"More Biodiversity than the Rainforest" — A December Holiday You may have Missed

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December 10, 2023

Heads up, friends: Somewhere between carving your pasture-raised Thanksgiving turkey and ordering your forested Christmas ham, you might have missed an important December holiday.

Funny enough, if you bought your holiday meats from our farm, you celebrated without even knowing it.

And if you buy from us year-round? You likely celebrate it several times a week, if not every day.

What's this holiday for?

Here are a few clues:

🌱 A handful of it, when healthy, contains more biodiversity than rainforests or coral reefs - up to 10 billion individual living things representing up to 5,000 (or possibly even more) species. [1]

🌱 95% of the world's food comes from this fundamental resource. [2]

🌱 Sustainable farming practices like the ones we use on our farm protect and restore this essential resource, leaving it healthier, more fertile, and more abundant with each passing year. [3]

World Soil Day

For these and many other reasons, the United Nations in 2013 designated December 5th World Soil Day. This annual observance focuses attention on the importance of healthy soil and advocates for the sustainable management of soil resources around the world.

For World Soil Day 2023, thousands of events were held worldwide.

Us & You

We are proud to be one of many farms across the globe who use sustainable practices that regenerate and protect healthy soil.

And we always want you, our Farm Friends, to know that your choice to vote with your dollars and feed your families the food we produce is what makes it possible for us to do this important work.

THANK YOU, and Happy World Soil Day!

Learn more:

Notes:
[1] This World Soil Day, take a look at the surprising science of soil https://www.npr.org/2023/12/04...
[2] World Soil Day | United Nations https://www.un.org/en/observan...
[3] World Soil Day | United Nations https://www.un.org/en/observan...

Another Way We're Leading the Way

We like to be on the leading edge. So do our pigs.

Family Friendly Weeknight Bolognese

If you're like me, family dinners are important. It feels like there are a million different responsibilities these days, and it's easy to get so busy that there doesn't seem to be time to sit down as a family and enjoy a filling, nutritious meal - much less cook one! The more I learn about the food industry, the more committed I become to making my family's food from scratch as much as possible. So then the challenge becomes finding recipes that fit my criteria... For a meal to be a winner in my book, here's what it needs to be: easy to make with very few separate stepseasy flexibility for dietary needs of individual family memberscustomizable for personal tasteeasy to swap ingredients to a) make it seem like a different dish sometimes and b) use what I have on handbe overall inexpensive (since I have a growing family of 6)have no "weird" ingredients or crazy spices. (In other words, it has to be "kid approved") Now. A quick browse on Pinterest might yield hundreds of recipes that mostly match those criteria, but as soon as I click the mouth-watering picture and actually read the recipe, my stomach churns at all the pre-packaged, ingredient-laden, seed-oil-filled "conveniences" that cook used. 😞 My meals also must be nutritionally dense and use no mystery ingredients or seed oils. Since I created this family-friendly weeknight Bolognese recipe that actually meets all of these requirements, I thought I'd share, because you may be "in the same boat" searching for recipes like this for your family, too. Hannah's Family Friendly Weeknight Bolognese Ingredients: 16 oz dry pasta (For extra kid-friendliness, I usually choose penne or rotini) 1 pound ground beef 1 pound ground pork sausage (My go-to is breakfast sausage, but you can use any flavor. It does need to be pork sausage because of the fat content.) 2 whole carrots (diced) 1 small onion (diced) 1 1/2 tsp salt (I only use REAL salt) 1/2 tsp ground black pepper 1 tsp EACH dried basil, dried oregano, dried parsley (substitute with 1 Tablespoon of fresh herbs when able. 😊) 4-8 garlic cloves (diced) - depending on size and preference 16-32 oz pasta sauce or tomato sauce - based on preference (I use my home-canned tomato sauce, but any will do) 1/2 cup whole milk or heavy cream (again, depending on preference) Steps: Cook pasta according to package instructions for al dente and set aside. Cook and crumble meats together in a large saucepanIn the meat pan, add vegetables and spices/herbs and cook until tenderAdd tomato sauce and simmer for 10-15 minutes to infuse flavorsStir in milk (or cream) and cook until warmStir sauce into cooked pasta and serve immediately with parmesan Recommended sides: Green salad or caprese (tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper) Sauteed kale or Swiss chard Roasted green beans, squash & zucchini, or asparagus Garlic toast Let me know if you try this dish, what you changed, and how you liked it! There are endless substitutions and changes that make this meal so so easy to keep in the back of your mind and just use whatever you have on hand. And its so easy that even kids can help with prep (which I love to have my kiddos do).

Pastured Lamb: 10 Reasons to Add It to Your Cart

Y'all, Laura can't stop talking about our pastured lamb. It is so, SO good. Here are 10 reasons to add it to your next order.