Where do you stand?

Oh, the tales that dirt would tell...

Ever thought about how your food's story...becomes your story?

In its final chapter as a prepared meal on the kitchen table, food brings with it every twist and turn of its storyline.

You might as well have had your feet planted in the soil with it on day 1, because everything that's happened to it—its whole story—becomes you.

One regenerative, one not; but it's impossible to judge these books by their covers

We'd like to tell you two stories: one, the tale of the journey a typically-raised U.S. steak takes on its way to your plate. Second, the path ours follows to the same place.

We'll give "Fancy Steak's" story the first spotlight. (Fancy Steak is the industrially-produced steak typical of U.S. meat—called "Fancy" because the descriptor, when we grabbed the image off Getty Images, was "fancy dinner of steak and wine"😉)

After Fancy Steak, we'll put ours under the microscope.

Here we go!

soil➡️plants➡️animals➡️meat➡️YOU

"FANCY STEAK"
(Industrial farming model)

Step 1: SOIL

At the start of the season, Fancy Steak's soil is:

Depleted and inert ("dead")
Cracked, dry, nonabsorbent ("capped")
Infertile

It requires extensive preparation before planting:

Breaking up the soil (mechanical plowing/"tilling")
Adding synthetic nutrients (fertilizer)

⬇️

More to the story...

TILLING

🚜  Frequent mechanical tilling:

...is hard on the ground. It degrades soil structure, increases erosion, and depletes moisture. It releases stored carbon. It harms microbes. And it further reduces soil's fertility.

FERTILIZER

🧪 Synthetic fertilizer involves a LOT of resources extracted from the earth. It is most commonly made from:

🔥 NATURAL GAS
(extracted using drilling and fracking)

🪨 PHOSPHATE ROCK
(strip-mined)

🌊 POTASSIUM
(mined from ancient underground sea beds)

using industrial processes requiring...

🔥 MORE NATURAL GAS
(extracted using drilling and fracking)

🏭🟨 ELEMENTAL SULPHUR
(a byproduct of refining natural gas and petroleum.)

Synthetic fertilizer also requires significant domestic and international transport, using...

⛽ PETROLEUM
extracted by drilling, and refined using chemical reactions that create hundreds of highly toxic pollutants.

"FANCY STEAK"
(Industrial farming model)

Step 2: PLANTS

When plants are grown in dead, synthetically-fertilized soil, they:

😰...are force-fed nutrients. Synthetic nitrogen (urea or ammonium nitrate), phosphorus (diammonium phosphate - DAP), and potassium (potassium chloride or potassium sulfate) are pumped directly onto their roots regardess of plant demand.

🧪...become chemical-dependent.

 💦 ...take up massive amounts of water rapidly. As a result, they experience explosive, rapid growth—resulting in weak, watery tissue that attracts pests. 

🤒 ...lack microbes in the soil with which to form a symbiotic relationship ("I feed you, you feed me"). So, they hold onto all of their sugars instead of releasing them into the soil. This alters their internal chemistry. It makes them more susceptible to root rot and soil-borne pathogens.

More to the story...

🩼 This means the plants require:

🪲 SYNTHETIC INSECTICIDES 
applied either as a seed coating which is absorbed into the plant's tissues as it grows, or sprayed directly on plant leaves

🫚 TARGETED FUNGICIDES
applied directly to the soil or irrigation water, or sprayed on the foliage; the plant's roots drink in the chemical or the leaves absorb it

💉 TOXIC GAS INJECTION
Highly toxic gases are injected deep into the soil, and the field is often covered with plastic tarping immediately after injection to trap the gas underground. The gas aggressively kills pathogens and almost all living things.

🌱 The result? Plants look lush and green, but they lack flavor, nutrition, and structural integrity.

This plays a role in things like:

The Great Nutrient Collapse
...which refers to the way in which modern crops are essentially turning into "junk food." If you're interested, read about a fascinating connection made to rising CO2 levels here.

&

Hidden Hunger
...which is a form of malnutrition that occurs when a person consumes enough calories to fill their stomach and even make them overweight, but the food lacks the essential vitamins and minerals (micronutrients) required for their body to function properly.

Lush and green, but...

* * *

The food WE raise is great for the planet. It's great for you. And it gives the animals who are raised here a truly great life.

Have you stocked up recently?

New to the farm? 

 Return to HOW WE FARM

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