Consumers want to know the origins of their food, all the way back to the farm. Or so they have been saying for years and years. But for all the times I’ve read or written that line, as though it were a revelation to shout from the mountaintops, I personally have never really participated in that purported trend.

But then I did something out of the ordinary. I bought a ribeye at Trader Joe’s, first of all. My 7-year-old steak-loving son had picked it up while we were there getting our usual “other” specialty items, and I obliged to stop the asking. Last night, I marinated it for maybe a half hour before cooking, pan-seared with butter and rosemary, and it turned out to be the best I’ve ever made myself and among the best I’ve had anywhere.

So, I did another thing out of the ordinary. Curious to determine who packed this tasty private label product, I pulled the package out of the top of the garbage and looked for the establishment number and typed it in a Google search. It happened to be a company only 25 minutes north of where I live in the northwest Chicago suburbs.

Suddenly, I found myself on trend, in a couple ways: I was practicing traceability in the most basic manner, with the USDA establishment number being my first step (that was more than I’ve ever done, really, but I have to say it was a fun experience connecting that dot); and I also shopped “local,” as it turned out.

Sure, I know there is far more to the story of that steak than the USDA plant in which it was cut and portioned, and I’d bet its continuum extends far beyond the 17 miles between that facility and my home. And I sure as heck don’t discount the steps that preceded these latter stages, knowing the immense labor of love that goes into raising animals and getting their products to my plate.

But if the final product tastes that good, does it really matter if I meander all the way back to the farm and shake the farmer’s hand? Would that make it taste better?

I ask these questions with internal conflict. On the one hand, I feel that the end product’s taste and texture is what ultimately matters most, forgetting what got it there. On the other hand, given the pleasure of determining what company processed this steak, maybe knowing the other links in the supply chain would indeed make it that much more enjoyable.

Either way, the great experience I had in cooking and eating this product wouldn’t have happened without a lot of caring people in a lot of places doing something right. That much I can trust, even if I haven’t met every one of them.

Here’s looking up your establishment number

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