Biscuits & Gravy with Farm Fresh Eggs

Today we made our first trek to the U District Farmer's Market, to get some farm fresh produce, meats, eggs, and dairy. We got some asparagus, mint, cheddar cheese, lamb loin, raw milk, and a dozen eggs.

The latter three items (lamb, milk, and eggs) we got from Sea Breeze Farm, which was the main impetus for the trip to the farmer's market - though I also hope to go more regularly. I did some online research and found Sea Breeze was one of the farmers who sell goods at the local markets, and that they follow a grass-based, 'beyond organic', free-range, pasture rotation method of farming that I've come to believe is the most sustainable, natural, and cruelty-free method available.

With labels like 'free-range' and 'organic' legislated down to meaningless buzzwords that even huge factory farms can achieve, I've realized I can't take those labels as an indication of the living conditions of the animals or the quality of the food. I realized that buying from local farmers not only reduces the amount of time between the field and my plate, but also the amount of oil used to transport it, and enables me a direct connection with the farmer - a relationship I'm far more likely to trust than a label on a package of boneless, skinless chicken breast shipped from some processing plant in the Midwest.

I'm not so arrogant as to believe I have all the right answers, that I'll be able to buy all my food locally, or that I won't find myself making different choices in the future. But I do try to be mindful of what I eat, and it's broader impact, and hope that the more I educate myself about the foods I eat, the better choices I'll be capable of making. It's funny to find myself making choices to eat meat now, and feeling better about eating meat from a local farm than eating a tomato from God knows where.

But enough pontification... today I made Dan a bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich (featuring farm fresh eggs and cheese), and made myself some biscuits and gravy, with one egg over easy on the side. Just as I'd been told, the yolk was brighter and more orange than even the 'cage-free' eggs we've been buying at QFC, and the egg definitely had more flavor - thanks to grass and bugs and sunshine, no doubt.