A day on the ranch

My friend Cory is a total badass superhero and I would challenge anyone to dispute me on this fact. The woman, who I might point out is a fair bit younger than I am, has twin two year olds, a five year old, is running a sustainable, grass-fed cattle ranch with her husband Dave -- all the while single-handedly trying change the way the world thinks about food. Cory and I met at the PERC Environmental Institute last summer, shared a Marble Slab ice cream and were instant friends for life. Little did I know then how many times her dry wit and practicality cocktail would serve as my leveling agent in the months ahead, the perfect elixir that always manages to bring me back to center.

There was obviously no question that I would be stopping by Cory’s ranch on my way through Oregon. I had heard so much about it and couldn’t wait to see her and meet these imaginary kids of hers. The few days I spent in Wallowa, OR were life-changing for me. I watched Cory move about her daily activities of buying cattle, feeding pigs, collecting eggs from the chickens, taking care of her kids while in between finding time to meet with people who share her passion for creating awareness around sustainably grown food. I couldn’t believe everything she managed to get done in a day. Her energy was contagious. In the meantime, her husband Dave did his own work on the ranch and with the kids, including making the buns for our (AMAZING) hamburgers from scratch from the flour they had both grown and milled. Everything in their kitchen came straight from the earth. It was incredible.

I was so bummed I couldn’t kidnap Cory to come to the PERC reunion with me, but she had meetings in Portland to go to so she could sell her beef, and you really can’t argue with that. BTW, I love that TNC’s office in Portland goes in together to share one of her cows. We did that in the SF office too (with a local CA farmer), and it just made me happy knowing that one of my favorite people found a customer-base in my fellow TNC colleagues in OR. For anyone interested in learning more about why you should be buying grass-fed beef from a local farmer, check out Cory’s website: http://carmanranch.com.  Vote with your fork!!