Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink

Feasting: Patagonia Provisions is Saving the Great Plains

Amanda Gabriele
By

Feasting is our column dedicated to cooking, grilling, eating and discovering what’s on the menu across America and the world.

We love meat here at The Manual, and even more so when it’s coming from a sustainable source. So when we heard about Patagonia Provisions’ Buffalo Jerky, we had to get our hands in the bag. Based in Sausalito, CA, Patagonia Provisions is reexamining best practices in food sourcing by working with like-minded advocates and producers to find solutions to environmental issues facing the industry. In their partnership with Dan and Jill O’Brien of Wild Idea Buffalo, they’re working to conserve and restore the grasslands of South Dakota while producing delicious, sustainable buffalo jerky.

Recommended Videos

“The great plains are worth preserving,” Dan said. “They’re like an intricate Swiss watch, there are a million moving parts, and each part is essential. But the main spring of the watch is the buffalo. They’re the keystone of the Great Plains.”

When buffalo graze and roam freely, they help restore the plain by recycling nutrients and tilling the soil as they move. Because they are slaughtered humanely in the prairie rather than in stressful, crowded factory farms, they live better, natural lives. Not only is this humane treatment of the buffalo morally correct, it makes for delicious, nutrient-rich meat. It’s lower in fat and cholesterol than beef, chicken, turkey and pork and higher in beneficial nutrients like protein, iron, Omega-3 and vitamins B-12 and A. And because the buffalo are slaughtered in the prairie rather than crowded factory farms where they’re not able to roam freely without fear, the meat is low in the stress hormone cortisol.

Related: Feasting: What is Brooklyn Biltong?

Shelf stable for one year, the unopened package is perfect for taking on adventures like boat and camping trips. The 100% grass-fed, free-range, antibiotic-, pesticide- and hormone-free meat is lightly seasoned and dried to create a hearty, flavorful, nutritious snack you can feel good about eating.

Patagonia Provisions Buffalo Jerky
Image used with permission by copyright holder

“The American bison are indelibly linked to the survival of our prairie ecosystem and communities who depend on them,” said Birgit Cameron, Director of Patagonia Provisions. “We believe by eating humanely raised and harvested bison, we protect them and the sensitive prairie environment.”

Buffalo jerky retails for $10 and can be purchased at Patagonia retail stores, patagoniaprovisions.com and patagonia.com.

Amanda Gabriele
Amanda Gabriele
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Amanda Gabriele is a food and travel writer at The Manual and the former senior editor at Supercall. She can’t live without…
Cocktail classics: the Negroni and its millions of variations
Negroni

Of all the classic cocktails that are well-known in bars across the world, one stands out for being both complex fascinating to drink, but also incredibly easy to make: the negroni. This beloved cocktail from Italy consists of equal parts of gin, sweet vermouth, and Campari, and it doesn't even need to be shaken. Traditionally made in a mixing glass, where it is stirred with ice to add water, in practice you can even add the ingredients to a tumbler glass with a large ice cube and stir it in the glass. That isn't really the technically correct way to make the drink, but it works well enough and means that you can make this cocktail with practically no equipment whatsoever.
The negroni is popular for its intense, bitter flavors and its bright red color, both of which come from the Campari. But the addition of gin gives the drink that heavy, boozy note with plenty of spicy juniper, and the sweet vermouth adds a touch of sweetness and more herbal notes. The result is a drink which packs an incredible flavor punch, and which tends to be either loved or hated (mostly depending on how you feel about Campari).
Thanks to its simplicity, the negroni lends itself to endless variations. While in truth I think it's hard to beat the classic version of this cocktail, if you're a long-time negroni drinker and you're looking to try something new – or maybe even if you're not a fan of the classic negroni but are interested in finding a version which does work for you – then we've got suggestions on some of the many variations you can try.

Experimenting with gins

Read more
Gose-style beers are perfect for spring, and these are our favorites
This salty, tart, sour beer is perfect for spring.
Gose beer

As we mentioned in an earlier post, the Gose style might be the best beer choice for spring and summer drinking. This wheat beer is top-fermented and gets a second fermentation with lactobacillus bacteria. This gives it a tart, sour flavor profile similar to your favorite sour ale. The addition of coriander and sea salt adds some spice and salinity to this very unique, refreshing beer.

On top of that, this tart, salty thirst-quencher is usually between 4-5% ABV. This results in a crushable, salty, crisp beer you won’t be able to put down even between horseshoe throws or cornhole turns.
A strange, salty history

Read more
This is how to make a proper Moscow Mule
It's the classic cocktail in a copper mug, and we're going to show you how to make a Moscow Mule
Moscow Mule with a bowl of limes

You know you've made it as a cocktail when one of the most popular ready-to-drink options is made in your name. That's the case with the Moscow Mule cocktail, the classic mix of vodka and ginger beer, preferably in a copper mug.

Here are some pro tips to keep in mind. First, select a quality vodka. The flavor may be mostly buried in the rest of the drink, but you're still after smoothness. In terms of ginger, go with a proper ginger beer instead of ginger ale. The latter is far too sweet. If you're really feeling intrepid, do as Death & Co. does below and make your own ginger syrup to couple with club soda. You'll be amazed at how much more pronounced the ginger qualities are when going this route.

Read more