PrinciplesGrass FarmingOur cattle do the work of aeration, fertilization, and pasture management through intensive rotational grazing... Sustainable Preserving Heritage Breeds Belted Galloways aka Oreo Cows from proven time tested genetic lineage... Health the most nutritious, hormone free, antibiotic free, pesticide & herbicide free beef... Ecologically Sound We are the stewards of the land and our animals and respect and tend to their needs.. NO
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Our Vision(by Vic Williams)Our History: We (Joy Roberts & Vic Williams) are at least partially a product of the 70's., when we first met. Joy was reading Adelle Davis and the Silent Spring I was attending Georgia Tech in the Architectural School with much of my studies focused on Sustainable Building Design and Community Planning. Solar Energy was a popular movement then along with fossil fuel alternatives and alternative living communities. I attended lectures by Paolo Soleri and Buckminster Fuller. It was at this time that we embraced the "you are what you eat" , a phrase used by nutritionist Victor Lindlahr in the 1920s and 30s. We have now embraced "We are what we eat, eats!" Our Farm: We are both "city kids" - a result of the 40's and 50's move from the agricultural life to the city life. Our parents grew up on farms and moved to the suburbs as the small farms gave way to the large industrial farms. Our journey has taken us from the inter-city to progressively more rural areas until 2008 when we moved to a 50 acre farm in Sonoraville Georgia. We raise Brittany bird dogs and compete in field trials from horseback, so this was a perfect place to have our dogs and horses and... Back to Basics & Eat Local: At the time we moved to the farm we became very interested in improving our health and well-being. (We had a lot of work ahead of us!) Our path took us to several books:
LOTS of Grass: We have a garden where we organically grow our own veggies, but still rely a lot on our neighbors (we want to support this effort). And we have LOTS of grass. LOTS!!! My vet said that our horses are too fat and that we should put some cattle out in the pastures with them. And so off we went to find out more about cattle. Belted Galloways (Belties aka Oreo Cows): Heritage breeds and heirloom plants are disappearing - giving way to industrial hybrids and GMO versions that are "better suited" to massive mono-culture farms. In our vision we want to preserve a diversity of plants and animals. Belted Galloways are such a heritage breed, and while they do not produce as much meat as "modern hybrids" their nutritional benefits are impressive... Although Belted Galloways are not endangered, they are a true heritage breed and are well known for success in small-scale, grass-fed beef operations. "Belties", as they are most often referred to, date back to the 16th century Scottish Highlands. Their ability to adapt to the harsh environments of Scotland make them able to fatten easily on a 100% grass fed diet. "If they can live through Scottish Highland winters, Georgia is a walk in the park." Saving the Earth: Our journey began with our desire to save our own lives, through healthier food and a healthier environment. We are our first customers because we want our food from verifiable sources and what better source than ourselves. In that journey we found people that are changing our ecosystem by using sustainable grazing practices with the ultimate promise of returning the quality of our environment back to pre-industrial levels, completely offsetting the carbon emissions of our technological world, and reclaiming ruined and desert land. We use a method called Intensive Rotational Grazing , or MOB Grazing. By giving our cattle only enough grazing area to completely eat the area down, they return our effort by eating 60%, aerating, fertilizing, watering and leaving 40% efficiently re-planted. We have seen pastures where this technique has been used that are weed-free, thick with grasses, and never have to be cut. Joel Salatin, founder of Polyface Farm, has been applying this principle since 1961 when his dad bought the farm. He started with a bare soil, exposed rock, depleted land and has created more that a foot of rich topsoil over they years that supports a thriving model farm that with leased land in the surrounding neighborhood grosses $2 million a year and pays 22 salaries. |
More Information & LinksBelted Galloway Beef is Nutritional!In late 2008, the Belted Galloway Society Foundation (BGSF) funded a study of the nutritional value of selected cuts of Belted Galloway beef. . These data show the remarkable differences between Belted Galloway beef as compared with reference beef. Adelle Davis an American author and nutritionist who became well known as an advocate for specific nutritional stances such as unprocessed food and vitamin supplementation Silent Spring An environmental science book written by Rachel Carson documenting the detrimental effects on the environment—particularly on birds—of the indiscriminate use of pesticides. Paolo Soleri Italian Architect who coined "Arcology", architecture coherent with ecology. Buckminster Fuller an American neo-futuristic architect, systems theorist, author, designer and inventor. Fuller published more than 30 books, coining or popularizing terms such as "Spaceship Earth", ephemeralization, and synergetic and is best known for popularizing the Geodesic Dome. Victor Lindlahr Lindlahr was a strong believer in the idea that food controls health, developed the Catabolic Diet. That view gained some adherents at the time and the earliest known printed example is from an advert for beef in a 1923 edition of the Bridgeport Telegraph, for 'United MeetMarkets' The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan Anticancer: A New Way of Life by David Servan-Schreiber Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It by Gary Taubes Local Harvest Eat Wild Slow Food USA Raw Milk How Grazing Cows Can Save the Planet, and Other Surprising Ways of Healing the Earth Dramatically increasing the number of grazing livestock is the only thing that can reverse both desertification and climate change - an article by Dr. Mercola in an interview with Judith Schwartz, a freelance writer and author of the book Cows Save the Planet: And Other Improbable Ways of Restoring Soil to Heal the Earth. Polyface Farms Polyface, Inc. is a family owned, multi-generational, pasture-based, beyond organic, local-market farm and informational outreach in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. BEYOND ORGANIC Mob Grazing Produces Healthy Soil and Livestock by Jason Johnson, Public Affairs Specialist, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service  Beltie Burgers, homemade mustard, and garden fresh tomatoes and grilled peppers! |
