Join the Lady Jaye Meat Dudes as they visit Pure Country Farms and learn more about sustainable meats from cattle ranches. Lady Jaye Restaurant in West Seattle serves local specialty meats from Pure Country Farms. Reserve your table today!
FROM FARM TO FORK: THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWING WHERE YOUR MEAT COMES FROM
A Family Run, Ethical, and Sustainable Hog and Cattle Farm that Will Change the Way You Think About Meat.
Are you looking for a reliable source of good meat? One question you should ask yourself is: “Can I visit the farm that I’m buying meat from?” After all, you want to make sure that you’re actually getting meat from a farm and not a factory, and that the animals are treated well. It’s so important to know where your meat comes from.
That’s why we had the pleasure of visiting Pure Country Farms, the farm that provides us with over 90% of our meat. And let us tell you, it was a game-changer.
Pure Country Farms is a family-run hog and cattle farm located in Moses Lake, WA. The farm is large enough to provide us with consistent cuts, but small enough to ensure that they have their hands on everything. From accounting, to farming, processing and loading hogs, the family has their hands on the entire operation. Even their 16-year-old son was driving the tractor during our tour!
The farm is run by third-generation farmers who came from commercial farming but changed their ways to create a sustainable environment and treat the animals humanely. “This is the way we choose to do it, and we feel that this is the right way,” says Paul Jr., one of the farm’s owners.
One of the things that sets Pure Country Farms apart is their commitment to sustainable and ethical farming practices. They grow 70% of their feed and source the rest locally. The only thing they ship in from the mid-west is flaxseed because of its healthy omega 3’s and 6’s.
Everything is about diet, says Paul Jr. “You can tell what your animal eats.” That’s why they put so much effort into making sure their animals eat well and are free from stress.
Stress is the worst thing you can do to an animal, and Pure Country Farms takes this very seriously. They have created many new processes to take stress out of the animals’ lives and ensure that they are handled and harvested in the most stress-free way possible. From raising all their animals open air outdoors and pasture raising all their cattle to building a processing facility that is only 19 minutes from the farm. Even the ramp to load the hogs on the trailer is 30 feet long with only a slight incline so the hogs don’t suddenly hit a major incline which they’ve never experienced before.
It’s clear that Pure Country Farms cares deeply about what they do, especially since they came from the commercial side. Paul Jr. reiterated how much stress affects the animals and how they really work to keep them stress-free. They care about raising animals humanely and ethically while providing us with a consistent product.
During our visit, we appreciated how honest and open Paul Jr. was. He really wanted us to understand what they do and show us the entire process. He shared his philosophy and answered all our questions genuinely. It was refreshing, especially in an industry that is not very open to the public.
We left Pure Country Farms feeling even better about where we get our meat from and the people who provide it to us. The entire family is hands-on and understands the program. Now, we know exactly where our meat comes from, and we can be proud of it.
It’s encouraging to know that the only people that have hands on our beef and pork are the farmers themselves and our trusted partners at Preservation Meat Collective that distribute the meat directly from Pure Country’s Processing facility to our restaurant front door.
In conclusion, if you want to change the way you think about meat and ensure that you’re getting high-quality, sustainable, and ethical meat, we highly recommend a visit to Pure Country Farms. Trust us, you won’t regret it.
