Give Thanks for Pasture-Raised Food
This Thanksgiving, give thanks for pasture-raised food. Watch this video to see why pasture-raised products are so special.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7JRQuMETZA&feature=youtu.be
Food Claims: Who can you trust?
Despite the recent recession, it’s great to see that demand for high-welfare, sustainable meats, dairy products, and eggs continues to grow. As the public wakes up to the negative impacts of intensive farming, they’re looking for food labels that provide real assurances that the food they buy is healthful, and produced with animal welfare and the environment in mind.
Many different businesses have now set up programs to offer consumers certain assurances about the food they buy. It goes without saying that the many different labels offered by food businesses vary enormously in terms of their scope and operation. However, most of the claims are centered on claims that farmers are using humane, sustainable farming practices, or that animals are fed a strictly controlled diet, or that medications or hormones are restricted or even prohibited. Since it’s impossible for each of us to go out and check the farms ourselves, we effectively take it on face value that the food label we choose to support really does deliver the benefits that it promises.
National Trust – ‘What’s Your Beef?’ Report
A recent report from the UK’s highly respected National Trust has confirmed what Animal Welfare Approved has been advocating for a long time: Feeding cattle on grass throughout their lifecycle is the most environmentally sustainable way to raise beef.
The new report – entitled What’s Your Beef – is an important contribution to the on-going debate about how to increase food security while reducing the environmental impacts of food production. Published by an organization responsible for the management of more than half a million acres of land across England, Wales and Northern Ireland on behalf of the nation, the messages in the report resonate with the arguments that AWA has presented for the wide-spread adoption of pasture-based livestock farming systems.
The Conscientious Consumer’s Quandary
Whether it’s the regular tweets of the big-name food pundits or the countless anonymous contributors to online food discussions, an astonishing amount of advice is now dished out on what food we should buy and where we should buy it. While much of this guidance is sound and reasonable, some of it is wildly inaccurate or just downright unrealistic.
Take the latest mantra that cropped up in an online discussion that I was following: ‘Before you buy any food you should go and visit the farm, because that will answer all your questions.’ Buying direct from the farm or at the farmers’ market is something I wholeheartedly enjoy supporting. In doing so, my family hasn’t bought into the appalling practices of industrial agriculture; we’ve used our dollars to support local farms - and the food usually tastes great, too. But is it realistic to expect every conscientious consumer to have the time and ability to actually visit the farm first – let alone the expertise to assess what they see when they get there?
Wagon Wheel Ranch – Watkinsville, GA
Fred Liebl of Wagon Wheel Ranch has been farming since 1970. Although he wasn’t raised on a farm, his grandparents were farmers in New York state where he grew up and worked on a neighbor’s dairy farm. Fred’s work with…
Rocking Chair Ranch – Forsyth, GA
Joseph Egloff, a fourth-generation cattle farmer, raises Certified Animal Welfare Approved by A Greener World (AGW) beef cattle at Rocking Chair Ranch Cattle in Forsyth, GA, just north of the city of Macon. Rocking Chair Ranch Cattle started in 2014,…
Serenity Acres Farm – Pinetta, FL
Julia and Wayne Shewchuk have owned and operated Serenity Acres Farm in Pinetta, situated in the rolling terrain of north Florida, since 2008. One third of the farm’s 60 acres is still in southern hardwood forest and the rest is…
Hawthorne Valley Farm – Ghent, NY
Hawthorne Valley Farm was established in 1972 and is a diversified farm producing high quality, Biodynamic and sustainable foods while offering farm-based education opportunities for children and adults. The team at Hawthorne Valley Farm manages herds of Certified Animal Welfare…
Shelby Acres – Colquitt, GA
Robin Rau raises Certified Animal Welfare Approved by A Greener World (AGW) beef cattle and pigs at Shelby Acres in Colquitt, GA. A CEO of a local hospital by day, Robin started a farm many years ago with the sole…
Earth Week 2011: Start with Your Next Meal
As we enter Earth Week 2011, millions of people across the U.S. and the world are looking for ways to minimize their impact on the environment. It might surprise you to know that one of the best places you can start is the food you eat. Did you know that at least 30 percent of our annual carbon footprint is made up of our daily food choices? Choosing the right food – such as Animal Welfare Approved meat and dairy products – is one of the most important, everyday activities that can reduce our individual environmental impact and help to improve the well-being of farm animals at the same time.
So, why not use this opportunity to reduce your consumption of unsustainable, low-welfare, intensively reared feedlot meat and dairy – and choose high-welfare, pasture-based meat and dairy products instead? Animal Welfare Approved’s online directory makes it easy to find AWA-certified farms and products in your area and to support sustainable farming. Pasture-based farming can bring real benefits to us all, not only through healthier products but by helping to protect the planet for future generations.
Windy N Ranch – Ellensburg, WA
Owned and operated by the Newhall family (Bradley, Lisha, Greg and Laurie), Windy N Ranch in Ellensburg, Washington raises Certified Animal Welfare Approved by A Greener World (AGW) cattle, pigs, meat sheep, meat goats, and chickens for meat and eggs. With five separate…
South Chestnut Farm – Pittsboro, NC
Roger Harris started South Chestnut Farm in Chatham County, North Carolina, in the early 2000s on land that had been in his family for at least four generations. Inspired by stories of successful small farms from across the country, he…
