I know, I really butchered the title using a meat pun didn’t I? But let’s talk about local meat.

The local food movement continues to grow and gain momentum as everyone from chefs to school children, families to new entrepreneurs, re-acquaint themselves with the kitchen, with the seasons and with fresh fruits and vegetables. But where does local meat fit into the picture?

Meat can contribute to a well-balanced healthy diet and we are fortunate enough to have a fantastic community of hardworking, local meat producers in our province. In fact, locally produced meat in Nova Scotia can include beef, chicken, turkey, lamb, pork, goat, duck, geese, rabbit, llama, and wild boar. Surprised?

To get more information on the local meat industry in Nova Scotia, I reached out to livestock farmer Lance Bishop of Wild Mountain Farm. Wild Mountain Farm is located in Baxter’s Harbour about 30km north of Wolfville. Lance’s farm supports the idea of animals being raised in a more natural and respectful way and offers grass-fed beef, pasture-raised pork and lamb, and free-range chickens. Among other things, I asked Lance why these practices for raising animals are important to him, what the health benefits are and, of course, for some of his cooking tips and tricks.

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Farmers’ Markets of Nova Scotia (FMNS): What was it about farming and the meat industry that led you to choose to pursue this career path?

Lance Bishop (LB): I grew up on a kind of a small-scale farm where I had naturally just fell in love with the lifestyle and the cattle. As I started to choose my first career – it was to be involved with conservation and wildlife biology – I always kind of panged to be around cattle again. So, at one point when I was about 30 years old, I decided to buy cattle and farm them in a way that was as consistent with conservation and sustainability as possible. One of my drivers was to have a better connection with the food that I ate and allow for that connection to be available for other people.

FMNS: Why is it important to you to raise your meat the way you do – i.e. grass fed cattle, pasture-raised lamb and pork, and free-range chickens?

LB: I think the animals themselves have a better life. For me personally I actually ended up spending 11 years of my life as a vegetarian because I didn’t like the thought of eating animals from industrial agriculture. The only way I can really reconcile myself eating meat is to know that the animals’ lives aren’t permanent – like humans – and that they at least lived in as natural a way as possible and in such a way that they experience a little bit of joy. Also, by raising animals in the ways in which they historically lived, from an evolutionary perspective, tends to lead to food products for humans that are the most appropriate for our bodies. For example, grass-fed beef has a ratio of 1:1 for omega 6 to 3 in the fat compared to grain-finished beef which tends to have a ratio of 6-10:1 for omega 6 to 3. Another big reason is because pasture-based agriculture can play a really important role in reversing climate change in as much as grasslands can sequester and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere that has largely gotten to elevated levels due to industrial tillage-based agriculture and chemical fertilizers. The last reason is really just because it feels right to me to be in that kind of context with those kinds of animals living in a natural way.

FMNS: Are there any additional health or nutrition benefits from eating meat raised in these conditions that consumers may be interested to know?

LB: Yes, the livestock products tend to be much more nutritionally dense, measurably so, and the eggs with higher levels of essential vitamins, minerals and fats. The meats tend to have much healthier fat profiles and nutritional profiles in general. Another example would be conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which is found in grass-fed ruminant animals and is now known to be a superfood for humans – it is about ten times higher in grass-fed ruminants compared to ruminants that are fed a high grain diet.

Note: The word “ruminant” comes from the Latin ruminare, which means “to chew over again”. A ruminant is a mammal with hooves and a complicated system of stomach compartments whose digestion works by chewing partly digested food a second time in order to soften it. Cows, sheep, goats and deer are all ruminants.

FMNS: We always hear of eating fruits and vegetables when they’re in season. Is this also the case for meat? Do different kinds of meat have different seasons? What is each season of the year like on a livestock farm?

LB: Poultry, in particular, that are raised on pasture – so chicken and turkey meat, ducks – the production season is always in the green months of the year. That’s why after the first of December, chicken and turkey tends to be for sale frozen.

With grass-fed beef, it is easiest to feed the animals – such that they become fat, juicy and tender – during the summertime. The fall, then, tends to be an easier time to have an abundance of these kinds of products available. However, many farmers have figured out how to store the grass through the winter – of an adequate high quality in the form of hay, haylage and silage – such that these animals can be available fresh year-round. But in a small-scale operation it tends to be much more realistic for the farmer to kill and freeze the animals quickly to preserve the meat and preserve its quality.

With pigs that are raised on pastures, their lifespan tends to be about 6-8 months so it’s much better done just during the warmer months. Pigs don’t particularly enjoy the outside in the cold weather; they need to be housed properly in that time.

FMNS: You raise a few different breeds of cattle on your farm. Do the characteristics between these breeds differ, both in terms of their habits when they’re alive and the taste of the meat produced?

LB: There are some pretty substantial differences between breeds. Some of the best tasting breeds tend to be the least productive breeds from a modern cost perspective and therefore we try to combine the good tasting breeds with higher producing breeds to get a great product that’s affordable for customers. Within breeds there’s a lot of variability as well. For cattle, for example, we’re always searching for animals that are appropriate for pasture-based production which tend to be smaller sized animals that grow up fairly quickly and fatten fairly easily on a lower input diet such as grass.

