Homestead Natural Food’s approach to a more sustainable and healthy food supply is to begin with the soil itself. “We’re all of us grass farmers first, and beef is the by-product,” says sixth-generation Idaho rancher Ed Wilsey.
Ed Wilsey, a sixth-generation Idaho rancher, believes that if you are what you eat, the same is true for cattle. “You don’t just get the cow, you get what they ate – including the omega-6 fats that come with a grain fed diet. These are the kinds of fats that are more closely linked with obesity, diabetes, cancer, and immune system disorders such as arthritis and asthma.”
The Wilseys were not the only ranching family who came to the same conclusion about the health consequences of factory feedlots. During the summer of 2009, they were joined by other grass-fed beef operations, including Bill and Carol Gate’s Mesquite Cattle Company in Middleton, Idaho; Keith and Sharon Huettig’s K-Bar-H Ranch in Jerome; and Mike and Joanie Fluit of Fluit Family Farms in Joseph, Oregon to form Homestead Natural Foods. Also joining the group was organic poultry farmer Dennis Mason of Mason Ranch. Their collective efforts currently serve a number of highly regarded Treasure Valley restaurants that include the Red Feather Lounge, Bittercreek Alehouse, Le Café de Paris, and the Cottonwood Grille.
“People appreciate that wild salmon raised on a natural diet taste better than farm salmon, which is raised on a diet of soybeans and corn, but it’s better for you as well,” says Bill Gale. “It’s the same difference between grass-fed and CAFO beef, which are raised on the feed equivalent of soft drinks and candy bars. If they weren’t slaughtered when they were, they’d probably die of a heart attack within a few months.”
By contrast, Homestead Natural Food’s “beeves” are free of the antibiotics, hormones, and herbicide or pesticide residues associated with grain. What they have is a higher concentration of omega-3 fats, more conjugated linoleic acid (CLA is credited with cancer fighting properties), more beta-carotene, more vitamin E, and less total fat and calories than conventional beef. Grass-fed beef, like wild salmon, also tastes better than its factory farm alternative. “Our steers look like they came right off the feed lot, with good marbling in the fat,” Ed points out, “but the fat tastes more like a fine olive oil, and the meat has an excellent flavor and tenderness.”
Homestead Natural Food’s approach to a more sustainable and healthy food supply is to begin with the soil itself. “We’re all of us grass farmers first, and beef is the by-product,” says Ed Wilsey. “My granddad always said, “take care of the land and it will take care of you. We’ve cut our soil erosion down to practically nothing – the cows don’t take anything out that they don’t put back in.”
Looking ahead, Homestead Natural Foods hopes to bring other organic and natural pasture ranchers into their fold, and to expand their reach beyond Southwest Idaho, while maintaining a network of producers who remain within a short radius of the communities they serve. Most of all, however, Homestead wants to extend its control over its products from pasture to plate – a goal that is especially dear to the heart of Dennis Mason.
“Ultimately, the way we can ensure the highest quality for the consumer, both from the standpoints of healthiness and flavor, is to control the process from the time an animal is born through the growth stage, to the processing and final presentation to the consumer,” says Mason. “When I first began my research into organic foods, I realized this isn’t ‘natural’, this is the way I grew up!” And Mason speaks for the rest of his Homestead colleagues when he adds, “we want to leave a legacy to our kids and grandkids. We don’t want to relinquish what we have for subdivisions – we want to keep our properties intact and produce food that the public doesn’t just want, but needs.”
Click here to read the longer story on Homestead Natural Foods that this profile is based on.
