Farm to plate

A couple of months ago, a farmer called me to ask whether I knew of a few people who’d like to order a side of beef. Paul Graham is a cattle farmer who sells his meat direct to the public. He does this so that he can farm his cattle organically and still make a living. The Graham’s farm wasn’t always organic. Paul bought the farm from his father after working in an abattoir for years. He had young children and was horrified to see the changes in the cattle when they were injected with hormones.

In Paul’s words, the animals became “sex mad” and the young cows’ genitals changed shape and size. He didn’t want his kids to eat the meat from these animals so he decided to convert to organic farming. Now his cows live a happy life on Paul’s certified organic farm roaming the pastures and eating grass. No industrial food waste as cattle food for his cows. He sells bulk meat to the public – you either order 1/4 or 1/6. So I put the word out through my networks and we soon had 4 “beasts” ordered.

Paul arrived early one Saturday morning and it was a fun, social morning as people came to pick up their meat and take extra bones and liver if they wanted it. Being an ex-vegetarian, I don’t know a lot about the different cuts of meat and how to cook them so it’s an interesting journey and the Internet is such a great resource for novice cooks like me.

The greatest satisfaction in this has been knowing that the cows have had a good life and been well looked after. We know where the meat comes from and how the cows lived. In modern supermarket-based living, we are so removed from the farm and the farmer. The meat doesn’t have much relationship with the animal or farm that it came from anymore.

There’s a beautiful scene in one of the David Attenborough “Life of Animals” series where a Kalahari bushman finally kills the animal he has been tracking all day and goes through this beautiful ritual where he lovingly pays respects to the animal and honours its spirit before carrying it back to feed the whole tribe. This is what I think we need to return to in some way. Not to return to a hunter gatherer way of life but to incorporate the ritual and honouring of the animals and plants that feed and sustain us and to know where our food comes from and just what went into getting that food onto our plates.

We have now created an easy way for you to participate in our bulk meat orders. Visit The Organic Meat Club and subscribe. You will then receive updates and news of bulk meat orders on the Gold Coast. Subscription is free.

Kosuke and Taiji with the cows at the Organic Farm Share farm in Unumgar.