Visit our online store (CLICK HERE) to review our monthly specials and shop.

Local harvest

Pick out a big bright pumpkin at Ranch Foods Direct! ($5 each.) Other local fall produce, including beans, potatoes and squash available.

Natural turkeys in all sizes, Heritage Acres hams and Callicrate Beef standing rib roast… It’s never too early to start planning for the holidays. CLICK HERE to view a Ranch Foods Direct holiday flyer.

Pumpkins, squash and late season tomatoes… Enjoy them all, along with great beef.

CLICK HERE for recipes

October 2007

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.
— Albert Camus

There’s never been a better time to get in touch with your inner German. Instead of traveling halfway around the world, consider a quick trip to Fountain. Walk through the doors of Elke’s German Deli and you are in a whole different country, one that brings German tastes and traditions to life. Browse Mitch and Anke Verburg’s wide variety of German items, including meats, cheeses, baked goods, candies and even magazines. Take out is available. Several of their fresh deli items are made with ingredients supplied by Ranch Foods Direct.

CLICK HERE to visit their website. The store is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5.

It sounds like an oxymoron, but it’s not. Fall cookouts, kids’ activities and tailgate parties deserve a great hot dog that is also — get this — healthy! Ranch Foods Direct one-eighth and one-fourth pound Callicrate beef franks are pure beef. “It’s our meat. Simple ingredients. No preservatives. No chemicals. No flavoring agents,” says Ranch Foods Direct owner Mike Callicrate.

During October, check out the Ranch Foods Direct line of bratwurst sausages. The Laughing Lab brats — a collaboration with favorite local brew pub, the Bristol Brewing Company — are quickly generating a following. “It actually has some beer to it,” says sales manager Don Martin. The taste is far superior to anything you’ll get at your regular grocery store because it’s made with real ingredients, not fake flavoring agents. “We’re the place to shop for your brats. Why go anywhere else?” Don says.

Fall farm and food findings
(Mark your calendars now for several October events!)

By Melissa Marts
Local food advocate

The local produce season is coming to a close as we pass the Equinox and enter into fall. Although the array of local produce at Ranch Foods Direct will diminish as the season grows cooler, Ranch Foods Direct will continue to supply hormone and antibiotic free meat to area restaurants through the Peak to Plains Alliance.

One restaurant worth a special mention this month is The Warehouse (25 W. Cimarron St, Colorado Springs (719) 475-8880). Chip Johnson, former lifer chef at the Briarhurst, is now the owner of the Warehouse and is bringing new culinary delights to the menu. Take time to visit while you can, as the Cimarron overpass will soon be closed indefinitely and Chip will need all of our support to spread the word on his stellar food offerings (which include hamburger patties, ribeyes and top sirloins from — where else — Ranch Foods Direct.)

CLICK HERE to visit our restaurant page for a full list of recommendations.

Following are some upcoming farm-related events you may want to add to your calendar:

October 4: Pinon Canyon ranchers who are working to save their way of life will be at Colorado College on Thursday, October 4th from 6-7:30 pm. They’ll share their stories and explain the agricultural, geological, and environmental importance of keeping Pinon Canyon as ranchland rather than allowing the area in Southeast Colorado to be bought up for military expansion. The Army’s proposal to buy the land has been a controversial local issue, and here’s your chance to hear the ranchers’ side of the story. Mark your calendar October 4, 6-7:30 p.m., Colorado College's Worner Center, WES Room.

October 13: Healthy eaters looking to learn more about real milk (straight from the cow, without pasteurization) can join a special Slow Food fall tour on Saturday, October 13 to Larga Vista Farm and Dairy. The tour starts with a primer at the downtown La Baguette and travels for lunch to Pueblo, where participants will eat at a historic area restaurant. The tour finishes up in the Arkansas River Valley, an important and historic farming region, at Kim and Doug Wiley’s Larga Vista Farm. Learn why raw milk is a real choice. Call 633-4304 for reservations or more information.

MORE FALL NOTES AND NEWS

Mike Callicrate, owner of Ranch Foods Direct, will appear at the 2007 Women’s Living Expo at the Phil Long Center Expo Center, Oct. 5-7. Expo hours are Friday 10 am - 6 pm, Saturday 10 am - 6 pm, and Sunday 11 am – 5 pm. Admission is $5. Look for the Ranch Foods Direct booth. For full details about the event, CLICK HERE.

Ranch Foods Direct coffee supplier Colorado Coffee Merchants is in the process of expanding their store at 302 E. Fillmore to include more seating and meeting space. Colorado Coffee Merchants is a small batch specialty coffee roaster selling the unusually good and locally-roasted Umpire Estate brand.

Stephanie Trask

Special intern Stephanie Trask is leaving Ranch Foods Direct to return to her family’s ranch in South Dakota located about an hour from Rapid City. During her year at Ranch Foods Direct, she cycled through most areas of the business, including working at the retail sales counter, in packaging and with USDA food inspection related coordination. “I never cut meat, because it takes three years to learn, but I think I did a little bit of everything else,” she says. Her long-term goal is to be involved in opening a meat market back home. Ranch Foods Direct wishes her the best of luck!

CLICK HERE to read about Steph’s favorite meat cuts, recipe and local restaurant recommendations and highlights of her experience in Colorado Springs working for Ranch Foods Direct.

Did you know?… The U.S. government hires less than a dozen people to oversee certification for the nation’s entire organic food industry, a $14 billion business annually. (Read more in organics story below.)

Organics labeling questioned
Truth in advertising. Labels with integrity. What a concept.

Last month, one of Colorado’s largest organic dairies was hit with a year’s probation for failing to adhere strictly enough to federal organics standards.

CLICK HERE for more on the potential for labeling fraud.

“Youth is like spring, an over-praised season more remarkable for biting winds than genial breezes. Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits.” — Samuel Butler