A Look into Blue Goose Cattle Company!

A few people have expressed interest in one of our new product suppliers, Blue Goose, from whom we just started purchasing some of our meats for Vancouver and Sea to Sky.

Blue Goose is a family owned cattle ranch in the Cariboo, B.C. and covers over 1.5 million acres of leased and deeded land.

In fact, a good portion of the land their cattle graze on is part of the government owned preserve that has never been exposed to chemicals of any kind. “A healthy land produces healthy animals – without the need for medications.”
 
Doug Sinclair, President and Founder of Blue goose Cattle, was adamant when starting the company that it be vertically integrated pasture to plate and as self-sufficient as possible, so that consumers know exactly where their meat comes from and how. He was one of the first ranchers in North America to see the benefits to not just the ranch itself, but also to consumers since the quality is more consistent and will always meet the rigorous standards that Blue Goose sets for itself.

All the land that the cattle graze on is regularly monitored and assessed to make sure that ecological conditions and conservation goals are met. Blue Goose wants to provide consumers with quality beef with as little impact on the ecosystem as possible by helping to preserve the forests and grasslands. The cattle graze on the land with only a few cowboys for company for about 18 – 22 months before they are rounded up and brought to another of their properties to be “finished.”

They spend the next three to four months in large open enclosures with plenty of room to roam around. Each enclosure has shade cover for hot days, provides enrichment in the form of scratching posts and other cow entertainments, and has the bedding changed regularly to prevent any possible chance of illness. All their feed is certified organic alfalfa grown by Blue Goose itself.

Why not let them graze their entire lives? Travel is difficult for animals and they are often stressed by it, which changes the flavour of the meat in negative ways. By bringing the cattle to an enclosure built near the Abattoir and allowing them to stay there for approximately three months, they are able to forget the trauma of having been moved to a new location.

From their enclosures, the cattle can be walked down the hill and directly to the Abattoir where they are treated as humanely as possible. Both a Veterinarian and a Government inspector are on site daily to make sure that the facility to working to the standards required by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

“…these animals are on this earth to provide humans with food… at the very least, they deserve our respect.”

I hope you enjoyed a look into Blue Goose Cattle Company and, as always, please let us know what you want to hear about next! ~ Rachel

Make Your Own Organic Pet Food?

Making organic pet food may sound a bit farfetched, but when you think about it, they eat pretty much the same food that we do! So why are we buying food in bags for our pets? Well, convenience for one, there’s the dry food versus wet food preference, and sometimes… our pets are just plain picky eaters and won’t touch anything but “their” special food! Putting all that aside, it sounds fun to try making your own pet food and see how they react. Maybe they hate it, but maybe they love it so much that it will become their new favourite treat!

What are the benefits of making our pet’s food ourselves? Giving your pet organic food has all the same benefits of feeding yourself organic food. There’s nothing artificial in it, which reduces the probability of skin ailments and allergies. There are fewer digestive disorders, since the food is prepared with fresh, easily digestible ingredients and hasn’t been sitting on a shelf for weeks before you even purchased it. Since the ingredients are more easily digested, your pets also absorb more nutrients from them, improving their immune system and giving them more energy overall. You also can control their diet more specifically. If your pet is overweight, you can easily skip adding fat to your ingredients by removing excess fat from meat or using less oil.

Before we get into making the food itself, let’s divert to something more serious note. All pets are different. You wouldn’t feed birdseed to your cat, for example, so make sure that what you are putting into your pets’ food is suitable for their species. Cats can’t digest some grains and veggies properly, so while they’re great for your dog, you do not want them in your cat food. On the flip side of that, dogs like to chew on bones, especially to get the marrow inside, but you wouldn’t grind up bone into their regular food like you would a cat that is built to eat mice whole – bones and all.

