Celebrating 11 Years!
Posted on Sun, Sep 18, 2011 @ 12:02 AM
When US Wellness Meats was founded back in 2000, we were raising and selling our
grass-fed beef products only. After a few short years in business we realized we needed to widen our horizons as there are so many other great products we could be offering! So we started to branch out into grass-fed dairy and lamb products, and things continued to grow from there. We would not be the company we are today without the other amazing farmers and producers who contribute to our business.
We get customer questions weekly about the different sources of our products and where they are raised, so we decided an in-depth blog post would be a great way to address all of these questions at once!
We’ll
start at the beginning…
Beef: Our beef is raised in the heart of the Midwest. Most of our current production comes from three of the
founding members of the company located in Northeast Missouri and West Central Illinois. We enjoy long summers with abundant rainfall to keep our pastures green most of the year. We bale plenty of those warm weather grasses in the summer so the cattle enjoy those same grasses when snow is on the ground.
We also source hard to come by cuts (such as hangar steaks, flanks, etc) from a farm run by personal friends of ours in picturesque Tasmania. This island is the ideal place for grazing animals as they have a temperate climate that allows for grazing year round, and no hormones or GMOs are even allowed on the island. Both our Midwest and
Tasmania cattle are 100% grass-fed and grass-finished.
Lamb: Our lamb is also a Missouri product. Raised just south of US Wellness headquarters near Perry, MO our lambs are 100% grass-fed and grass-finished. They enjoy lush Missouri pastures and plenty of rainfall.
Bison: Our bison are roaming around the open pastures of the Dakotas and Northern Plains and our farmers there are dedicated to improving the native grasses of the area, and ensuring the natural way of life bison have been accustomed to for decades. Our bison products are 100% grass-fed and grass-finished.
Pork: All of our pork products are GAP-certified, meaning they are raised in the best conditions possible. Our pork comes from Heritage Acres which is a group of small, local Missouri farmers providing the finest quality, antibiotic-free pork.
Poultry: We actually have two different poultry farms raising animals for US Wellness Meats. Oaklyn Plantation in Darlington, South Carolina raises all of our free range 20-lb chicken bundles and ships those direct from the farm
. Due to growing interest and frequent customer requests, Oakland Plantation also started raising soy-free chickens in the summer of 2011.
Our second producer is in Oklahoma, and they raise free range birds for our smaller chicken packages. All of their birds are raised under sunny Oklahoma skies on a non-GMO feed ration, in addition to the grass, sticks and bugs they enjoy on a daily basis.
Rabbit: Gourmet rabbit is one of the best kept secrets here at US Wellness Meats. Our rabbit comes from a small farm in Michigan.
Seafood: Our seafood products come from Vital Choice, one of the premier wild-caught seafood providers in the country. Their products are certified sustainable, and most products are caught off the west coast and surrounding waters. The only exception is our wild-caught raw shrimp which comes from a different company fishing off the coast of Mexico.
Dairy: We are very lucky to be able to source grass-fed dairy products, without any added growth hormones
. Our Pure Irish Kerrygold Butter is grass-fed from Irish cattle. We have two different Amish dairies- one in Indiana, the other in Pennsylvania, who supply us with raw, grass-fed cheese as well as four different varieties of goat cheese.
Olive Oil: One of the newest additions to our store is Extra Virgin Olive Oil, produced by Chaffin Family Orchards in Oroville, CA. Most of their trees are over 100 years old and all the olives are hand-picked. They use the animals on their farm to help with trimming and pruning – check out the goats on weed control!
We have carefully collaborated with like-minded farmers and individuals that hold their products to the same standards we believe in for our company. Long story short, we have built our business over the past eleven years while respecting our animals and our environment. We enjoy the products, just like our customers, so it remains our goal to offer the best selection possible.