Burger Day
I’m stuck in this loop where each week I’m reminded of a predetermined observance—a day, a week, and even a month where I’m spoon-fed bullet points, infographics, branded content, and if I’m lucky, some good merch. June is Pride Month and Alzheimer’s Awareness Month. Last week it was the bees and this week it’s the burgers. Yes, there’s a National Hamburger Day and to recognize the contribution of the hamburger to the American culture, every burger joint in the country is urged to offer a financial incentive for folks to eat burgers. All the top burger chains have freebies, deals, and even sweepstakes where you have the chance to win free burgers for an entire year.
Some of the fancier meal kit subscription services and online food retailers are also getting in on the action, despite the fact there’s really no evidence of an official decree or history of the burger fest. It’s one of those things that got lumped on to the three-day weekend which has usurped a solemn observance in lieu of sales on new grills that will run through Fathers Day.
I always grow circumspect of discounts on such a scale, but as a farmer I’m frustrated by the constant push for food to be free or deeply discounted. In my experience, that means one of two (if not both) things; either the environment loses, or the welfare of the human capital is at stake.
None of this used to concern me back in my non-farming days. But once I had participated in active food production, those $10 for a 40-pound case of chicken legs and thighs did not compute on my spreadsheet. Even worse, I met farmers raising those 25-cents a pound poultry who were saddled with over a million dollars in debt from building and maintaining contract chicken operations for large corporations. It is then that I realize most people are so completely removed from the food system, the value in having someone else raise their food means very little, a two-for-one burger deal, if even for a day. And if you think it’s the restaurant taking the hit on their profits for this promotion, I bet you believe the country of origin pays tariffs, too.
Not once in all of the hamburger mania spread throughout the news outlets and social media sites did I see a single suggestion for procuring your patties from a local farmers market. I guess their marketing ploy promotes quantity over quality.
In honor of National Hamburger Day, I’m going to do my own little blurb about how to build the best burger by shopping at the market. First, we don’t discriminate between carnivores and vegetarians. You’ll find both kinds of burgers. Secondly, you’ll get to meet the farmers. You know what we do every Sunday morning before the market starts? We stand around having coffee and talking about our livestock, our hay, and our processors. We don’t wait around for headquarters to send out a technician to tell us what to do—we’re doing the farming.
Perhaps most importantly is the supporting cast for an awesome hamburger that you will not ever find in any franchise—buns, condiments, pickles, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, mushrooms, and cheese. You want kimchee on that burger, check. Gluten free? Got it. And if you’re feeling Mediterranean, pick from an assortment of pitas. There is so much to choose from you could celebrate National Hamburger Day every week and never eat the same burger twice. But best of all, you can take comfort in knowing that your producers at the market aren’t destroying the rainforest or using undocumented underage labor in their production as does many of the ingredients on the menu at the chains that have dotted the landscape since the 1940’s.
National cause holidays and observances are meant to raise awareness and encourage support in one way or another, but National Hamburger Days just doesn’t pass the mustard for this farmer, unless all the ingredients come from my fellow vendors.