Vegas Food Co-Op gets desert residents a fresh taste

Three dozen people duck into the shade as they line up to buy beef out of a van in a hard-to-find Spring Valley parking lot.

The scene seems peculiar, but unless the black-spotted cattle count, it's really not a cover for some black market dealing.

As if buying meat out of the back of an unmarked van isn't odd enough, patrons can buy a whole steer, but most opt for one-twelfth of the animal, or 35 pounds of beef.

The meat comes from pure-grass-fed steer, which by many studies is healthier for both the animals and the people who eat it. Cattle raised on the open pasture retain more nutritious value and have fewer cases of E. coli.

In an effort to bring the healthier option to town at a reduced cost, Vegas Food Co-op organizes the Bar 10 Beef drop-off about every two months.

Rebecca DuBovik took over the Vegas Food Co-Op and started its blog after she struggled to adapt to the desert's lack of fresh food. Moving from Oregon nine years ago, she said it was an adjustment to find local, healthy options in Las Vegas -- and once she did, she wanted to help spread the word. The co-op's site, vegasfoodcoop.com, accumulates the listings of local farmers and markets in a central place. If there's a need for certain products -- such as grass-fed meat -- the owner finds a way to bring it to town.

"I really hope to have something where people can come to find the information," DuBovik said of the blog she started this summer. "You can go to just one place."

The Henderson resident said she thinks it is important for the community to make connections with its food because buying locally means decreasing the carbon footprint, boosting the local economy and eating healthier, better-tasting products.

Although the beef drop is not local, the farmers come from not-so-far Utah and provide a product at a price Las Vegas does not offer, she said. The co-op organizes the drop and finds community members to increase the buying power and ability to purchase in bulk. Every other month, about 35 people buy a total of three animals from Bar 10 Beef.

"You're getting it straight from the farm," said Sabrina Rodriguez, a Centennial Hills resident who has purchased through the co-op about four times. "It's healthier than regular meat."

Rodriguez said her one-twelfth of a steer purchase easily fits in her average-size freezer. The meat, a random mixture of steaks and ground beef, comes wrapped in several small portions. An insulated box provides easy transport from the Utah van to the Las Vegas home.

"It's not like a slab of meat," DuBovik said, laughing, aware of how her beef drop could sound to an outsider.

Ryan West, one of Bar 10 Beef's ranchers, said business grows every month as more people are educating themselves about the origins and nutritious value of their food.

Many of Bar 10 Beef's customers are also loyal farmers market shoppers.

Leslie Bielas, who lives in Centennial Hills, said she happened to buy an extra freezer, which is perfect for the one-sixth of a steer, or 70 pounds of meat, she bought. She also participates in the co-op, Bountiful Baskets, which buys organic and as-local-as-possible produce and bread in bulk and divides it into individual shares.

"It seems the most cost-effective," she said of nurturing her fresh food tastes.

Others frequent the farmers markets downtown, in Henderson or at Floyd Lamb Park at Tule Springs, to name a few.

The complete list is compiled through DuBovik's efforts to help the community eat locally -- the Vegas Food Co-op at vegasfoodcoop.com.

Contact Southwest/Spring Valley View reporter Jessica Fryman at jfryman@viewnews.com or 380-4535.