Sustainable Agriculture

Sustainable agriculture is the future. Some say it’s the revolution agriculture needs to make in order for future generations to thrive. With our ever-expanding human population, we have to have a plan in place that replenishes the land from which our food comes from and leave it in a better state than in which we found it.

With the multitude of health issues highly processed and convenience foods have bought to much of the Australian population, there is a movement happening whereby people are wanting to know where their food is coming from, the conditions under which livestock have been kept, the effects farming has on the environment and whether we are going to be capable of providing enough food, water and land for our future generations.

According to http://www.sustainabletable.org/246/sustainable-agriculture-the-basics, a commonly accepted definition of sustainable agriculture is

the production of food, fiber, or other plant or animal products using farming techniques that protect the environment, public health, human communities, and animal welfare.  This form of agriculture enables us to produce healthful food without compromising future generations’ ability to do the same.

In contrast, industrialised agriculture which became popular in the early 1900’s due to the mechanisation of agricultural and farming practices, has seen the implementation of practices that threaten the environment, human health, animal welfare and the health of rural and indigenous communities. Industrialised agriculture is reliant upon potent chemical pesticides, synthetic fertilisers and genetically modified crop varieties. Livestock are intensively farmed in cramped conditions, supplemented with growth hormones and not allowed to express their normal instinctual behaviours due to confinement.

We are passionate about sustainable agriculture. In the search for livestock suppliers that are aligned with our animal husbandry ethics, we personally visit our farmers and forge a relationship based on sustainability as well as market profitability. We hand select and only choose to supply higher welfare, outdoor bred, pasture raised, grass fed and free range produce. Some of our trusted suppliers that practice sustainable agriculture include Kiss Run Eggs who practice a Regenerative Farm Management System. The Kiss Run hens are free to scratch and forage the paddocks of “Kamarooka Run” in Hamilton, Victoria. Their droppings and those of the farms’ sheep and cattle act as a natural fertiliser, which gets blended into the compost applied over the entire farm on an annual basis. The hens are housed in mobile homes which are moved to a new spot every few days, so the process of regenerating and “putting back” into the land is a continual and natural process. Mt Mercer Outdoor Bred Pork implement ethical and sustainable farming practices. Pigs are born outdoor until weaned, when they are placed in straw based huts commonly known as “Eco Shelters”, where they live with other piglets the same age having the opportunity to interact and play. Both piglets and pigs have the opportunity to express natural and instinctual behaviours. The farm practices crop rotations to ensure land and water table integrity and sustainability. Mt Mercer pork is renowned for its excellent eating quality. We have recently started suppling our customers with premium free range Leadoux Turkeys which are grown free-range on the Bairnsdale farm and processed on site in their Primesafe licensed processing plant. At approximately 6 weeks of age, the turkeys are free to roam across 21 acres of sandy Gippsland countryside. This family owned and operated farm is small in comparison to larger commercial businesses but that’s exactly the way Judy Leadoux intends on keeping things. For Judy (and her late husband John), it is not about commercial expansion, but rather growing and supplying premium, succulent turkeys to an ethically aligned market. We stock Milawa Free Range and Bannockburn Free Range Chickens, both supplying superior and award winning free range poultry products to the market. Our beef and lamb are sourced locally, hand selected and grass fed. If you are as concerned about sustainable agriculture and knowing where your livestock products are coming from, you can rest assured we have done our research and are only stocking the best.

The question of whether livestock can be truly organic is a whole other blog in itself! I think the message people need to hear and be encouraged to listen to, is that livestock that is raised under higher welfare conditions, eats a natural diet, is allowed to graze, forage and roam and isn’t pumped full of growth hormones, is better for the animal, the environment, the farmer and importantly, for you as a consumer. The term “garbage in – garbage out” is fiercely relevant in agriculture. We have to look after the food chain, not only because we humans rely on it to survive, but if we don’t look after the entire lifecycle, we are sabotaging the success and sustainability of future generations.

 

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