Anna Borgman - Obsession, Curiosity, and Purpose-Driven Work
Mountain & Prairie with Ed Roberson
Reflections on a Transformative Journey
In this chapter, the speaker reflects on their journey and how their life has turned out differently from what they would have imagined. They discuss their connection to nature, experiences with raising animals, and their transition into the world of food.
Anna Borgman is a Montana-based butcher, chef, and writer whose work focuses on helping people better understand and appreciate the origins of their food. Whether writing an article for Steven Rinella’s MeatEater or helping to field harvest and process a bison, Anna has a gift for helping curious, conscientious people become more educated about the impacts of their food choices. And as you’ll hear in this conversation, her enthusiasm and authenticity are infectious– even after more than an hour of chatting, I felt like we only scratched the surface.
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Anna grew up in Oregon, and thanks to participation in 4H, she was involved with animals and livestock from an early age. During her teenage years, skiing became her primary passion, and she devoted much of her post-college life to spending as many days as possible in the mountains, oftentimes working multiple jobs to make ends meet. Eventually, through a serendipitous chain of events that we discuss, she found her way into culinary school, which was her gateway into the world of meat and butchery. Through all the various stages of Anna’s career, she’s brought intense devotion– possibly even obsession– to her work, which has resulted in a fascinating life trajectory that is both inspiring and instructive.
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Anna and I share so many mutual friends and I’ve been hearing about her and her work for many years, so I was thrilled to have her finally join me for a conversation. We started out discussing her childhood in Oregon and how skiing became her primary focus for so many years. We discuss some of her adventurous international travel experiences, and how those places and the characters she met led her into the world of food. We discuss the upsides of obsession, advice for getting out of ruts, the value of curiosity, and the importance of experiencing other cultures. She also talks in detail about the realities of slaughtering livestock, why she feels such a connection to butchery, her favorite books, and much more.
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Even though this was my first time meeting Anna, I felt like I was chatting with an old friend. I’m super-inspired by all of her work, but even more inspired by the focus and passion that she brings to everything she does. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.
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- Anna on MeatEater
- Anna on Instagram
- Forage Fed
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TOPICS DISCUSSED:
- 3:00 - What Anna wanted to be when she grew up
- 7:30 - When Anna realized that most livestock she raised would led to slaughter
- 10:00 - Anna’s interest in skiing and how it led her to work with a French cook in Australia and adventures in Spain
- 16:30 - Anna’s experience in culinary school
- 20:15 - Why so many interesting people have pastry making on their resume
- 22:15 - When Anna became interested in butchery, and whether or not working long days in culinary school made Anna feel more content
- 25:45 - The importance of having an obsession
- 28:45 - Anna’s advice for getting out of a rut
- 32:00 - The scariest things that have happened to Anna during international travel, as well as the lessons travel taught her
- 38:30 - When Anna went all in on butchery
- 43:00 - The process of slaughtering and butchering
- 46:30 - Anna’s first slaughter
- 51:45 - Lessons from butchery
- 57:00 - The value of curiosity
- 59:45 - Discussing Forage Fed
- 1:03:45 - Anna’s book recommendations
- 1:09:00 - Anna’s guilty pleasures (or lack thereof)
- 1:14:00 - Anna’s parting words of wisdom
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