BENEFITS: To Your Health | Quality of Life| Taking Care of the Planet| Wildlife Benefits | Smaller is Better | Taste the Difference
SMALLER IS BETTER
Keeping Small-Scale Farming Healthy and Viable
Often we are told that in business, bigger is better. This is not necessarily true of farming, particularly when farms grow to become factory-like operations. In fact, large-scale farming has actually taken a toll on our food system. It limits a farmer’s ability to make a living and compromises the environment and our quality of life.
Pasture-based farms tend to be family-run operations made up of farmers who are passionate about the land they tend, the animals they raise, and the people they feed. Rather than being swayed by so-called efficiencies—which can limit a farmer’s choices—these farms are contributing to biodiversity by raising suitable breeds of cattle and pigs, as well as many other animals. While farming this way works best on a small scale, the pay-off in terms of health benefits and flavor is considerable. The June 28, 2004, issue of Time magazine reports that “Some consumers, concerned about the hormones and antibiotics used in modern factory-farmed cattle ... are turning to old-fashioned heritage beef. Taken from heirloom breeds of cattle—such as Galloway, Hereford, Devon, and Highlander— that are grassfed and raised on small family farms using traditional methods, the meat is free of hormones and chemical pesticides and tends to be healthier than cuts taken from corn-fed cattle.”
Only independently run family farms are likely to engage in these types of farming practices. And they’re the only type of farms you want in your neighborhood.
The information on this section of our website is reprinted from The Great New About Grass produced by: Eating Fresh Publications, 2004. A full version of this publication can be dowloaded by clicking here.
Endnotes:
1 Shannon Hayes. The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook: Healthy Cooking and Good Living with Pasture-Raised Foods. Eating Fresh Publications, New Jersey. 2004.
2 Grassland Birds: Fostering Habitats Using Rotational Grazing. Dan Undersander, Stan Temple, Jerry Bartlet, Dave Sample, Laura Paine. University of Wisconsin System. Cooperative Extension Publishing. 2000.
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