Fresh From The Farm

Ordering online from Fresh From The Farm is easy. Click “order” above and follow the instructions.
Tab 1 is an introduction.
Tab 2 is where you identify yourself and choose the pick up week.
Tab 3 is the order form where you choose your food. Note that the order form is divided into three columns. The left hand column is where you choose the category, and then specific items appear in the middle column where you click on them to “fill your wheelbarrow” (the right hand column). You can also do a search at the top of the middle column. After completing your order on the order form, click “confirm your order” at the top of the right hand column, and then follow the instructions. An email confirmation will be sent to you. If you don’t receive a confirmation, please contact us.

No. You are more than welcome to stop buy the store and pick up anything that we have in stock. If you want something specific it is best to place an order. Advance ordering is highly recommended for turkey and ham at Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter.

The poultry is butchered on Wednesday each week.
The beef is butchered at least two weeks previously and aged (as all top quality beef must be), and then cut and packaged on Wednesday afternoon each week.
The lamb is butchered five days before and aged, and then cut and packaged on Wednesday.
Pork is butchered on Tuesday, then processed on Wednesday.
Our refrigerated truck picks everything up Wednesday late afternoon and evening.

Yes! All slaughtering is done at government inspected plants, and an inspector is present during the process. All animals are inspected and must be approved.

Our poultry, pork, and eggs come from farms around the Floradale area (west of Elmira). The beef comes from a farm near Crosshill, as does the maple syrup. Lamb comes from a couple of farms around Wellesley. The honey comes from Millbank. Our canning and freezing of local fruits and vegetables is on a farm near Wallenstein. Our jams, pickles, juices, and spreads come from Wellesley and Elmira. These are all villages 30 — 60 kilometers north and west of Kitchener-Waterloo. Our farmers are Old Order Mennonites or Amish.

Our farmers feed the animals with grains and forages that they grow on their own land; or if they buy feed, it’s locally grown by their neighbours. They don’t buy commercial feed that has chemicals, processed filler, and other questionable ingredients. More specifically, the beef is fed hay, corn, soybean. Pasture grass in summer and little bit of oats & barley when the cattle are very young. The 100% grass fed beef eats hay, hay, and only hay. Pigs are raised on corn and at times a bit of barley. The chickens eat flax, barley, corn, and soybeans. While the turkeys are fed barley, corn, and soybeans. The lambs are given barley, corn, some oats, and a bit of hay.

No! Our farms are not factories, but rather small family farmers who use no hormones, drugs, or chemicals in feeding and growing the meat.

None of our animals are locked up in factory. They come from small family farms.
The beef cattle are outside on pasture land all summer, and in the winter are in large pens where they have plenty of room and thick straw bedding. The pigs, while not outside, are in large pens where they have plenty of room to roam and thick straw bedding. The chickens are not in cages, but in large rooms where there is lots of room to walk around. The modern barn is also sealed, so it is impossible for a wild bird to get access. This is to ensure no avian flu exposure. Lambs are in roomy pens with lots of straw bedding. They can go outside in the summer. Wild game is illegal to sell. The hunter can eat it and give it away, but not sell it. So while we have elk, it is farm raised.

Processed Meats and Preservatives

What are preservatives?
Sodium nitrate is a naturally occurring compound found in most vegetables and other plants. Known as Chile saltpeter, it has been used to preserve meats for centuries. It helps preserve the attractive pink colour of meats, preventing them from turning grey, but is mostly used to prevent the growth of botulism, an extremely deadly form of bacteria. (The word botulism comes from the Latin for sausage, a typical breeding ground for bacteria due to the greater surface area produced by grinding meat.)

What are the concerns?
The use of nitrates as preservatives is of some concern because of their breakdown products. Sodium nitrate breaks down into sodium nitrite, which is generally the preservative now used rather than the nitrate. Nitrite in turn decomposes into nitric oxide, which is the actual chemical preservative. Amines are natural substances in meats which can combine with nitrites under certain conditions to form nitrosamines, which are known cancer-causing agents. High cooking temperatures, such as used to make bacon crispy, foster nitrosamine formation, as does the acidic environment of the stomach. The effect can be moderated by vitamin C (ascorbic acid) or the related erythorbic acid), added to food products or consumed in fruits and vegetables. These also make the preservative more effective, so that lower amounts can be used.

What are the risks?
Modern preserving methods use very small amounts of nitrites. Most of the nitrites in our bodies come from natural sources and not from processed meats. Lettuce, spinach, celery, cabbage and beets are naturally high in nitrites. Nitrites in processed meats may be of greater concern because of their higher concentration. The slight risks associated with processed meats should be considered in relation to the greater risks of bacterial contamination, and consumption of processed meats should be part of an overall healthy diet.

