I'm a Bison rancher in Alberta who looks at a few things differently as I grow getting closer to the ground.

The term is “feeling grounded” and to be grounded you need a good conscience. For me, what’s important, is producing a product that I feel is done right for what you want on your plate!

Apart of my growing is me being a Wander who can create his own words only because I want to create my own world.

I’ve just wandered the Philippines looking for stories. As I wandered, I found that the best stories are told in front of a plate!

So I bring myself to a local market to find the best stories.

It was so great as I walk down the crowded paths, I find all types of fish. But it isn’t the fish that attracts me, it’s the smile and the voice that I hear behind the fish saying, “Yes sir! Would you like some fish? We just caught it this morning.”

I know it was him who caught it because he still has his plastic bibs on!

Meeting these people is a good start to a story. I didn't buy a fish, but what I did buy was a carabao t-bone steak. Carabao is their version of beef cow which has different horns than a beef. I thought it may be like a bison, but no, it’s different again.

Now I'm starting to feel a story behind this plate so I bought this red meat.

Now the story is starting to get bigger! As I purchase this steak and as he hacks at it with his hatchet to split the back bone apart into steaks, and once the exchange of trade is made, he smiles because we were there first sale of the day. He flags the dollar bills, touching everything he can with the bills to support all the luck that the dollar bills give.

Dollar bills? Who gets to see that anymore? Now we just see figures of numbers on our cell phones or on a piece of plastic that looks like a business card or an Amazon web page, which is worse for starting a good story.

What a great story that was told that evening; so many laughs, so many people working hard and a family supported. And in the end, a full belly of food that tasted so good that I don’t think anyone even noticed that the steak was kinda tough.

As we stay longer in the Philippines we found a supermarket – just like we have seen before at home.

We went inside looking for the next story on our plate. I looked and saw many stories hidden underneath plastic wraps and even preservatives. These were NOT the stories I wanted to tell tonight. The only story here that I can tell was that there was air conditioning, which I did enjoy! But I wonder if it may cause cancer in the end.

Yes, at the local market they had no air conditioning to cool the meat, but it was full of people bargaining with each other and fanning the flies away and themselves to stay cool.

This is far different from what I’ve been taught and taught again, that my meat cannot get warmer than 4 degrees Celsius as I sell it at the market.

And Bargaining? Do we even know what this term means? When was the last time a price or trade could be discussed.

All these experiences the happened at the market brings a story to the plate much more interesting than good air conditioning and the security guard checking my bags as we leave.

Thank you for the opportunity to tell my story. I hope that the local markets and local people keep filling our plates so that our plates keep tasting better n better and give us many more stories to tell.

Thank you for your service and I look forward to the story told in front of your table tonight!

Neil Hochstein with the ranch that cares Alberta Bison Ranch.