Small, and Not So Small, Farms You Can Trust
Shortly after writing the cold cuts post, in which I gave Applegate Farms some praise for being “one of the good ones,” I received an email from a perceptive reader who had a slightly different appraisal of the situation. Applegate Farms, it turns out, doesn’t raise any animals themselves. There’s no farm to visit. They source all their animals from outside farms. Now, there’s nothing wrong with sourcing meat from outside sources, especially when you make a concerted effort to procure good meat from well-raised animals, but I’ll admit that this does change things a bit for me. My idea of the ideal meat producer, however romantic, outdated, or unrealistic it might be, is one that handles every single aspect of the business in house: from raising the animals to feeding them feed grown on site, to tending their pastures, to slaughtering them (or, as the law requires, having them slaughtered at a USDA-inspected “harvesting site”), all the way to curing, slicing, and distributing the meat and related products. I like shaking the hand that castrated the calf, scratched the pig’s snout, and collected the egg, as the other slides me a vacuum-sealed package of short ribs at the Saturday morning farmers’ market.
Am I being overly romantic about a messy, bloody process? Perhaps. Unimportant in the big scheme of things? Maybe the farming practices responsible for your burger don’t matter on some cosmic scale, especially next to wars, poverty, unemployment, or even your mortgage, but on a personal level they certainly do. Unrealistic, on a wide scale? For now, yes, but without customers demanding it become more common, it will remain so indefinitely. That means it’s on you and it’s on me to make it realistic.
There are also solid, less “idealist” reasons for supporting farms that do it all. For one, you know what you’re getting. Or, to be more accurate, they know what they’re selling. As much as a company pledges to maintain strict standards of quality and care, if they aren’t personally caring for, observing, and raising the animals, there is room for error. And as business grows and they’re forced to draw on more sources to maintain supply, things get dicier. Corners may be cut. That one ranch might feed grain on the sly to get weight up in time for slaughter. Or it might be that the truly grass-fed farmers simply can’t keep up with the demands of the distributor. Whole Foods just doubled their grass-fed hot dog orders for next month; what if the Uruguayan beef isn’t available in time? As one Paleohacks user noted, his package of Applegate Farms roast beef via Trader Joe’s was discreetly labeled “Vegetarian Grain-Fed,” contrary to their website’s strong implication that all Applegate Farms beef is grass-fed. He sent some emails and made some calls, eventually speaking to someone who confirmed that sometimes they will release grain-fed when grass-fed “is not available.” It’s a little odd that they push the grass-fed thing on the website only to discard it in practice. Well, maybe not odd, exactly, but it’s too bad that grass-fed isn’t always available. Ultimately, money wins out.
The reader who alerted me thought I could, and should, have focused on those meat producers that were really doing it the right way. I’m inclined to agree, with a caveat. Applegate Farms is serving a valuable purpose. They’re offering (mostly) grass-fed beef products and various other animal products (the sources of which vary in quality and pedigree) to large markets, and that’s a good thing. When the kids want to BBQ hot dogs, I like that grass-fed dogs are widely available. That said, let’s look at some producers who keep things in house. Surprisingly, they aren’t always tiny family farms with a distribution composed solely of high-end restaurants and farmers’ markets.
Like Diestel Family Turkey Ranch, located in the Sierra foothills and run by the same family that’s run it since 1949. While young turkeys are kept penned in for their own safety, after six weeks the turkeys live on the range, using shrubs and trees for roosting and shelter. In fact, the Diestels coined their own term – “range grown” – to differentiate their methods from “free range,” a term that frankly doesn’t mean a whole lot at this point. They’re fed a “vegetarian diet,” but I doubt the birds turn up their waddles at the delicious grubby bugs sharing the range with them. Diestel processes hundreds of thousands of turkeys. They raise them all. They process them all using their own facilities. This is a massive operation, but it’s run like a smaller farm. They distribute the whole turkeys themselves, make deli products from the meat, and distribute that, too. I’ve purchased whole turkeys (delicious), cases of frozen turkey hearts (Buddha’s favorite snack), and used their deli meat (wrapped around a slab of aged cheddar and some young goat cheese is the way to do it). In case you’re skeptical a massive operation can maintain quality while keeping everything in house, consider that when a Sacramento food co-op (think patchouli, a preponderance of vegetarians, smugness, and awesome bulk grain bins!) looked into Diestel’s practices (PDF), they left very impressed. (Full disclosure: I’m a big fan of Diestel farms so I reached out to them to be a sponsor of PrimalCon. They’re donating meat to this year’s event.)
