Fogel and Valerie Shannon raise heritage breeds like Russian wild boar and Ossabaw and Swabian pigs on their farm north of Houston. Some of the breeds trace their origins back to the 15th century.
Due to a Minnesota law that bans the raising of Russian wild boars, the Fogels are the only breeders and producers of the species in the state — their operation dates back to before the law was passed.
Ossabaw pigs, too, are a rare breed to own. The breed traces its heritage to Ossabaw Island off the Georgia state coast, where the breed was abandoned when the Spanish left. The breed went feral, and now wildlife agencies there are trying to kill off the pigs.At the Buffalo Gal Ranch, littered with detritus and outbuildings from a bygone era of farming, the Fogels are all about doing things the old-fashioned way.
The Fogels let the pigs roam around in their pens or around the old dairy barn converted for their operation.
Outside the barn, litters of pigs roam with mothers, while inside breeding specimens and pigs almost ready for the butcher are housed in individual pens and get hands-on attention and care from Valerie. Lloydie, the stud used for most Russian wild boar breeding, gets regular baths and special meals.
The Fogels have no farrowing pens — small enclosures that hold mothers and piglets — nor do they use steroids, hormones or antibiotics.
“If a weak pig is born, we let nature take its course,” Valerie said.
The pigs are all raised and bred in small groups. “Heritage breeds are not conducive to factory farming,” Valerie said.
Lenny Russo, the chef and proprietor of the Heartland Restaurant and Farm Direct Market in St. Paul, buys all three of the Fogels’ breeds for his restaurant.
Each breed yields different flavors and textures, and Russo mixes them for each day’s menu.
Russo uses the Russians for products like pork chops, pork roasts and pork shoulders.
He also utilizes the whole pig, “from tip to tail.”
Heads are used to make head cheese, while bones are roasted for stocks and sauces.
“We have a really close relationship. It’s been excellent working with the Fogels,” he said.
While area restaurants are big customers for the Fogels, they also sell their products all over the country through their website.
“The Internet has changed so much for us,” Mike Fogel said. “We used to have to go to the brokers with extra merchandise, and they would cut us to the bone on profits.
“Now we send our customers emails about specials, and we sell out.”
Leave it to the Fogels to find a modern way to market a decidedly old-world product.
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