Dartblog

We have gotten so far away from things natural that many people have never learned how good certain foods can taste. There are few happier moments for my wife and me than seeing a student exclaim at how full of flavor grass-fed beef can be, or a natural wine, or even something as simple as raw milk (actually, Elizabeth forbids this expression: the milk we drink isn’t raw, it is real; milk from industrial dairies is the product requiring the adjectives — after having been completely stripped of its butterfat, heat-pasteurized, pressure-homogenized, vitamin-fortified, and then reconstituted).

Misty Knoll chickens from New Haven, Vermont pass the naturalness test. Not only are the birds raised with proper feed, and the necessary room to run around and be chickens, they are also slaughtered on the premises at Misty Knoll.

Humane slaughtering is essential to the good taste of meat. A tuna that is quick-killed brings a higher price at the fish market in Tokyo than one that fought terrifiedly for its life; and a New Zealand farmer friend tells us that he sells all of his beef cattle to the slaughterhouse each year, except one, which provides meat for his family. That animal stays on his farm and is killed quietly.

Good taste, humane treatment, healthier eating. Take your pick. For whatever reason you eat Misty Knoll’s chickens, you won’t be disappointed.