Fork in the Road Foods is an example of the Applegate Farms-esque model done right. CA-based, they’re a bunch of chefs, foodies, and farmers who obtain only pasture-raised beef, heirloom pork, and pasture-raised chicken and turkey from small family farms and turn it all into delicious hot dogs, sausages, and deli meat. I’ve run across their miniature pastured wieners at Whole Foods before, marveled at the novelty of a grass-fed Vienna sausage lookalike, and was forced to make the purchase. I’m glad I did. It’s quality stuff. Knowing that they only work with real stewards of the land helps, too. Of course, they remain pretty small and agile, and if they reach Applegate Farms proportions, things might change. But maybe not. We’ll never know unless we keep supporting small operations like Fork in the Road Foods. To see if they distribute to your area, enter your zip and find out.
Going even more local, I wanted to give some love to one of my favorite beef and pork farms. It’s Rocky Canyon Farms, located in Atascadero, CA, so old-school that they don’t even have a web presence yet (if ever). They sell mainly at SoCal farmers’ markets and to high-end restaurants. The owner, Greg, is a husky, friendly farmer who feeds his cattle grass and leftover veggies and lets his pigs roam. His main representative at the Santa Monica market is a slightly crazy, extremely enthusiastic dude named Mike. Mike will often toss in some melons (they grow several varieties), squash (again, many varieties), tomatoes, or sweet potatoes with my meat for free. Mike will also eat sweet potatoes raw. Seriously, if you’re ever at the Saturday morning SM farmers’ market, look for the lanky dude with a sleeveless T and wild eyes hawking meat, fruit, and juice. If he’s selling sweet potatoes that day, casually mention that you heard some people actually “eat these things raw.” That should be enough of a cue to get him to chomp down on one, skin and all. It’s a sight that must be beheld before you die. As for the actual meat, highlights include pork breakfast sausage (buy it in bulk, rather than pre-made patties), chuck steaks (economical, flavorful, fatty, tendony cut), bacon (arrive early for this, cause it sells out fast), various jerkies, beef tongue, ground beef w/bacon, and the various roasts. The prices are really quite reasonable, especially compared to a place like Whole Foods, and you’re cutting out the middle man. The money goes directly to the guy who raised the meat.
Anyway, those are three examples from California. One’s a massive operation with national distribution that manages to retain its autonomy. Another is an up and coming confederation of idealistic farmers, chefs, and eaters who want to make food the right way with the right ingredients, while the last is a hyper-local entity that will probably never see wide-scale distribution but who likes it that way. All take personal responsibility for the quality of the product, from beginning to end. All are to be admired (and supported). These work for me, in my neck of the woods. If you don’t yet have your own go-to farmer, visit EatWild to search and find one today.
Now tell me about your area. Where do you get your meat? Your eggs? Whose bloodstained (in the best way possible!) hand do you shake? Is there a larger operation in your neck of the woods that you trust and can look to with pride and say, “Those guys are doing it right in a big way”? Tell me – tell us – all about it in the comment section, so others can support them, too.
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
In Georgia, check out Nature’s Harmony Farm – http://www.naturesharmonyfarm.com. Tim and Liz raise pigs, cows, lamb, turkeys, ducks, rabbits and chicken. They also make some delicious cheese.
Thanks for this great post! This is so encouraging to small-scale farmers like my husband and me. We raise pastured chickens and lambs in Western Washington, and really care about our animals – how they are raised and how they are slaughtered and processed. For us, it is part of the integrity of our operation, and we know that we are offering our customers the very best that we can.
Olympia Local Foods in Olympia,WA is a good source for eggs, chickens, beef and pork all from local farmers. They have a website. You place your order online and go to their warehouse to pick it up. They also sell a variety of produce. A husband and wife run it–very friendly people.
I’ve just started getting beef from the SMS Ranch. They’re located in Fredericksburg, TX, but have a booth at the downtown Austin farmer’s market on Saturdays. Here’s their website: http://www.fredericksburg-grassfed-beef.com
One of our friends works for a sustainable seafood company in San Francisco:
http:///www.ilovebluesea.com
The prices are comparable to WF, but all of their sources are the best possible. They will ship anywhere, but the cost for shipping gets a little high outside of the Bay Area unless you buy a lot.
We get pork products from TLC Ranch, eggs from TLC or Vital farms (used to get them from Glaum until WF started carrying Vital’s pastured eggs). For beef, we cowpool with others at our Crossfit and use a couple of small local family farms – Winterport and Moon Meadow.
Nice to know about Diestel. We buy their turkey products but I was always a little wary knowing how big of an operation they have. Glad to know they are doing things right. Heritage turkeys are just too costly outside of very special occasions.
