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…
Here’s how to unclog your garbage disposal in 6 easy steps
Your guide to simple garbage disposal repair
Stainless steel kitchen sink with running water

Why pay for something you can do yourself? Most of the time, unclogging a garbage disposal is something you can do yourself. And the best part is you don't have to be incredibly handy to do it. So, save a little money and go the DIY route.

Take the time to learn how to unclog a garbage disposal drain. You only need 30 minutes to learn this new skill, and the knowledge will be useful forever! Knowing the cause is essential to preventing frequent clogs — you don’t want to be unclogging your disposal more often than you absolutely need to.
Why is my garbage disposal not draining?

Read more
A guide to the five mother sauces of classical cuisine and their uses
Most sauces comes from these foundational sauces, so you must know how to make them
Sauces and spiced spreads in small jars

Did you know that most sauces come from five foundational sauces known as mother sauces? These mother sauces add moistness, flavor, richness, color, and shine, as well as interest and appetite appeal. These sauce-making techniques are some of the basic skills needed in cooking, and they still need to be combined into finished sauces. Finishing techniques have three elements to them: liquid, thickening agent, and seasoning or flavoring ingredients.

The leading sauces are made of liquid plus a thickening agent. The sauces that are derived from the leading sauce are called small sauces. The small sauces are created by using the leading sauce plus additional flavoring ingredients. The best way to remember the name of each mother sauce is by the acronym BETH V: béchamel, espagnole, tomato, hollandaise, and velouté.
Béchamel sauce

Read more
Pro tips from Chef Eduardo Garcia for cooking outdoors like a true mountain man
Here's how to really cook like a mountain man
Chef Eduardo Garcia.

When we think of mountain men, we tend to think of rugged and self-sufficient folks who live off of the land. And while that's mostly accurate, it's also 2024, and the definition has evolved. Today's mountain man is personified by chef Eduardo Garcia, who combines culinary expertise and the right cooking tools with an adventurous attitude and focus on the environment.

Garcia has put in some shifts. He's done everything from cooking on yachts to delivering motivational speeches. He's also the host of Big Sky Kitchen, now two seasons deep. The show focuses on outdoor cooking and the many joys of preparing and eating food in the context of nature.

Read more