Notes from Northeast: Ethical Beef at Restaurant No. 9

  |  April 27, 2012

When I started eating meat again 8 years ago, a friend commented, “I don’t know how you were a vegetarian, I’ve never seen anyone enjoy a burger as much as you do.”

I was a vegetarian for ethical reasons (ahimsa to yogis), and my return to meat eating coincided with a deeper interest in food politics and farming. For the most part I only eat meat raised by farmers I know and respect, so I was very excited when I found No. 9 in Millerton. It serves locally sourced, seasonal specials and a really killer Herrondale Farm beef burger.

In addition to pasture-raising their livestock, Herrondale Farm raises heritage breeds such as the British White (pictured above attempting to cross-breed with McEnroe‘s Hereford-Angus cross). Raising heritage breeds is akin to  seed-saving heirloom varieties of fruits or vegetables. There is value in maintaining individual characteristics of plants or animals, but  more importantly it maintains the genetic diversity of the food supply. 

While the Svalbard Global Seed Vault conserves crop diversity, I don’t know of an equivalent for livestock, so it’s especially exciting that there is a farmer in the region looking to the past to create a sustainable model for the future.

No. 9 offers so much more than just a perfect burger and beer. They support and promote local farms and agriculture, the seasonal menu makes the painting of Mother Earth feel relevant, and the food is really, really good.

No. 9

53 Main Street  (in Simmons’ Way Village Inn)
Millerton, NY 12546

518-789-1299

Tuesday – Saturday: 5:30 to 10

 

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