Diestel Ranch has been known to have turkey waste pollute local tributaries. It may be accidental, but not sure it can be avoided with such a large operation.
Mark, I could kiss you!
I live just a few miles South of Atascadero (in San Luis Obispo), and I had no idea these guys existed, despite my best efforts to find an operation like theirs.
I’ll be heading up there for the farmer’s market this afternoon!
-Kit
What about Niman Ranch? I live in Brooklyn, NY and after I found out the butcher I was buying “grass fed” beef from was basically lying (when pressed he finally admitted that it only eats grass as a baby, then off to the factory feedlot – so does eating a BLADE of grass make you grass fed??)
I switched over to another butcher and he has Niman Ranch. Is that legit or another corporation without a ranch in sight?
All cows have to be grassfed in youth. They can not survive on grain for more than a few months. So essentially all beef is “grass fed”. The beef we’re after is “grass finished”… instead of being quickly fattened with corn on a feedlot, they grow to full size on pasture or sileage, which takes a lot longer.
Niman Ranch is a company that has some of their own animals, but mostly contracts with other farms. They have some very good animal husbandry practices, but their cows are grain finished.
I just bought a split side of beef from Lazy Heart D Ranch in Westmoreland, KS. If anyone is living in the Manhattan, KS area, I highly recommend them.
All their beef is grass-finished, as is their bison. Their prices are very reasonable ($2.79/lb. hanging weight, processing costs are paid). Ed is a great guy, and he always gives me some extra products to take home and try. I ended up getting about 122 lbs. of meat with the offal included, and it was around $3.08/lb. Not bad for the quality.
Another really good Kansas ranch is Lucky Star Farms in Eureka, KS. I’ve only had their sirloin but it was the best piece of steak I’ve ever eaten, bar none. And that was just a sirloin. http://www.luckystargrassfedbeef.com
Here in Kansas, we are lucky to have a good variety of grass fed beef choices.
Aw, it looks like I’m the only ND/MN person. So far I’ve found a CSA in Fergus Falls, MN to join – and I can also get chickens there. I’ve also found somewhere to get beef in Moorhead, MN. We have a couple farmer’s markets the 4 months out of the year when it’s not blizzarding… still wishing I could find a strawberry picking place near by. They tore up the fields to build housing! I sure miss them…
No, you’re not the only Minnesotan here. Just one of the few out in the western boonies (I grew up in the Dawson-Boyd area – definitely BFE).
Here in the Twin Cities we have access to several meat CSA’s. My favorite is Sunshine Harvest Farms (sunshineharvestfarm.com) out of Webster MN. They deliver to different places in the Cities three Thursdays a month, plus are at the Mill City and Kingfield Farmers Markets on Saturday and Sunday.
They grass feed the beef and lamb from start to finish, the pigs and chickens are pastured & fed grain they grow themselves. If they had raw milk (haven’t heard if the bill passed in the legislature making it legal to sell raw milk in MN) it would be perfect.
They seem to have some decent choices in the cities area, but it’s a bit of a drive for me (I’m actually in Fargo, ND).
It’s nice to find I’m not the only one in the area.. it gets lonely with the “WHAT?! You don’t eat wheat?!” comments.
Awesome site. I used the eat wild site to find a local farm close to me in VA to do a cowshare program and get some of my own raw milk.
WOW! Just ate a raw sweet potato…skin and all…WILD! (gums are a little sore though…forgot to wash it first…hate when that happens). Will get an apple next time for sure. GREAT post! thanx
I live in Phoenix, and buy from A Bar H Farms (AZ ranchers). Awesome lamb, beef, chickens, and eggs. I’m encouraging them to start with goats, and I think they’re going to….would love a goat source!
Hi Diane! I live in Phoenix as well. We’ve been looking for a local source for lamb. How is it? We get our beef from Date Creek Ranch in Wickenburg. Very good beef and very nice people!
Nice to see primal folks in the desert!:)
Hi!
I live up in Bellingham, WA and this is a great place to get lots of local treats! I’ve been buying my chicken eggs from Misty Meadows Farm and have now fallen in love with heritage duck eggs from Laurel Country Gardens Organic Farm! The farmer’s market up here is another great place to get local stuff. Or, if you’re super lucky, you might know someone with a connection to a local/family farm and can buy in bulk!!!
WOW! Just ate a RAW sweet potato …skin and all. WILD! Gums are a little sore though. Forgot to wash it first. Hate when that happens. Will definately get an apple next time though. GREAT post Mark. thanx.
Admittedly, I really like Applegate Farms. While their deli meats and the like don’t make up any significant calories in my diet, it’s great to have occasionally.
