Farm Trips: Chicken and Wine Edition

Two weekends ago we made a jaunt closer to home to visit a small sustainable family farm in Prattville, a winery in Harpersville, and a 50,000 square foot corporate grocery store in Birmingham. Details as follows:














1. BC Hunt Farms, Prattville, AL

After nearly a month without so much as a taste of our fine-feathered friends, we decided it was high time that chickens became a part of our regular menus. Hungry for what some fans of pastured chicken call a more "chickeny taste," we set off to BC Hunt Farms in search of our first farm fresh chickens. When we arrived early Saturday morning, we were greeted by the Hunt clan - Bryan, Cat, and their three daughters, Kimberly, Mary, and Ryan, who had obviously all been busy killing chickens prior to our arrival. Blood-stained shirts and plastic aprons adorned even the littlest among them. The oldest daughter, Kimberly, came to meet us with knife in hand. After a little chit-chat, the team was back to work, affording us an opportunity to witness the much anticipated chicken slaughter, which took place entirely in the family's backyard. Up until now, my knowledge of chicken killing methods consisted largely of Michael Pollan's account in Omnivore's Dilemma and of the quick show-and-tell (sans birds) in the barn at Rosita's Farm. The Hunts' set-up was nothing fancy, but it worked. Plastic potting containers with holes cut in the bottom served as the "killing cones." The cones helped to contain the flapping chicken while its neck, exposed through the hole, was cut. A pair of 2x4's with a space between them just large enough to place the chicken's head sat over a series of buckets that would collect the draining blood. It was the youngest daughter's job to hold down the thrashing bird while it slowly died - a job which she relished with considerable delight. After the cones, the birds took a soak in a 145 degree water bath for 3 minutes, which helps loosen their feathers for the plucking machine. Their naked bodies were then passed to the oldest daughters for gutting, beheading, and cleaning. Finally, they were slipped into a ziplock bag and thrown into the cooler, ready to be claimed by waiting customers.

The Hunts killed more than 30 chickens that day. It was a family affair. The girls helped their dad, and they did so willingly. Each knew their responsibility - their part in turning living birds into food. Customers trickled in throughout the morning and afternoon playing audience to the carnage - Sarah even joined in on the gutting herself (see below). Some, ourselves included, took a reprieve from the slaughterhouse, to pick strawberries, or take a walk to see the pigs (which also will be turned into food later this summer!).

The Hunts started their little operation back in 2004. They run a CSA, sell pastured chicken, free-range hogs, and grass-fed beef. They also have a nice little patch of naturally-grown strawberries that are possibly the best strawberries I've ever tasted. Go visit them sometime and see the farm in action. You'll be happy you did.

2. Morgan Creek Winery, Harpersville, AL

After a long day of chicken-killing voyeurism, nothing hits the spot like a little wine-tasting at one of Alabama's wineries. Morgan Creek Winery is located about 30 miles east of Birmingham, and offers a wide variety of muscadine wines. We took a short tour of the facilities and were given an introduction on muscadine grapes, which are apparently coveted for their high levels of resveratrol, an antioxidant contained in the grape's skin and seeds. Even though white muscadine wine is made without the skins, it contains 7 times more resveratrol than the average non-muscadine merlot. A red muscadine wine, which is made with skins, contains 10 times more resveratrol. So we quickly found out that drinking muscadine wines (in moderation of course) is almost certainly better for our health!

After the tour, we had a chance to sample some of their wines, which included dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and fruit varieties. My favorites were the Cahaba White (sold at most grocery stores), a dry, fruity wine, and the Regal Red, a sweet wine with hints of cherry. They'll even let you buy a bottle and drink it on the premises, where you can sit at picnic tables overlooking the vineyards.


3. Whole Foods, Birmingham, AL

Before making the drive back to Tuscaloosa, a last-minute curiosity urged us to stop at Whole Foods Market, to see what, if anything, we could buy from Alabama. We strolled the produce aisles looking frantically for fruits and vegetables from Alabama, reading signs that told where each item was grown. In the produce aisle there was a lot of stuff from Georgia, more from California, and a handful of items from abroad - from Mexico mainly, and even something from China - but nothing that we saw in our quick survey from our great state. A quick run through the rest of the store revealed only a few Alabama products - Alabama farm-raised shrimp, goat cheese from Belle Chevre in Elkmont, Alabama honey, and Alabama wines. There's liable to be more Alabama products than what we found in our brief visit, but our quick scan looking for local goods was disappointing.

There are a number of reasons why Whole Foods in Birmingham doesn't carry more produce from farms down the highway. First, there's the issue of suppliers. It's much easier for Whole Foods to deal with established companies who supply organics than it would be for them to deal with a handful of local farmers in the area. Second, there are not a large number of USDA Certified Organic growers in the state - and, the buzz in foodie communities has largely been about "Certified Organic," and not "Certified Naturally Grown." Third, simply the size and the scale of Whole Foods makes it unreasonable that they could get even a tenth of their produce from Alabama farmers.

But still, Whole Foods could do more for local farmers, and the folks who shop there should demand it. Our friends David and Margaret Ann who run Snow's Bend farm here in Tuscaloosa County had a dealing with Whole Foods that ended in an out of court settlement. (You can read about their lawsuit here.) Long story short, Whole Foods came out to the farm and took some pictures of David, telling him that soon they would start buying from the farm as part of their "local supplier" program. Instead, they bought nothing and used David's picture in advertisements touting the local food offered at Whole Foods. Similar stories from other parts of the country abound.

While shopping at Whole Foods gives a warm and fuzzy feeling to many peoples' hearts (I'm buying organic, I'm buying local!), the reality is that like any other large publicly-traded corporation, the concerns of the board of directors are not so much about paying David and Margaret Ann a fair price for their produce. Instead, they're mainly concerned with having the largest profits possible to please the shareholders. It's legitimate to suggest that having a more aggressive stance toward supporting local farmers could be a way to maximize their profits. But, it doesn't appear that this is the strategy Whole Foods has chosen. And it doesn't seem to be hurting them either. The day we were there it was packed full of people.

UPDATE: A second fact checking trip to the produce department on Saturday, May 9th, revealed that we had overlooked two local goods - hothouse tomatoes from Blackjack Farms near Birmingham, and sweet potatoes from Haynes & Sons in Cullman.