Shannon Hayes

WARNING: Mixing authenticity with joy may arouse contempt.

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Grassfed Cooking.com
Where I've compiled loads of articles and tips that I've written to help you make the most of your grassfed and pastured meats.
E-mail Shannon Hayes
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Selected Works

Essays
A little reality check about the glories of the good life...
Featured on Northeast Public Radio
Featured on Northeast Public Radio
Featured on Northeast Public Radio
Books
Finding, selecting, preparing and enjoying the most delicious and healthful meats for your body and the planet.
Shannon's latest grassfed meat cookbook. Nose-to-tail cooking for grassfed and pastured meats, plus the leftovers.
About this BLOG: This blog focuses on my farm and family life here in West Fulton, NY, with occasional efforts to promote my books and farm products. The sale of books and my farm products comprise the only compensation I receive for maintaining this site. For folks who like a more intense read, each Tuesday morning I put up the "Tuesday Post," an in-depth essay examining some aspect of farming, homeschooling, radical homemaking, or living sustainably. If you'd like a reminder, you can sign up for the weekly newsletter, under "stay in touch," listed on the menu at the top of this page. If you do, I will send you a link to each week's Tuesday Post. For those of you who like to breeze through on a quick visit, I try to post a photo and short entry every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, showing up-to-date glimpses of our life here. I hope you enjoy it, and that you'll come back often!

Reclaiming Christmas, Radical Homemaker Style

December 21, 2011

Tags: radical homemaking, eco-friendly holidays

Can you take on consumerism without being a Scrooge?

I signed on to my email this morning, and there, at the top of the list, was a very sensitive, careful email from my Aunt Katie. She was broaching the ever-touchy subject of Christmas presents for my daughters, Saoirse and Ula. What is acceptable this year? USA-made? Eco-friendly? We will be allowing gifts, yes? And, can we please make some time to talk about the holiday menu and what foods will be allowed?

Here’s the bitter truth. I’m my family’s biggest pain the ass every Christmas. (more…)

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Children's Books To Cope With The Gifting Frenzy

December 15, 2011

Helping our kids see more than what's beneath the tree
Christmas is just a few days away, and no matter how averse many of us may be to the social pressures of our consumer culture, we all still need to deal with the “gift issue” – Whether it is helping children to see why we may not want them to be doused with bucket-loads of plastic crap from Santa, trying to figure out what kinds of gifts might be most meaningful to loved ones, or simply trying to redefine what makes the holiday season pleasurable. (more…)

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Why A Farmer Would Occupy Wall Street

December 5, 2011

Every week during the growing season my husband and I cart our family’s grassfed meats to market, priced at $11/lb for pork chops, $7.50/lb for ground beef. Every week we meet someone who tells us the prices are too high.

And yet, at those prices, the average net income for our family members has maxed out at $10 per hour.

But part of our job is to hold our chins up and accept weekly admonishment for our inability to produce food as cheaply as it can be found in the grocery store. (more…)

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Farmers, Foodies, Radical Homemakers: Time to Occupy Wall Street

December 2, 2011

Tags: sustainable agriculture, radical homemaking

Please join us on Sunday, Dec 4th!
As a rule, I don’t do protests. I don’t occupy anything, except my home and the farm. I am a country girl, and the key to living a happy agrarian existence lies in having a certain personality type – I’m a recluse at heart. I can stay home for weeks on end and never crave to see a soul. Living in the sticks, that’s a good thing. It is this personality trait that enables farmers to do what they do. (more…)

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