My husband and I recently purchased a 1/4 side of beef from Rhodemont Farms; we live in Rhode Island and they have a farm here as well as in Vermont which is where they raise their beef. The meat is absolutely delicious. We asked a lot of questions before purchasing their meat and they were so enthusiastic to answer our questions. Fantastic experience & quality beef.
In you live in the Chicago area….
Wallace Farms of Keystone IA, brings pastured beef, poultry, lamb and wild fish and seafood through buying clubs several times per month and has a permanent warehouse location in Naperville. The clubs meet once a month at each location, Wauconda, IL and downtown Chicago. Go to Wallacefarms.com for more information.
The beef is really superior quality and not horrendously expensive, if you don’t buy fancy cuts.
You make a good point. Farms like applegate are a bridge between the ideal farm (does everything themselves) and the modern farm (maximum efficiency; i.e. outsourcing tasks). I think its great that we are seeing more farms like this as I think it means higher quality food will be available at a cheaper price.
Get rid of the triple posts pleeease! LOL! sorry.
I live in Atlanta, GA and we get delicious high quality grass fed meat and pasture eggs from Carlton Farms. Chad Carlton, our farmer is incredibly progressive and dedicated to bringing his customers quality locally produced food including cheeses, honey, fruits and vegetables and raw milk. He makes deliveries to several suburbs of Atlanta once a week. He has a website with order forms and information about his products. I have actually visited the farm with my husband and children and we were all quite impressed with the operation. When Chad is out of meat, we shop for local grass fed meat at Whole Foods which is good but much more
expensive.
There is a grass-fed beef place near me here in Kansas. I just emailed them and I am going to go check it out.
Chapman Creek Farms near Abilene.
Has anyone in MA/New England tried Red Fire Farm? I was looking into their CSA because it delivers close to my place.
Here’s another place in GA stokesfarm.com
Buying my first 1/4 and my eggs in April.
US Wellness has an excellent variety of grassfed beef, as well as grok-safe chicken, pork, and salmon. We order from them every 2 weeks Here is a (affiliate) link to their website:
http://bit.ly/grassfed_selection
Mark, the simple fact of the matter is we would all like to eat range-free, grass fed meat, and non-toxic produce all the time. However, it is obvious that there simply isn’t enough grass available in the U.S. to feed everyone range-free, grass fed meats. So, I do the best I can and eat what is available, and try to insure it is as clean as it can be. We can’t always get pure non-toxic foods all the time, but we can do it when available, and lessen the toxic effects on our bodies by proper sleep exercise and eating as clean as we can when the pure stuff isn’t readily available. I look at it kind of like your 80-20 philosophy. If I am adhering to a good clean regimen 80% of the time, the 20% doesn’t hurt me that much.
I live in Philadelphia. I get my unpasteurized milk and fresh from the farm unpasteurized eggs and meat(frozen) from The Reading Terminal. There is a Farm Fresh stand there…this week they had these huge beautiful blue eggs that were the size of a little football…I did not buy them but the color was georgous. The prices are higher than the crap in the regular markets. LOVE THIS PLACE.
The Farm is called Shellbark Hollow in West Chester PA http://www.shellbarkhollow.com
Great fresh goat yogurt too.
The Eat Wild website is a good resource for finding grass-fed meats, raw milk and cheeses, etc.
http://www.eatwild.com/products/index.html
Just plug in your state and look down the list. I am fortunate to live in Pennsylvania where there is a plethora of small farms who raise things the right way.
Amen – another great post! I grew up on a farm and we raised our animals from birth to slaughter (done by us) – with plenty of nose scratching and feather fluffing in between.
I whole-heartedly agree in knowing exactly where your meat (and produce) comes from. However, we have to roll with the punches sometimes and do what we can – for example my family just moved across several states and have been staying with in-laws for a few months while looking for a place of our own. We ran out of our own hunted meat in the deep freeze during this time, and not knowing for sure where we would end up, yes, meat has come from I’m not sure where (though I try to source as responsibly as I can – Whole Foods, etc.).
We will soon be in our own place and I have sourced a CSA for this spring/summer/fall, and also put a deposit on two halves of beef for summer and fall (from a local ranch where I can see the animals as they grow). Yay! Also there may be elk hunting this fall – big YAY!
Huge ups to Jericho Settlers’ Farm in northern Vermont! They really are leading the way in grass-fed beef and pastured lamb, pork, and chicken, as well as loads of veggies.
Hogan’s Magnolia View Farm, right outside Carrboro, NC. Great grassfed beef, plus pork, lamb, and chicken. My fingers are still greasy from eating one of their marrow bones for dinner…