Diversity Farms - Grass Fed Beef

Grass Fed is Better
You may have seen the movie “Food Inc.” stating “Everything that has been done in modern Agriculture is to grow it faster, fatter, bigger, cheaper.” The weight gain can exceed 4 lbs per day!By the way, I want to do justice to my fellow farmers: They don't necessarily want to produce the "Food Inc." way. But they have to sell to the wholesellers who deliver to the big grocery chains, which compete on price. In the end it is the uninformed consumer who buys the cheap meat "on special", and someone will always offer this, even if the meat is imported from Brazil.
Many people  think of "corn-fed" beef as nutritionally superior, but it isn't. Grass fed beef is lean and tastes better.
In a gourmet competition by the "Toronto Star" grass fed meat tasted better than grain fed:

“The leading characteristic of all grass-fed breeds is leanness. … but the main attraction is that it's healthy. Lower fat content makes for less traffic in the arteries. An added bonus is distinct flavour; pastured cows take on the character of the land they graze on. Literally, they are what they eat, and a verdant stretch of pasture adds subtle nuances to their taste.”

 We Wanted Our Children To Eat Healthy Natural Foods…Grown On Our Home Farm.”
We keep our cattle the way they naturally live. Outdoors in a small herd. They move all day foraging on grasses, legumes and herbs. This forage mix is rich in vitamins, nutrients and fibre to raise strong and healthy cattle. The calves nurse from the cows for about 8 months while they learn to take grass and hay.  For some this may not be important, but for us it is: Our cows are happy and we raise them ethically.

What's the difference between grass fed, grain fed etc?
There is quite a confusion between the terms.
I) Most beef in Canada is produced the "traditional" way: Grain Fed: The calves are born in  a barn or on pasture where they nurse for 4-6 months on their mother and eat some grass. Besides the grass and hay, the cattle gets fed other foods like silage, haylage, grain mixtures as well. After the calves are weaned, they are separated from their herd and sold or moved to a feedlot (which is a barn or area with lots of same age cattle). These calves then get fattened with a ration of more grain. The goal is to fatten them achieve rapid weight gains. At age 12-14 months they are finished (fattened and ready for the butcher). This meat is marbled, which means there is visible fat between the muscle layers. Canada AAA beef is well marbled and demands the highest price. It is sold in grocery stores and specialty butchers. 
II) Grass fed, grain finished: Some farms run cow calf herds, where the cattle is always on pasture eating only grass and hay, but for finishing the cattle gets still lots of grain to achieve marbling and rapid weight gain. This meat would be called grass fed, grain finished. 
III) Grass fed - and grass finished means the cows eat only grass and hay. The calves nurse for 7-8 months while they eat the same grass and hay. Then usually the cow is "dry" means she stops lactating  because she is ready to give birth to another calf. The older calf stays in the herd and grows slowly until it is ready for the butcher at age 18-28 months. They grow slow, the meat is lean, there is little water in the meat, so it doesn't shrink and it tastes incredibly different from fast grown commercial meat. With this production method it takes almost twice as long to get the cattle to butcher weight. It is slow and you can raise much less cattle per acre, but it .... well it's natural, fair to the cattle, and gives the best food possible for us. Oh yes, something else: Pasture raised grass fed and finished  beef probably produces less green house gases and CO2, because the grass gets trampled into the ground and the pastures aren't being plowed, but all these Carbon calculations seem to come up with different results, depending on who sponsored the study.

Fresh Grass and Hay – Scientifically Proven Healthier Beef.
According to the Journal of Animal Science*, grass fed beef is low fat. It has the same amount of fat as chicken breast, but more Omega-3s. A 2002 study in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition*  has shown it contains up to four times the amount of beta carotene, more omega-3 fatty acids, up to six times more Vitamin E, 2-5 times more conjugated Linoleic Acid. Just google "conjugated linoleic acid in grass fed beef ... "

Grass - Fed Beef Makes Excellent Freezer Beef.
Because our beef is so lean and does not contain a lot of water (as you are used to from grain-fed), the hamburgers stay in shape and don't shrink. When frozen there is much less freezer burn due to dehydration of the meat in the freezer.

And by the way, we enjoy seeing our cows being happy in their family group on our pastures. We believe everyone should treat our planet and all its inhabitants with respect and dignity.  

 Bon Appetit ……… Ernst and Krista

BEEF ORDER INFORMATION:

No order is too small. We can sell you one steak at a time. Call ahead to pick up individually packaged  beef or try to catch us by chance. We are small and may not have every item in our freezer.

Sometimes we sell a quarter cow. Please call in advance. A bulk order would include freezer packages with a variety of meat: 

Steaks, Roast,  Ground Beef, Stewing meat, Ribs, and Loin.  We’ll also custom cut as you like it.

All our meat is processed in provincially inspected facilities. Our prices are comparable to grass fed beef sold in good grocery stores or in health food stores, but our quality is substantially better. Don't take my word for it, you'll need to try our meat.

Don’t have a big freezer?  No problem.

You don't' have to order large quantities. We sell individually priced cuts, one item at a time, like a single steak, roast, hamburger pack, stew, or ribs.

Our free range egg and grass fed beef customers come the following areas: Whitchurch-Stouffville, Aurora, Markham, Newmarket, Gwillimbury, Richmond Hill, Oakridges, Thornhill, Vaughan, King Township, York Region, Toronto, GTA, Pickering, and many more communities in Ontario.