Things to be Thankful for this Earth Day 2021
Our little butcher shop is built on the shoulders of a big mission, to change the way Americans raise, buy and enjoy meat. That’s a tall order when taking on the largest sector of the US Agriculture Industry that produces more than 50 billion pounds of meat a year and is worth ONE TRILLION DOLLARS!
And we couldn’t do it alone.
On this Earth Day, I thought I would take a moment to highlight the real warriors for a healthier ag biz. Our friendly farmers and ranchers are doing the real work, one pasture, one animal, one incredibly long day at a time. Today, I celebrate the efforts of these men and women who are trying to change the way we enjoy meat, for the better.
Pasturebird (Murrieta, CA)
Pasturebird has been raising delicious chickens since 2012. But that’s not all they’re raising. Their rotational pasture grazing methods have also been raising the soil around Murrieta, CA. Pasturebird’s floorless, mobile coops are rotate daily so that the birds spend 24/7 on pasture where they can hunt, forage, peck and scratch for grasses, seeds, bugs, worms, flowers, weeds, and grains.
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By rotating the chickens to fresh pasture every single day, the chickens are not only healthy and delicious, but they are also rebuilding healthy, regenerative soils and grasslands. Their farmland was moondust-like when they started, exhausted by years of commercial, chemical-based agricultural practices. Now the soil is “black gold,” and the fields are green landscapes where chickens—and many other animals—can thrive.
Stemple Creek (Tomales, CA)
Stemple Creek not only raises award-winning grass-finished beef, but it also does its part to rest and repair Mother Nature. Ranch owner Loren Poncia is just as much a soil farmer as he is a rancher. But don’t take it from me. Loren says it best in his own words.
“We depend on grass for our livelihood, but soil is the true foundation of our business. Without healthy soil, the natural forage that feeds our livestock would be non-existent.”
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In 2013, Stemple Creek Ranch was selected as one of three test cases for a 10-year study with the innovative Marin Carbon Project. Their pastures are helping prove the case that regenerative beef can be healthy for us, and the environment. The study is assessing the practices of organic composting as a means to sequester carbon dioxide. Their Regenerative ranching practices are harnessing atmospheric carbon to improve soil content and mitigate the effects of global warming. This beneficial practice also has the added benefit of helping the soil retain nutrients and moisture. This is especially important in California where we’re experiencing periods of record drought.
Rancho Llano Seco (Chico, CA)
Driving down the walnut tree-lined road to the Rancho, you can’t help but appreciate the history and grandeur of this place. One of the oldest and largest privately owned parcels of land in California, Rancho Llano Seco is a beautiful backdrop for raising some of the tastiest heritage breed pork this state has to offer. The Rancho acts with integrity towards the land, animals, plants and human elements of their ecology. They use low impact farming methods and practice regenerative agriculture. The pig barns have a zero-waste system that reuses or composts bedding manure and water, and they grow 75% of our own hog feed directly on the ranch. Their processing facility is also one of the closest to the ranch, limiting transportation emissions.
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What a lot of people don’t know is that the Rancho is committed to a “farming with the wild” approach that encourages agricultural products and wildlife habitats to coexist. This deeply rooted passion for conservation and sustainable farming required a bold step. In the 1990s the Thieroit Family sold conservation easements of their ranch to the US Fish and Wildlife Service and The Nature Conservancy. This guaranteed that much of the rare California wetlands found at the Rancho would be protected in perpetuity for migratory birds, deer, turkey, and hundreds of native species of plants and animals.