I just enjoyed some bubble tea with a friend who told me she accidentally parked in an “Expectant Mothers” space while visiting some sort of retail center the other day.  She felt bad, realizing what she had done only when she was about to leave.  As you may have guessed, my friend is not pregnant.

I helpfully pointed out how one could argue all women, in a sense, are expectant mothers. I mean, really, the way many dogs (not the ones with mustard) are treated today it seems that there are a plethora of expectant mothers who aren’t actually pregnant.

Anyway, I got to thinking.  It’s a good thing those signs read “Expectant Mothers,” as opposed to “Expecting Mothers.”  If it were the latter I could park there with complete justification.  (And I happen to know I’m a 28-year-old male.) If anyone hassled me I’d just explain that I told my mom I’d meet her at the mall.  If I parked anywhere else, how would she know where to look?

All this leads to two very important conclusions:

1) It is vital for Franktuary not to be located in a shopping mall.
2) The Locavore may be the closest thing Franktuary has to a child, and it’s one well treated dog.

Written by CORO Fellow Mykia Long on January 18, 2010.

If you’re like most people, you probably eat lots of different foods: asparagus, bread, Skittles…just to name a few. But if you want to be a conscious carnivore, answer this question: what does your beef eat? Do you know its diet? What about your milk? Do you know if it’s healthy? I would hope so, because that’s a pretty intimate process – making the decision to ingest, savoring each particle, and then allowing those ingredients to serve as sustenance for your being.

I hadn’t thought much about this before visiting Ron Gargasz Organic Farm in Volant, PA (home of Franktuary’s famous Locavore). It makes sense though…what goes into the cow makes up its flesh and in turn goes into me (and many other meat and dairy consumers). What blew my mind was the fact that most beef in our country has a concentrated high-corn diet. Burgers in restaurants and steaks in supermarkets come from grain-fed cows housed in feedlots. A high-corn diet helps to produce rapid weight gain and isn’t that expensive since the government pays for part of its production; hence, farmers can get more bang for their buck with their cows solely eating corn and grains.

But there’s one big problem. Cows can’t digest corn.

Cows are ruminants, which means their stomach ferments grass and converts it into protein and fats. They are not physically equipped to digest grain. Replacing a cow’s diet with grain instead of corn poses a host of serious maladies, like the presence of E. coli, which can only be interrupted by a constant diet of antibiotics. Ugh.

Ron eliminates this problem, and feeds his cows on a poly-culture diet. Not only does he avoid corn and grain diets, which is surely boring to the cows and lacks a wide range of nutrients, he also feeds them with hay crops consisting of multiple grasses.

“I try to give them a mixed salad of forages…alfalfas, orchards, and drier hay when they’re near processing,” says Ron. “The more diverse I make their diet, the more minerals [are present in the products].”

All in all, grass-fed beef and dairy with a varied diet is better – for the animal, and for us meat eaters and dairy consumers.

P.S.: Happy MLK Day – it was intriguing to see the influence of diversity in another part of life.

Franktuary is proud to be hosting two students from the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs.  Mykia Long, from Michigan, and Jon Harmatz, from New York, are overseeing “the greening of Franktuary”, helping identify practices at the store that can be eliminated in order to leave less of a carbon foot print on the environment.  They will also be identifying problems with our customer service and implementing solutions.  Here is Jon’s description of their project goals:

“1.  HFCS Elimination: Franktuary will soon replace all products that currently contain High Fructose Corn Syrup with healthier alternatives.

“2. Composting Waste and Sourcing Recyclable Products: Franktuary is looking to institute a compost program to help break down materials in a more eco-friendly process for the environment.  Franktuary is trying to move away from Styrofoam cups and containers and move towards more eco-friendly materials such as reusable bowls and recyclable or reusable utensils.

“3.  Store Accessibility: Franktuary will be rearranging the store so that it becomes more handicapped accessible for people who are disabled. Individuals in wheelchairs cannot currently reach the garbage in order to throw out their waste, and throughout the years many patrons have commented requesting easier access to the wastebaskets. Franktuary’s Coro Fellows are in place to see if there are any changes that can be made with the store to make it easier for the customer. Please, if you have any feedback — especially about trash experience — we would love to hear it.  Please e-mail us at emailus@franktuary.com.”

The fellows will be posting a blog each week they are with us, so check back soon!

Ho-ho!  It’s been a while since Franktuary has made use of its blog.  Sorry about that.  I’ve been busy reading Pooh Bear and avoiding Heffalumps.  I’ve found time for some other things, too.

About those other things…  Franktuary is putting the finishing touches on its 2010 business expansion plan.  Perhaps it should be subtitled, “This Time We Mean It”. Anyone interested in perusing?  Shoot an email to tim@franktuary.com.  One look at Appendix 3b (although my personal favorite is Appendix 2) and you’ll suddenly understand the title of this post.

You know what marks the 20th of every month?  Sales tax due.  Possibly I’m grappling with forces far more sinister than any Heffalump could ever be.  Woo-hoo!

Here we are, in our brand new internet digs.  We hope you like them.  Be a dear and let us know if anything isn’t working properly, will you?

Newsweek has embarrassed itself this week, publishing an article by an author with a sophomoric take on food and a distasteful sense of humor.  Here’s what she thinks.

I wrote a letter to the editor.  Most likely it won’t be published, so here’s what I think:

“Jennie Yabroff’s ‘No More Sacred Cows’ dramatically understates the nutritional differences between grass-finished meats and their grain-fed counterparts. Simply put, they are two different foods.  I can attest to this as both the owner of a restaurant and a battler with Crohn’s disease.  The moral argument is much trickier, but if it is not wrong to eat ‘the cheap, mass-processed, hormone-stuffed burgers and steaks that constitute 80 percent of the meat sold in the U.S.,’ it is still risky.

