Food as Nature intended
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
Lao Tzu
The beef, lamb and eggs we produce are completely free of hormones and antibiotics. The animals have been fed nothing else but the grass that's in front of them nor have they ever been confined to a small area for feeding purposes. Very natural and healthy food with a great flavour.
To get our produce from our paddocks to your plate, we need the infrastructure and logistics of processors, butchers and retailers who understand us and our vision. But this is a very different beast to what we farmers normally work with. Only Sam and Prue have taken the bold but very successful steps to get their product from their paddocks to your plate via their own shop and infrastructure. Look them up at Holbrook Paddock Eggs.
Also Bill and Joy are doing a great job of bringing their beef and lamb to your plates. Well, actually their plates, because you can get it in their restaurant/pub in Holbrook and Woomargama. The Holbrook Hotel and Woomargama Hotel are two brilliant examples of the best Australian country pubs have to offer. Definitely book your next party or cosy dinner there and go to the Holbrook Hotel or the Woomargama Hotel websites.
But we feel we want to bring more of our beef and lamb directly to your homes, instead of selling our animals into the generic market. To do that we’re in the process of teaming up with some great like-minded people who are very good at what they do and who are as passionate as we are about our animals and our farms. We feel we’re pretty good at breeding and growing out healthy, happy cattle and sheep, whereas these guys are awesome at breaking those animals down and turning them into the most amazing deliciousness. They’re able to make use of every part of the animal and make every bit shine to its fullest potential. Look them up and be amazed by what they do:
Healthy attributes of grass-fed beef and lamb.
One of the many reasons grass-fed meat surpasses grain-fed is that it contains considerably more antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. Carotenoids, such as beta-carotene, are precursors to vitamin A that are found as pigments in plants. Grain-fed beef does not contain appreciable levels of carotenoids, for the simple reason that grains don’t contain them. However, cows that eat carotenoid-rich grass and forage incorporate significant amounts of these compounds into their tissues. These carotenoids make the fat from grass-fed beef yellower than the fat from grain-fed beef, so fat color can be a good indicator of how nutrient-rich your meat is (1).
Grass-fed beef also contains significantly more of the antioxidants vitamin E, glutathione, superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase than grain-fed beef (2). These antioxidants play an important role in protecting our cells from oxidation, especially delicate fats in the cell membrane such as omega-3 and omega-6 (3).
Antioxidants such as vitamin E and beta-carotene also work together synergistically to protect the meat itself from damage during the journey from butcher to plate (4). These antioxidants are especially important if you choose to fry or grill your meat, because those high-heat cooking methods can be more damaging to meat than wet or low-heat methods such as stewing or braising.
Grass-fed beef also contains higher levels of beneficial nutrients like zinc, iron, phosphorus, sodium, and potassium. (5) It’s safe to say that grass-fed meat gives you more nutrition on all fronts, with its significantly higher levels of omega-3s, antioxidants, minerals, and other important nutrients. (with thanks to Chris Kresser)
