Deep Roots Meat

Happy meat isn’t just about animal welfare; it’s also about human welfare. I’m talking about community, human interaction, accountability — the difference between anonymity and personality. When I try to find out who raised the animals that provided my meat, I want to see this: What I don’t particularly want to see is this: One of these looks like a good cattle rancher,...

Crave Brothers

Wellshire Farms

The information on the Wellshire Farms website seems to indicate happy animals, but it’s not very detailed or specific, so I corresponded with a representative (Shelly) via e-mail. She was very helpful and offered some great answers that confirm their producers are raising animals with much higher standards than most commercial ranches. Unfortunately, it’s not local (which we greatly...

New Bird in Town

If you’ve ever searched Orlando for local food — especially local meat — you’ve probably been disappointed at the apparent lack of sources. Laura and I have done a lot of research to come up with the multitude of options we’ve posted here on our blog. But it’s easy to feel like Orlando is something of a local food desert. I assure you, however, it’s not. Just to...

Diamond P Ranch Chicken

This post is way overdue, but Laura and I have been very preoccupied buying a house! We are currently in the final stages of the purchase process (which has gone on for some time, due to short sale paperwork and approvals), so we have left our blog alone for the past couple weeks. Not too long ago, we drove to Diamond P Ranch to pick up our very first freshly-harvested chicken. (That means the...

Deep Creek Ranch

Some day we’ll visit Deep Creek Ranch and see the animals for ourselves, but in the meantime we are quite sure they produce happy meat. One of the owners is highly involved with Slow Food Orlando and they often show up at the all-local farmers market – College Park and Audubon Park – as well as various events, like the Winter Park Harvest Festival. The beef I have tried from...

Big Wheel Provisions

Best. Bacon. Ever. The owner of this company, the real driving force behind it, is Tony Adams, who has become something of a local icon, at least in the local food scene. He is a professionally trained chef with a passion for the freshest ingredients he can find, a talent for charcturie, and a commitment to using as much of each animal as possible. Find him at the only all-local farmers markets...

Good Farming Practice

Second in my posts about happy things in the world of food is Polyface Farm. We all know about factory farming conditions, how cows and chickens are crammed shoulder to shoulder and forced to live horrible lives. Well, Polyface is a farm that not only gives us cows and chickens that live natural lives but that interact in a perfect system to better the farm and environment. Anyone who has read...

Evening on the Farm

Last Saturday night, John and I drove out to Lake Meadows Naturals, for the Slow Food event, an Evening on the Farm. We had been really excited to finally make it out to Lake Meadows, since that’s where the eggs we buy through Big Wheel Provisions come from. And we were not disappointed by the farm at all. It for one, it’s gorgeous. Green and lush, with a acres of fields full of happy...

The Country Hen

Although The Country Hen is not local to us here in Central Florida (they're located in Hubbardston, MA), I found their eggs in a supermarket in Daytona Beach. After a little research, I think they are a very sustainable producer.

Fatted Calf

I don't live in San Francisco, I have never been to their farmer's market and therefore I have never been to Fatted Calf Charcuterie. However, I don't think I need to have been there to know that they are a happy place, serving happy people, happy animals.