FMNS: If a customer is making the switch to start using grass-fed beef, are there any cooking differences they should be aware of or any tips you might have?

LB: High quality grass-fed beef is comparable to high quality conventional beef in terms of cooking. It has more to do with the amount of fat that is in the beef. If the meat has lots of fat then it tends to be much easier to cook but if it’s a particularly lean product, then one should tend to cook it on a lower heat for a longer time.

FMNS: Increasingly, we seem to be seeing more people eager to try new types and varieties of fruits and vegetables, but when it comes to meat, folks often seem more hesitant. What would you say to someone who is unsure about experimenting with new types of meat in their kitchen?

LB: Don’t let the grocery stores’ bland flavours make you think that their foods are normal. Anything that’s raised on a pasture, compared with its industrialized modern efficient counterpart, is going to have higher levels of bioflavonoids which to most people expresses as having a unique, intense, and delicious flavour. When you’ve lived your whole life never having experienced true natural flavours, it can be a challenge to ones’ expectations when they take their first bite. I would say the best that we can do is try to keep our minds and our palettes open and experience how awesome natural food can really be.

FMNS: Are there any specific cuts of meat you would recommend?

LB: My biggest suggestion would be to let local meat cooking become a place where you explore the complete animal. Sometimes we fall too quickly into having a few good experiences and then we try to stay in our safe zone and buy the same cuts all the time but the reality of supporting local farmers is that their animals come in a vast variety of different cuts and these cuts, and when combined with Google recipe searches, can result in an amazing discovery of new and exciting flavours and textures of local food – that would be my recommendation.

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From someone with a nutrition background and a plan to pursue a career in dietetics, I was interested in doing a bit more research on the nutritional value of grass-fed beef and was pleased to find that evidence supports Lance’s claims. For example, a summary on CLA from Practice-based Evidence in Nutrition (2016) stated that ruminant animals, such as cattle, are a source of CLA and the bioavailability of CLA from these animals is largely dependent on their diet. A study by McAfee, McSorley, Cuskelly et al. (2010) found that consumers who ate red meat from grass-fed cattle, compared to concentrate-fed cattle, had higher blood levels of omega 3. Another study also found there to be more omega 3 fats in the grass-fed beef, compared to the grain-fed beef, regardless of the cut of meat (Ponnampalam, Mann & Sinclair, 2006).

Speaking of cuts of meat – pay attention to what cuts you’re buying, especially if you’re on a budget as some cuts are more affordable than others. If your recipe isn’t clear on what cut of meat to use, or if you’re looking for a cheaper cut to use in its place, don’t hesitate to ask your local meat producer or butcher for advice. If on a budget, you can also consider buying in bulk and freezing meat or instead of buying separate pieces, like chicken breasts, buy the whole chicken and learn how to cut it down properly yourself. You can even take cooking classes to learn more about cooking with inexpensive cuts of meat through the Flying Apron Cookery. In fact, they are offering a class in September on how to cook delicious meals using inexpensive cuts of chicken. Check out the link: http://flyingaproncookery.com/event/meat-on-the-cheap-chicken-demo-cooking-class/.

Now that you know the facts, be sure to check out the great products your local meat vendors have on offer at the farmers’ market. Pick up some veggies while you’re there as well and try making an entirely locally sourced meal for dinner! If you’d like more information on Wild Mountain Farm, visit their website at https://wild-mountain-farm.myshopify.com/. You can find Lance at the Wolfville Farmers’ Market every Saturday morning as well as the Spryfield Farmers’ Market every other Sunday. Wild Mountain Farm even offers a delivery service via their website. And for more information on other cooking classes offered by the Flying Apron Cookery, visit their website at http://flyingaproncookery.com/calendar/.

I hope we’ve whet your appetite for local meat! See you at the farmers’ market.

Written by: Laura Woodworth, St. Francis Xavier University Dietetic Intern

References:

McAfee, A. J., McSorley, E. M., Cuskelly, G. J., Fearon, A. M., Moss B. W., Beattie, J. A., Wallace, J. M. W., Bonham, M. P., & Strain, J. J. (2010). Red meat from animals offered a grass diet increases plasma and platelet n-3 PUFA in healthy consumers. British Journal of Nutrition, 105(1), 8-89. doi:10.1017/S0007114510003090

Practice-based Evidence in Nutrition. (2016). Conjugated linoleic acid. Retrieved from Practice-based Evidence in Nutrition website: http://www.pennutrition.com.libproxy.stfx.ca/KnowledgePathway.aspx?kpid=14500&trid=14516&trcatid=38

Ponnampalam, E.N, Mann, N.J., & Sinclair, A. J. (2006). Effect of feeding systems on omega-3 fatty acids, conjugated linoleic acid and trans fatty acids in Australian beef cuts: potential impact on human health. Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 15(1), 21-29. Retrieved from http://apjcn.nhri.org.tw.libproxy.stfx.ca/server/APJCN/15/1/21.pdf