We are thrilled to make our first neighborhood lunch visit! Find us THIS FRIDAY, somewhere on Jane Street between 25th and 27th. Please help spread the word to friends and co-workers!

Franktuary Mobile
Friday, 16 July
12 to 1:30 pm

Organic locally farmed grass-fed beef Frankfurter – small – $3.50
Organic locally farmed grass-fed beef Frankfurter – large – $5.50
Organic locally farmed grass-fed beef Sliders – 2 for $5.50

Carrot Dog – marinated grilled carrot! – $3
Veggie Dog – $3.50

French Fries – $3
Fried Dill Pickle Chips – $3

Sodas, Bottled Water – $2

We prefer cash but can take credit cards via Square and our iPad!

If you don’t see the truck, check out our Twitter feed – we’ll be live updating! www.twitter.com/franktuary

www.franktuary.com

If you haven’t noticed, our Locavore is talked about a lot.  Recently Mykia, one of our two CORO fellows, wrote a fabulous post about the importance of a diversified diet for beef and dairy cows.  Just yesterday, one of Pittsburgh’s finest food blogs, Burghilicious, higlighted Franktuary and the Locavore.

Surely, some of you are wondering what all the fuss is about.  “Does it really make sense to pay that much more for a hot dog, or is it just a marketing ploy?,” you might be wondering.  Well, friends, I believe it does make sense.  The reasons are many.

The following is the first of what I hope to develop into a series on the benefits of grass-fed beef.  This initial entry focuses on human health:

Franktuary’s relationship with Ron Gargasz Organic Farm enables the restaurant to offer an organic nitrate-free grass-fed all-beef frankfurter. Cattle raised entirely on field grasses produce a healthful balance of Omega-6 and Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs), while their grain-fed counterparts do not.  The end result is a healthier steer, a healthier frankfurter, and a healthier customer.

Many people believe they should maintain a diet high in Omega-3 fatty acids by eating seafood or using fish-oil as a supplement.  They’re absolutely right, but they’re only seeing part of the picture.  More important than the amount of Omega-3 consumed is the ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 digested.  The human body requires both of these EFAs, but does not produce them on its own. Trouble begins when they are consumed in skewed proportions.  Experts agree that a healthy Omega-6 to Omega-3 dietary ratio is about 2:1, yet the average American eats to a tune of 25:1!  This is because vegetable oils such as corn, safflower, and sunflower, found in almost all processed foods, are rich in Omega-6 EFAs with virtually no Omega-3 content.

At the same time American livestock is routinely fed corn in place of its natural diet resulting in suppressed Omega-3 content and poor animal health.  Wild caught seafood is rich in Omega-3 fatty acids because this type of fish eats its natural diet.  Sadly, salmon, a carnivorous creature, is beginning to be fed corn in farm-raised situations.  It’s only a matter of time before fish is pronounced less healthy than previously thought.

When EFAs are consumed in proper balance the human body is less likely to experience inflammatory diseases ranging from stroke to Crohn’s disease to cancer. Ron Gargasz, a 30-year veteran of organic farming, has studied the EFA content of his beef in conjunction with Penn State University and knows its healthful ratio to be the direct result of raising cattle entirely on their natural diet of field grasses. In doing so he is also able to keep his herd free of antibiotics, hormones, and pesticides.  You know the adage, “We are what we eat.”  Simply put, pasture-raised meats and their grain-fed counterparts are different foods entirely.

Additional Information:
Print: The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, Chapter 14, Section 2
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, Chapters 10 and 14
The Vegetarian Myth by Lierre Keith or Anticancer: A New Way of Life, By David Servan-Schreiber
Film: Food, Inc. or King Corn
Television: “Get Fresh with Sara Snow”, Episode 21: “Back to Basics”
Web: www.rongargasz.com – Pie chart data taken from this website
www.marksdailyapple.com/concentrated-animal-feeding-operations

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.

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!

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.

Here for the letter to President Obama? Click on this link.

For the rest of you, something new! Over the weekend I attended a lecture/hike on foraging. This is the kind of practical thing I wish I had been taught in elementary school. Instead, I learned valuable everyday life skills, like how to microwave a frozen stromboli. Okay. Maybe I learned a bit more than that. But, still, foraging is a skill everyone should have!