The vast majority of nutritional arguments against eating meat disappear when livestock is allowed to consume its natural diet and grow in a comfortable environment.  Some of the most compelling evidence for this is the radically different Omega-6 to Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acid ratios found in pasture-raised meat and meat from Commercial Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). All foods may not be equally healthful, but whether vegetable or animal, the sourcing matters far more than the substance.  It’s a shame more people don’t realize this. It’s tragic that some of the most destructive foods we can eat are also the most accessible.

Additionally, to make the claim that the life of a pasture-raised steer is likely not ‘ultimately better for the cow’ demonstrates a shocking lack of research by the author. For omnivores and vegetarians alike, it can be an uncomfortable realization that to sustain your own life something else must die. Above all, hunt, forage, farm, and eat with respect and gratitude. Smugness has no place in the food chain or at the table.”

Hello, friends. Franktuary’s website is about to undergo a major overhaul. In a word, beware.

Blog entries may be sparse over these weeks preceding the new year. When you visit franktuary.com your computer may spontaneously erupt, spewing magma, volcanic ash, and a mysterious mucopurulent substance from Silicon Valley. If the latter happens we are very sorry, but with computers one never knows.

Seriously, we anticipate a smooth transition, but should there be any complications rest assured that we haven’t forgotten about you. We’ll be here, just like we’ve been for the past five years, when the new site goes live. Hopefully you will be too!

Of course, while our internet presence evolves, we will continue to be open out there in the “real world.” So, what are you waiting for? Come say hello and see us for lunch. Trust me, Locavores taste better in “real life.” From Monday until Friday, between 10 and 3, Franktuary is the place to be. If your boss tells you otherwise, offer to take him out for lunch (at Franktuary) as a holiday gift. Bosses are people too, and deep down they want to leave the office just as much as you!

For those of you who rely on the internet to keep you in the know, follow Franktuary on Twitter. Even as our website transitions, you won’t miss a beat.

Finally, Franktuary will be closed on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day. A New Year’s Eve decision is pending. And before signing off, I would be remiss not to thank the organizers of Handmade Arcade for a fabulous 2009 event. So, thank you, team HMA. Here’s to Franktuary and Handmade Arcade reaching new heights in 2010!

That headline’s not completely accurate, but it’s a big week for Franktuary outside of its storefront. Visit us for lunch downtown and visit us again at one or both of these fine events later in the week!

1) This Friday Franktuary will be at The Allegheny Front’s Local Foods Happy Hour. All you really need to know is that we’ll be giving out Locavore samples and you, my friend, will have the rare opportunity to purchase this fabulous product for home use by the pound! It’s also crucial to know that TAFLFHH (what a great acronym!) runs from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm at WYEP’s Southside Studios. Find more information here. Hope to see you at TAFLFHH soon!

2) This Saturday is Handmade Arcade. The one-of-a-kind indie craft fair is back at the Hunt Armory in Shadyside. The event runs from 11 am – 8 pm. Franktuary will be there all day, nourishing hungry shoppers and vendors alike. For those of you that wish Franktuary had weekend hours, well, this is your chance to live the dream. Bring all those friends who can never make it downtown. Seriously, even if Franktuary wasn’t there to feed you, HMA would be well worth attending. It is an ideal way to support independent merchants while discovering unique holiday gifts. Details here. Not to be missed.

And so, it appears, a CBS drama set in Pittsburgh has gone off the air. Read more about that here.

Did Three Rivers ever really have a shot? The author of the article I linked to doesn’t seem to think so. I must admit, I never saw it. This begs the question, would Three Rivers remain on the air today if a few of its scenes had been shot at Franktuary? I can personally guarantee that the show would have had at least one additional viewer!

Unlike Three Rivers the drama, the city of Pittsburgh is still going strong. Franktuary is back to its regularly scheduled programming after a brief holiday interruption. Your Locavore is waiting.

Who says late November is only a time for turkey? Not us, that’s for sure. That’s why Franktuary is officially declaring Tuesday November 24 to be “Franksgiving Day.” Purchasers of a Locavore will be offered a second for free. It’s just our way of saying “franks a lot” to you, our lovely customers.

The Locavore, an organic, grass-finished all-beef frankfurter, debuted on our menu in July. Since then customers have referred to it as “the filet mignon of hot dogs” and “the best hot dog you will ever eat.” While these are undoubtedly true statements, the benefits of consuming a Locavore go far beyond extraordinary flavor. Free of antibiotics and hormones, organic, grass-finished beef offers a perfectly balanced ratio of Omega 3 and Omega 6 essential fatty acids, an inflammation-fighting health benefit more commonly associated with wild-caught seafood. As the name suggests, the Locavore is produced from start to finish in the Pittsburgh region, traveling only 60 miles from Ron Gargasz Organic Farm in Volant, PA to Franktuary in Pittsburgh.

Just an FYI, after Franksgiving, there’s another popular holiday later in the week. We’ll be closed Wednesday November 25 through Friday November 27 in observance of Thanksgiving.

Tonight is Light Up Night in downtown Pittsburgh. That means, aside from its regular hours, Franktuary is open from 5:30 pm to 9:00 pm. That also means WE should see YOU for dinner. This is a once-in-a-year opportunity, people. Late night at Franktuary. Here’s hoping that won’t be the case for too much longer;).