ABBOTSFORD – Wine and cheese tastings may be commonplace, but meat tastings?
If Abbotsford resident Don Campbell has a say, people will soon be hosting 4-H project dinner events to educate the mind and the senses.
Campbell and his wife Connie hosted a beef-forward dinner party for 10 at their Abbotsford home on January 17.
The beef’s rearing process was explained by 4-H members and sisters Alexa and Ashley Wolfe from Mount Lehman Farm, which raises grass-fed beef. Campbell bought two different years of their beef projects at the PNE’s 4-H auctions.
“We started the evening with the Wolfe girls coming in and explaining 4-H, why it’s important,” Campbell says.
The girls, who farm with their parents Jenn and Andy, then showed photos of the animals the guests were about to be served, outlining how one was more grass-fed and the other more grain-fed .
“This is my sixth year and this is Ashley’s fifth year,” says 15-year-old Alexis.
The two have focused on beef projects, and excelled. Alexis was awarded the George Preston Memorial trophy last year, an acknowledgement of 4-H excellence. Ashley, 13, received third-place for her beef carcass.
Campbell’s idea for the evening came from a night out at Elisa, a steakhouse in Vancouver where some cuts are offered in two-ounce portions for comparing.
“It was really good. But as we’re sitting there, we’re thinking our beef is a little bit better,” Campbell says.
Campbell not only bought the beef projects at auction, he owns one of 10 properties where the Wolfe family pasture their animals.
“Many of us support the philosophy behind Mount Lehman Farm by allowing their animals to graze on our properties,” he says.
Connie, a trained chef, prepared ribeye cuts from each animal in the same way.
Guest were split 50/50 on which they preferred.
“Some people prefer more marbling and some people like less marbling,” Campbell says. “That was fun. They all left with full bellies. The conversation continued for a couple of weeks.”
Dinner guests also learned about 4-H.
“They really didn’t know about 4-H, so I was happy to answer a lot of their questions,” says Alexis.
Campbell says the Q&A with the sisters was the best part of the evening.
“They started to ask detailed questions and the gals just stepped in and were able to answer them because of the 4-H training they’ve got,” he says. “They also have the animal-raising knowledge to be able to answer them technically.”
The group grew more engaged the more they learned and tasted the samples.
“As they’re talking to the gals, they’re eating the first bit of beef from the cattle,” he says. “This is how people need to learn about food. We need to do this again and we need to do this a lot. We held a mini one a week later and it was just as good.”
He sees this exposure as a way to encourage purchases from “farmgate instead of Walmart.”
“We’re trying to support buying local,” Campbell says. “The story becomes even more pertinent given the political stories the country is going through at the moment.”
It seems to have worked. One of Campbell’s friends ordered meat from Mount Lehman Farm to keep them in beef until they can attend this year’s 4-H auction and buy a project.
“Going to Don’s house was really exciting and cool as he’s bringing in new people for us to talk to and share our knowledge with them,” says Ashley. “Sharing our projects with them was definitely really fun.”
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