Are you for veal?

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), May 31, 2006 | by TERESA J. FARNEY THE GAZETTE

You can't call them vegetarians, because they eat chicken, pork, beef -- even a hot dog now and then.

But even some of the most ardent carnivores have a real beef with veal and won't get near it. Their reasons have nothing to do with diet or nutritional issues, and everything to do with how veal is produced: from baby calves that are torn from their mothers a few days after birth, fed an inadequate diet and confined to a cramped crate to keep their muscles underused and tender.

It's inhumane, say a number of animal rights organizations, including the Humane Society of the United States and Farm Sanctuary, and they've long urged consumers to avoid buying veal at stores and restaurants.

Jon Cordonier of Peyton is hoping they'll reconsider veal -- his veal, that is. Through his company, Great West Cattle Co., he's marketing Highland cattle veal calves raised in what he says is a much more humane way. There are no crates, no hormones or antibiotics, no confinement or skimpy diets.

Gene Bauston, cofounder and president of Farm Sanctuary, sponsor of a nationwide "Say No To Veal" campaign, sees Cordonier on the cutting edge of what appears to be "a mini revolution in farming in general to raise animals more humanely."

"Mini" is the operative word. "There are only about a handful of ranchers nationally who freerange their veal," says Dean Conklin, executive director of veal marketing for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association in Denver. He estimates that free-range veal represents only about 5 percent of the approximate 717,000 head of veal produced each year.

For Cordonier, adding free-range veal to his line of all-natural meat seemed a logical next step. He originally got into the cattle business in 2004 to have a source of better beef for himself and family, and was getting Highland cattle from some Wyoming ranchers. He went back to Wyoming, to the Thorbardin Ranch, for his veal.

"I had heard of freerange veal and that it was a more humane way to get the product," Cordonier says.

He and the ranch owner did some research and discovered there were no regulations for labeling free-range veal.

"We worked with USDA to develop regulations, which were approved the first of this year, and started producing free-range veal," he says.

Cordonier's free-range veal comes from the Heritage breed of Highland cattle, which is known for its natural marbling, flavor and tenderness.

"It's different from commercial veal since the calves stay with their mother until they are about 6 months old," Cordonier says. "They're never bottle-fed."

In years past, one of the prize features of veal produced by traditional methods was its milky white color and mild flavor. Freerange veal is more on the pinkish side, and that's just fine with the folks at Farm Sanctuary, which was founded in 1986 to combat abuses in industrialized farming and to raise awareness about farm animals. Part of the group's "Say No To Veal" campaign is getting restaurateurs to pledge not to use white veal. Carol Moon, an educator with the group, said the pink veal comes from calves that are treated more humanely.

Whether the diehard antiveal people will buy into freerange veal en masse remains to be seen, but several people in the culinary community have embraced it.

"I have, for many years, had concerns about what I would call 'factory' veal production, in which animals were kept on restrictive diets and penned, which made them anemic," said John Ash, a Californiabased chef and the celebrity judge at this year's Colorado Springs Chorale Chefs' Gala. "I think the veal ranchers finally heard the concern, and now there are a whole group of what I would call 'ethical' veal producers who are treating their animals humanely and not worrying about the fact that the meat is a little pink rather than being pure white."

Scott Savage, executive chef at The Cliff House at Pikes Peak in Manitou Springs, used Cordonier's veal at the Chefs' Gala. His recipe, Veal Napoleon, not only won several awards, but gave him the opportunity to talk up the meat.

"I've been using freerange veal at the restaurant about five months, and everyone who has had it has loved the flavor and juiciness," Savage says. "I was a little nervous about using it for the Gala, but I wanted to have a chance to explain the difference between it and commercial veal."

Savage had commercial veal on his menu before, but after tasting Cordonier's free-range veal, he knew he had a winner.

"As soon as I started using the free-range veal, customers were raving about it," he says. "That's why I wanted to feature it in my dish for the Gala."

According to Cordonier, veal consumption has declined by nearly 80 percent. He and chefs such as Savage are doing their part to turn that around. But the battle might not be easy, as Savage discovered at the Chefs' Gala.

"There were a few who would not eat my dish when they heard it was veal," he says. "That was the point I wanted to make -- that this veal comes from a rancher who is allowing the calves to be with their mothers and not kept in confined stalls. Even after explaining, some still wouldn't try it."