Attend a class like this and you will be amazed by how many edible things surround you, even if you live in the city. It opens your eyes to a natural world which we walk through everyday, yet becomes increasingly invisible as our culture forgets its non-technological roots. Plus, you’ll go home with a pocket full of hickory nuts!

If you’re not yet convinced, examine the case of Japanese knotweed. It is a known invasive species in the state of Pennsylvania. It’s all over the northeast. You cannot destroy your habitat by consuming it. In fact, ecologists encourage you to eliminate the stuff! There is no catch. It’s loaded with resveratrol, a substance people import from China and pay through the nose to take in supplement form. If you harvest it at the right time of year it can be eaten without preparation and tastes like a slightly tart apple mixed with rhubarb. Seriously.

So, what are you waiting for folks? Read up on foraging. Here’s a book by the guy who taught my class. You don’t want to accidentally poison yourself, so its best to begin foraging by searching for an easily identifiable, known, and safe entity. An ideal way to practice is to head downtown and see if you can find a Franktuary! Any time through November 9, say the word “forage” at the cash register and receive 10% off a Locavore!

What do you get when you take talented vocalists, force them to sing played-out rock and roll, and proceed to kill what little the music has going for it by surrounding it with an insipid love story? The horrendous new musical Rock of Ages, of course!

Trust me folks, unless you’re a monster fan of bands like White Snake this is one Broadway experience you want to skip. Fortunately, I attended gratis. Traveling to the Great White Way with comp tickets for this show is a bit like being given a Locavore at Franktuary only to discover that said sausage is covered in ketchup. Really, the comparisons are uncanny.

In the case of both Broadway and Franktuary you have to go out of your way to reach your destination. You venture into a neighborhood known for being difficult to find street parking. You deal with this inconvenience and risk a ticket because the venue makes it worth your while.

Frankfurters, similar to musicals, vary immensely in quality and taste. Ketchup in and of itself, much like an 80s hair band, is not necessarily a bad thing. Used sparingly it can even be enjoyable. Yet virtually everyone knows that a frankfurter, regardless of its quality, should never be paired with ketchup. Just ask the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council. Somehow the end result sinks beneath the combination’s lowest common denominator.

The only time it might be appropriate to employ ketchup is when you need to mask the taste of a really bad hot dog. Then again, if it’s that bad your best bet is simply to abstain. While you may not want to offend the cook and his crew of competent servers, certain foods are better left untouched. Well folks, the mind behind Rock of Ages really has cooked up something that bad.

You know what, though? Some people just love ketchup, no matter what. Others really dig Twisted Sister. In either case there’s a good chance such a predilection is due to a strange and powerful addiction. Nonetheless, these people have every right to listen to and eat what they please. They may be crazy but they’re not hurting anyone!

In conclusion, people everywhere should spend more time exploring rare and exotic mustards as well as listening to unique and intelligent rock and roll (take my business partner’s band, for example). And someone should pay me to write the plot of a Broadway musical. If these things happen the world will be a better place.

But hey, if you want sugared tomato paste on your musical and an order of Poison with that next frankfurter, I won’t stop you!

Happy G-20 week! Come try some of our fabulous local products and introduce yourself to a taste of the Steel City. Our organic grass-fed frank, soda from the Natrona Bottling Company, and pierogies are a great place to start.

Franktuary is downtown, only blocks from the convention center. 325 Oliver Avenue, between Wood and Smithfield Streets. We’re open from 10:00 am until 5:00 pm, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. 10:00 am to 3:00 pm tomorrow. Visitors most definitely welcome!

Hello, friends of the Frank. As regular readers know, this space is seldom used for shameless self-advancement. Typically people come here seeking enlightenment. After all, this space is a sacred testament to the power of natural casing.

Did I ever tell you, by the way, that a frankfurter is a close relative of baloney?

Nonetheless, today I have a request of whomever may be reading. We at Franktuary would really like the opportunity to serve our Locavore to the globally significant people attending the G-20 Summit. In all seriousness, we think our newest menu item fits tightly with the theme of why Pittsburgh was chosen as a host city in the first place.

If anyone out there has suggestions on how to obtain the right audience for discussing this matter, we’d love to hear from you! Shoot an email to tim@franktuary.com. Free Locavore to anyone making a new suggestion that brings us to our goal!