I spent some time this week looking into new lamb & beef suppliers, after my concerns regarding the nature of the 'organic' label placed on my current supply of red meat had me worried that my animals were raised on organic grain. My butcher couldn't tell me exactly which farm my meat was from, as they buy from a range of farms, some of which were grain feeding their animals. Organic Direct remains a reliably grass-fed option, but their once-a-month delivery restriction often left me in a pickle. My research led me to a local farm, The Farmers Market. I chatted with the owner, Farmer Dan, via email, to enquire why he has not had his farm certified as organic, though his methods would easily qualify for certification. His answers were fascinating, and I will share the interview with him in my next post. But in the meantime, here is a choice extract from the website:
The Farmers Market is a subsidiary of Farmer Dan, an all natural, branded beef and lamb company based in Gippsland Victoria. Suppliers to The Farmers Market raise cattle and sheep using natural production methods, on natural feeds without added growth hormones or antibiotics in a free range environment. The company was started in 2005 by Farmer Dan and is dedicated to supporting family farms.
You can also read an independent review on Cows In Clover.
Given the lack of the organic label, Danny can sell his meat at a much more affordable price, but my preference to buy in bulk to minimise traffic meant that I bought an 1/8th beef pack and a full lamb pack, judging the amount via the price, assuming comparability to my usual orders from Organic Direct. Wrong!
The beef and lamb were boxed separately, and I left them both resting on my dining table as I gathered up my wicked packing skills, bound to be necessary were I to get all that meat into my freezer compartment of my fridge (a space barely the size of the small of the two boxes!)
I opened up the lamb box, and laid out the pieces on the kitchen bench. The pile in the photo below is four layers high at its thickest, and do note the massive legs and what I assume to be racks at the back...
I somehow, miraculously, managed to fit all the lamb into the freezer, but I knew that there wouldn't be the slightest chance of fitting the beef in as well. So I took out one leg roast and one rack, as well as the sausages that I wouldn't be able to eat thanks to their rice flour content (I had asked for them to be replaced with mince, but Farmer Dan forgot).
I then tackled the beef container:
All but one package of round steak fitted into the other area of the freezer, so I was only left to deal with the excess of lamb. The solution was simple - be an awesome sister and give it to my little brother. He was very happy to accept the gift, especially given his Uni student status, although it means that Dad has now lost both of his meat recipients! Dad loves giving us meat, as its one connection to the farm that he can offer his kids, but it's not as though he raises the animals himself. And given that mystery, I'm not comfortable as I don't know whether the animals were dipped in pesticides (quite likely) or fed grain (less likely).
Thus far, I've been LOVING the lamb forequarter chops from Farmer Dan, and I'm very picky about my lamb chops! The beau has also tried the round steak, which smelled as amazing as it apparently tasted. I'll be sure to give more detailed reviews as I make my way through my immense supply!
Farmer Dan is also expanding his offerings to draw on other Gippsland farmers that follow his ideals, so soon I'll be able to get wonderful free-range chicken, pork, and maybe even dairy for the beau! It's too much to hope for raw dairy though, since that's still near-impossible to get a hold of on a regular, convenient basis. Fingers crossed...
And now the usual run-down of my eats this past week - hover over the image to read the description:
And now forward I march into another working week - it's report writing and exam marking time! Yay! Have a good one!
I cut out grains, sugar and starches at the beginning of 2009. I have been keeping a journal as I have progressively shed my bulges and my processed foods. I am aiming to live a clean, primal lifestyle, and I wish to share my eating habits with those who wish to clean up their lifestyle and live happily and healthfully. As the cliche states - if I can do it, so can everybody else.
7 comments:
Looks like quite the haul! I am lucky to have a couple of good meat sources, one is certified organic and grassfed, the other is not certified organic. I think that you will find it's very costly to get the organic certification and that family farms really can't afford it but still follow humane practices in raising their livestock. They sell at farmers' markets that are now on a weekly schedule since it's summer, but I love driving out to the farm to pick up stuff when I run out of eggs or need a specific cut. I did feel a little weird the first time, seeing the cows and lambs in the fields.
I bought 1/4 beef last year and I am still stocked up. You get a great price that way, but I had to stack it all in my dad's little deep freeze. I am tempted to get a freezer of my own, but his was available and he feels like he is helping out.
Your eggs photos are great... I'm jonesing for a really runny orange yolk. Just found out that hubby has gout so that is curtailing meat fixing this weekend, but I might grill myself a steak to eat.
Good eating!
TrailGrrl
Hey there Primal Girl :)
I'm so jealous of that massive haul! It looks so yummy and healthy.
I could use a delivery like that, I'm starting a meat-only week as of today. I've had a horrible allergic reaction to something, so an extensive elimination diet is in order! I've posted details about it in my blog, and if you have any advice I would appreciate it soooo much. I need all the help I can get!
I'll be wishing you perseverance and patience this week, to help with all of that exam marking! My prac class this semester is a Yr 8 class, so I'm yet to experience the whole exam thing.
Take care!
Wow that must be tough eating just meat!!!!!!!!!!!! No wonder your bored. Could you not eat leafy greens too like spinach. They are so low in carbs but so high in nutrients?
Thanks for the comments, girls!
... Dan, eating only meat is anything but tough. Who ever said I was bored of my food? If you read the rest of my blog, you will see that I have found that my system prefers not to have fibre shoved through its GI tract, and I respect its wishes since fibre has been shown to be unnecessary and that the nutrition available is veggies is more readily available in animal products.
A good rule of thumb for everyone is not to criticise the though-out actions of others out of hand. You can also look to my 'Show Me The Science' page for more details regarding the scientific foundation of my choices, since hopefully the evolutionary background is obvious.
I think you must have misunderstood me and me you. I certainly wasn't criticizing your diet choice??? You said you had run out of subject ideas and I took that as you were bored. My mistake.
Yes, you did misunderstand me Dan, which is why I responded to your note. Eating just meat is not tough for me. Finding new subjects to introduce my meaty eats for the week can be, though. :)
But if you claim not to be criticizing my choices, why claim that it's "no wonder" I'm "bored", and that I should eat leafy veg?
But I accept your apology. It's easy to make claims on the Internet without thinking about the individual you are addressing. I never comment on the blogs of others unless I've read all of their recent posts, to make sure I'm not asking them things that they've already covered. It's just more polite that way.
One last comment. I never said you should eat leafy greens. I said could you? I was trying to offer a solution because I thought you were bored. If your happy then thats great! I have been reading your posts regularly (you are on my RSS feed) but things change in peoples minds and I thought that this was the case. As I said my mistake for assuming that in the first place.
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