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07/31/2012 12:00 AMWith more and more discriminating shoppers wanting to know where their food comes from, Ron Rosa of Guilford Food Center is happy to inform them they can now bring Guilford-grown beef to the table, offered at his Whitfield Street shop.
The beef, provided by cattle owners John and Barb Hammarlund, joins other locally produced goods available at iconic downtown store-from fresh fish to Buster Scranton's Guilford-grown tomatoes and sensational maple syrup.
Rosa's excited to find such local connections. That's why he was interested when Barb Hammarlund recently contacted him about perhaps purveying local beef from steer raised on the couple's North Guilford farm, Half Mile Acres.
"I do have a lot of calls for local food. People want to know what they're eating and where it's coming from," said Rosa. "There is a need for it. Consumers are looking to buy local."
As long-standing secretary of the Guilford Agricultural Society, for which her husband, John, has served as president for many years, Barb Hammarlund said rising consumer interest in local foods is bringing local produce back to today's markets.
"It's coming full circle. Years ago, when Ron's parents had the Food Center, they used to buy veal from a local farmer. Growing up, I remember my great-grandmother used to sell blueberries and rhubarb and strawberries to the center," she said.
The Hammarlunds currently have 13 head of cattle. The bull calves among their herd are pasture-praised to be sold as beef.
"They're on pasture and grain-finished," said Barb Hammarlund.
The humanely raised, USDA-inspected meat produced by steer raised in this manner creates what she described as "stress-free beef."
"When a cow is under less stress, the meat is actually more tender. There may be some people who may debate that, but a lot of times you will find, in less-stressed animals, the meat's better," said Hammarlund, adding "breed and feed" also come into play.
With consumers also voicing fears every time stories of tainted meats pop up on the Internet, "People have asked for years for local-raised or natural-raised beef," added Rosa. "I've tried, without success, to bring it here. I had some excellent beef from Maine, but I had trouble getting the right cuts. I've been looking for the right mixture for our customers and for us."
Since June, Rosa has been selling all manner of cuts of the Hammarlund's local beef, cut and packaged in East Berlin, Connecticut. It's flash frozen and temptingly displayed in clear packaging in a special section near the front of the shop. He's also been spreading the word about the beef on the store's social media outlets.
"I think it will take a little time to get people to know about it," said Rosa.
Customers who've cooked up the local beef are very satisfied, he said.
"The flavor is very tasty. People are very happy with it," said Rosa. "It's a little more expensive, but not much more. One of the reasons is because they're not mass producing it. They're raising two or three [steer] at a time. If we can get it going, it will give them a chance to grow a little. Hopefully, it works out for us and Barb and John."
The Hammarlunds have been raising cattle for beef for about five years. They both work full time jobs away from their farm and thank friends Tommy Baker and his daughter Rebecca for helping them out with the cattle.
"They do just as many chores as we do," said Barbara Hammarlund.
The Hammarlunds also thank Guilford Food Center for taking on this new venture. Although the idea harkens back to Guilford's agricultural history, Barb Hammarlund said she feels there's great potential for this type of industry to become a modern-day economic endeavor here.
"I hope it's something that takes. There are other farms out there that are raising beef cattle as well. I hope it becomes something other farmers can also get involved in," she said. "That's been the wish, for some time, of the agricultural committee."