CALF_News_April_May_2020

36 CALF News • April | May 2020 • www.calfnews.net By Kristin Mackey Contributing Editor The Experience of Beef This is the first in a two-part series about the writer’s enthusiastic foray into ranch life. B eef. It’s more than what’s for dinner; it’s an experience. I look back on some of my favorite memories and they took place over a perfectly cooked steak, a delicious juicy burger or the perfect prime rib. It’s been about celebrations, pomp and cir- cumstance. It’s how we celebrate an anni- versary, Christmas dinner, graduations and birthdays. Beef has represented extravagance as much as the ordinary moments in my life. I treasure my memories of learning to flip burgers with my dad, savor- ing my mom’s chicken fried steak and eating pot roast with my grandparents. As a youngster, one of the first things I learned to “cook” was ground beef. Little did I know that this one skill would be a go-to throughout my life. It’s how I make spaghetti and lasagna. It’s the base for the taco bar we share as a family on Christmas Eve. It is a standby ingredient that never lets me down. What I didn’t fully understand about this key staple was that beef was more than my trusted cooking companion, it was the product of a lifestyle, a livelihood … an experience. Curiosity piqued My curiosity about beef, and more so, the cattle and ranching industry, had been triggered several years prior, when I visited my best friend Kelsey’s family ranch. On a frigid, windy Saturday morning, I awoke cozy in my guest bed. This city girl had slept in until 8 a.m. – considered early for many on a week- end morning – but well after the work hour began on the ranch, where lazy weekend hours aren’t observed. Kelsey’s family had been up most of the night. I was shocked to walk outside in search of everyone else and instead found a brand-new calf being blown dry to warm it up while working to drink milk from a large bottle. She was in a bad way. Even though I have terrible allergies, my nurturing instincts took over, and I immediately joined in on the efforts. I got down on the floor, put the calf in my lap, held the bottle, stroking her head and begging for her to drink the milk. In that moment, I understood that this animal was struggling, and it felt right to help it survive. Later, while processing the experience with my friend and her family, I real- ized that their frantic effort to save this animal in distress wasn’t only an exercise in humanity, it ran much deeper. The calf was a part of a business, an asset, and its loss represented a hit to the ranch’s bottom line. What I learned that day was that putting beef on my table really is an experience and a lifestyle coupled with commerce. After returning home from my brief weekend sojourn, I determined that in order to be a truly appreciative connois- seur of the grilled steaks and beef enchi-