Maxi Luna in 1920's Regalia

Dogs are omnivores just like we are, so their food should be comprised of meats, carbohydrates, and veggies. All you need for some great dog food is ground meat, carbs (barley, wheat, or whole grain rice recommended), some veggies, liver, and gizzards (chicken or turkey). Beef is traditional, but if your dog is overweight or exercising less, you might want to try turkey or chicken as leaner options. The liver and gizzards are something canines eat naturally in the wild and provide them with iron, an immune system boost, and enhanced joint mobility. As an added treat, add extra meat to the mixture.

My sister’s dog Maxi, for example, goes crazy over anything with turkey in it. So much so, that we can’t even say the word “turkey” without her going nuts! We have to be sneaky and use other languages to say turkey instead. “Pavo!” “Dinde!”

Basic Dog Food Recipe

1. Cook 1 lb of ground meat in a skillet
2. Use light cooking oil (safflower is a great example, since it is almost flavourless) only if necessary for browning meat and in small amounts
3. Mix the cooked meat with your carb and water in a large pot and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for about 15 minutes, or until your carb is soft and tender.
5. While it is cooking, dice your veggies.
6. Add the veggies to the pot once carb is finished cooking and cook veggies for about 5 to 10 minutes until tender.
7. Allow to cool before serving.
8. You can store extra food in glass jars or in repurposed containers for future meals.
9. Lasts up to 5 days in the fridge or can be frozen as necessary.

Check out more great homemade organic meals and treats:

Dogs: Treats & Meals
Cats: Cat Nutrition
Birds: Parrot Treats & Eats
Rabbits: Easy Homemade Treats & What can a Rabbit Eat? Breakdown
Hamsters: Basic Meal Mix

The Real Cost of Organic Meat

Meat has long been one of the most expensive items in organic food, often double in price! Why is Organic Meat more expensive and what difference does it have to the less-expensive non-organic meat that you find in the grocery store?

The typical reply for this question is, of course, that non-organic raised animals are given growth hormones, antibiotics, and other medications to prevent diseases caused by poor feeding and living conditions. Growth hormones have received a great deal of attention in the media lately as a potential cause of growth problems in young children. Antibiotics are a concern due to overexposure creating super-bugs that require stronger and stronger measures to combat them. Living conditions are cramped with animals often living in their own filth and fed only that which is least expensive, not necessarily what is best for the animal or the human later consuming them.

Photo Credit: Wendy Nuttall

In contrast, organic raised animals are allowed to roam free as soon as they are weaned. Their food consists mostly of what they would find in the wild, grasses and insects, supplemented by all organic feed imbued with naturally occurring minerals to make up for any deficiencies in local plants based on soil and weather conditions. When housed inside shelters, they are provided a space where they can move around that is cleaned regularly to help minimize disease without the use of medications and chemicals that later get passed on through the meat.

The benefits to the environment and local growers are numerous, but the biggest benefit that everyone can enjoy is the quality of the meat itself. One of the most expensive meats in the world is a type Serrano ham called “jamón ibérico.” It is produced only in Spain and in order to qualify, the pigs must only eat a very specific diet of naturally grown grass, herbs, acorns, and roots until they are old enough. Then they are switched to a diet of pure acorns and olives. This specific diet is so pronounced in the flavor of meat that it is renowned the world over as some the best cured ham in the world.

If the taste itself does not convince you, one experiment I have tried is to purchase a boneless organic chicken breast and a non-organic one. We cooked them up in separate pans on the stove, just something simple in a small amount of olive oil with a bit of salt and pepper. Same heat, same size pan. The non-organic chicken breast started out larger, but as it cooked down there was more and more liquid in the pan until it was the same size as the organic chicken breast in the next pan. The organic chicken breast had very little liquid in the pan in comparison. The technique is called “plumping,” injecting saltwater, chicken stock, or seaweed extract into the frozen chicken to make it appear bigger and make it heavier. That can mean that 15-30% of the chicken you paid for is actually water, up to an additional $1.70 per package!

Meat may seem like a costly alternative when purchasing organic, but once you add up every cost, to the environment, your health, and to your wallet, it isn’t that big an investment after all.