What are the alternatives?
Fresh From The Farm’s suppliers of processed meats (bacon, hams, wieners, cold cuts) use nitrites in their production methods, primarily in the form of “pickling salt”, a mix of salt, baking soda and sodium nitrite. They use smaller amounts than many producers, which is why their meats cannot keep in the fridge for as long as some ‘factory made’ products. To avoid using any preservatives, the products would have to be heavily salted (salt is another traditional preservative), and then soaked before being usable, or would have to be frozen immediately. Our nitrite-free beef and turkey wieners are made this way, which is why they are only available frozen. Our regular fresh meats and sausages do not contain preservatives of any kind.

Natural preservatives??
Recently some industrial processed meat producers have been advertising lunch meat products which they claim are “natural” , or contain no added preservatives. For example, Maple Leaf Foods’ website describes its “Natural Selections” ham products, saying “You’ll skip the preservatives*, fillers and artificial ingredients” …”*Except for those naturally occurring in the ingredients”. The ingredients list includes “cultured celery extract”. Are these products actually made without preservatives? No, they can’t be. In fact, cultured celery extract acts as a preservative because it contains sodium nitrate. When it comes to sandwich meats, there is no preservative-free lunch.

For More Information:

‘Natural’ deli meats may not be as healthy as you think. The Globe and Mail, Oct. 16, 2011.

What is Cultured Celery Extract?.
Southwestern Ontario Foodie, July 7, 2011.

7 thing to know about Nitrites in your Luncheon Meats.
Fooducate Blog, March 16, 2009.

“An Apple A Day: The Myths, Misconceptions and Truths About the Foods
We Eat.” By Joe Schwarz. Harper Perennial Books, 2007

Maple Leaf Foods

Recently some industrial processed meat producers have been advertising lunch meat products which they claim are “natural”, or contain no added preservatives. Is this true? Yes and no. At best, the claim is misleading.

First of all, we have to talk about sodium nitrate, a naturally occurring compound found in most vegetables and other plants. Known as saltpeter, it has been used to preserve meats for centuries. It helps preserve the attractive pink colour of meats, preventing them from turning grey, but is mostly used to prevent the growth of botulism, an extremely deadly form of bacteria.

Secondly, the use of nitrates as preservatives is of some concern because of their breakdown products. Sodium nitrate breaks down into sodium nitrite, which is generally the preservative now used rather than the nitrate. Nitrite in turn decomposes into nitric oxide, which is the actual chemical preservative. Amines are natural substances in meats which can combine with nitrites under certain conditions to form nitrosamines, which are known cancer-causing agents. The effect can be moderated by vitamin C (ascorbic acid) or the related erythorbic acid), added to food products or consumed in fruits and vegetables. These also make the preservative more effective, so that lower amounts can be used.

Actually, modern preserving methods use very small amounts of nitrites. Most of the nitrites in our bodies come from natural sources and not from processed meats. Lettuce, spinach, celery, cabbage and beets are naturally high in nitrites. Nitrites in processed meats may be of greater concern because of their higher concentration. The slight risks associated with processed meats should be considered in relation to the greater risks of bacterial contamination, and consumption of processed meats should be part of an overall healthy diet.

Fresh From The Farm’s suppliers of processed meats (bacon, hams, wieners, cold cuts) use nitrites in their production methods, primarily in the form of “pickling salt”, a mix of salt, baking soda and sodium nitrite. They use smaller amounts than many producers, which is why their meats cannot keep in the fridge for as long as some ‘factory made’ products. To avoid using any preservatives at all, the products would have to be heavily salted (salt is another traditional preservative), and then soaked before being usable, or would have to be frozen immediately. Our nitrite-free beef and turkey wieners are made this way, which is why they are only available frozen. Our regular fresh meats and sausages do not contain preservatives of any kind.

So now we come back to the industrial processed meat producers advertisements claiming that their lunch meat products are “natural”, or contain no added preservatives. For example, Maple Leaf Foods’ website describes its “Natural Selections” ham products, saying “You’ll skip the preservatives , fillers and artificial ingredients” …” Except for those naturally occurring in the ingredients”. The ingredients list includes “cultured celery extract”. Are these products actually made without preservatives? No, they can’t be. In fact, cultured celery extract acts as a preservative because it contains sodium nitrate.

So, essentially, when it comes to sandwich meats, there is no preservative-free lunch.

“Roaster” is often confused with “rooster”; they are not the same. “Rooster” is the adult, male chicken, used for breeding; we do not sell roosters. “Roaster” comes from the word “roast” which is to bake in the oven, and it is the official classification for chickens larger than 4 pounds. The little chickens that are sold in the supermarkets are classified “fryer” which comes of course from the word “fry”. Our chickens are “roasters” which are considered the nicest and tastiest for eating. And of course they’ve been fed no hormones or drugs.