Would you stop in your tracks for...organ meat? Here's why you should.

Join our organ challenge club - and get the support you need! One organ and recipe per month.

Is there a particular sign on the road that catches your attention?

In our particular area of North Carolina, there's one that always comes to mind. It says something unusual:"WE HAVE LIVERS AND GIZZARDS."

Until I encountered this sign, I'd never seen someone advertise organ meat with such pride before. What makes this even more unusual, in my opinion, is that it's a sign for a fast food restaurant. (It's for our local KFC.)

Don't worry, I'm not going to start encouraging you to eat at KFC. But I do want to think about what this sign represents: excitement - and urgency - to consume organ meats, something most of us probably wish we could avoid.

I get it. Organ meats have tastes, textures, and names that often make us squeamish, even if we know they're the most nutrient dense form of animal protein.

For example, I can tell you that I've discovered a new recipe that's part of traditional French cuisine. It's comforting, rich, and beloved. Just based on that description, you would probably be interested to know what it is.

But when I tell you that it's lamb testicles? Well...I can probably see the face you just made while reading that.

But I'd like to gently push back on that discomfort. When we talk about eating "old-fashioned" or "nourishing" or "ancestral" food, what are we really talking about?

If we're being honest, we're not talking about eating grass-fed steak every night. The ability to do that is a recent development in our modern culture, fueled not only by convenience and refrigeration, but also a greater dispersion of wealth.

And despite what your favorite social media influencer may have you believe, most of us can't keep up with that in our budgets, either.

Instead, we're talking about foods that we consider adventurous or off the beaten path today: livers, kidneys, hearts, bones, tongues, and yes, testicles. Traditionally, eating these foods was cheaper, it eliminated waste, and it provided a greater concentration of nutrients and minerals.

And yes, people did enjoy it, too.

Lamb testicles, for instance, are an excellent source of zinc. (Am I making you uncomfortable by talking about them yet?) Beef liver is one of the best ways to get your Vitamin A. And chicken livers are a great source for copper, a trace mineral that's essential for all living beings.

So here's my challenge to you: when you're shopping for your normal proteins, add one thing that's out of the norm, too.

We're making this easy for you with our Organ Challenge Club. Every month, we'll send you one email with an organ of the month and a recipe, plus a special offer if you'd like to buy it from our store. But that's it. There's no financial commitment, no big box, no disruption to your weekly routine. Just one email per month to introduce a little bit of change.

But you can easily do this on your own too, through your own little changes. Maybe you add a bag of lamb bones to your order to make broth, or swap stew meat for beef tongue to make shredded beef tacos. (Trust me, once it' s cooked, you won't notice the difference.) Or maybe you try our ancestral beef blend, where we've already ground up beef liver and heart into your meat, so that you can eat it the same way you would any ground beef.

Whatever it is, start somewhere, and start experimenting. It doesn't have to be every time you cook, and it doesn't have to be fancy. But it will benefit your health - and your palate - to start cooking truly traditional foods.

The best place to start is with our new club. Even if you're not ready to start cooking yet, you can always start learning.