Where's the beef ? Check out the Cornwall farm market Saturday

CORNWALL — As America becomes more food conscious, people are increasingly hungry for information about where their food is coming from.

What began as a national trend toward growing backyard vegetables has extended to a desire on the part of many people to not only see the animals they might eventually eat, but also to learn how they are slaughtered.

About four years after Bill Hurlburt expanded his Cornwall agricultural business to include grass-fed beef sold in bulk, he is now selling individual cuts to customers at the weekly Cornwall Farmers Market in West Cornwall.

Saturdays find Hurlburt and his 11-year-old son, Jacob, selling small packages of homegrown beef out of coolers on the Wish House lawn. Whether you want hamburger patties or sirloin steaks, if you want some, get there early.

The prices he charges rival those of the supermarket chains. And devoted customers say the taste and tenderness of Hurlburt’s beef cannot be beat.

“I can’t keep up with demand,†Hurlburt said. “I only just started coming to the market this year because I had enough cows to be able to produce extra meat.â€

“He’s the real deal,†said Dan Pakenham. He and his wife, Yumiko Toyama, knew Hurlburt’s wife, Becky, from New York City. They were among Hurlburt’s first customers and call themselves big fans of the “local food movement.â€

This trend isn’t just about supporting food grown near one’s home, or for health reasons or as a way to protect farmers and farmland.

There has been increasing interest in workshops on how to  raise and slaughter animals  (such as a recent chicken tutorial  at Local Farm in Cornwall, see the story at tcextra.com). Home cooks and professional chefs want to know the origins of the food they prepare — and they want to ensure that a natural and healthy food supply can be sustained.

The roots of this trend might lie in the recent recession more than in a belief that our food supply is in peril.

Many people planted their vegetable gardens as a way to help combat their rising food costs. But many were also looking for a way to get back to basics.

Farming offered an inexpensive activity the whole family could do together, and perhaps fulfilled a yearning for the simpler lifestyle of a time that, here in rural Cornwall, wasn’t so long ago.

Hurlburt said that his first customers were often weekenders with city residences. The beef they served to guests at their dinner parties served as main course and a topic of conversation. They could proudly announce that they knew that particular cow “on the hoof.â€

In the early days of this new business, Hurlburt was selling his butchered meats in sizes large enough for his customers to actually identify body parts. He was selling meat mostly by the quarter, third and whole cow.

He began with a herd of five animals that, through careful breeding, has grown to 50.

The animals are all either Hereford,  Angus or a cross of the two. They eat a mix of grass and high-quality hay year ’round. Grain is given in small amounts as a dietary management tool. The Hurlburts do not use hormones or antibiotics, relying instead on good nutrition and breeding the best of the stock to produce healthy animals.

This approach gives the beef a uniquely rich flavor and good marbling, a balance of fat that ensures good texture, Hurlburt said.

And of course, fresh is always better, Pakenham said. He is among those who have headed for Hurlburt’s Cornwall Hollow barn to watch the slaughtering process. Meat sold at retail, such as the cuts sold at the market, is butchered at a nearby licensed slaughterhouse.

Private sales allow Hurlburt to process on site.

“I couldn’t believe how clean and efficient it all was,†Pakenham said. “The cows are very clean to start, and they come right off the grass into the area to be slaughtered, which is done right away, so there is no stress or chemicals released that can toughen the meat.â€

The Hurlburts’ other farm market offerings include Jacob’s maple syrup. His business card identifies him as the manager of the farm. Father and son laugh but don’t give a real answer when asked if that is true. But Jacob is passionate about being part of the business and someday continuing it on his own. The enterprising youngster also helps other local farmers slaughter chickens,  and he hays and does garden design.

For more information and to order beef, contact the Hurlburt’s at 860-672-6725 or bexbill@aol.com.