Vanvalley Farm, Cowichan Valley

• Single origin (one cow)
• Growth hormone free
• Antibiotic-free
• Soy Free
• Grass based diet- with grain supplementation in the winter.
• Plastic–free packaging (only butcher paper).
• Short, trauma-free transport to the butcher
• Sold frozen

Not only can you toss the packaging in the compost (goodbye plastic!), this Holstein beef (raised for dairy) is sustainable and delicious.

Why do we raise Angus and Hereford cows for beef and Holsteins for dairy? It is primarily because the former fatten quickly on grain and can get to market quicker and cheaper (less than two years). Holstein cows are generally raised for dairy production, so they lead very different lives.

Why eating well-sourced dairy beef make sense:

Quality:
These dairy cows have been carefully bread over generations and meticulously monitored to ensure they can lead a life without needing antibiotics. There are zero growth hormones as they are not being rushed to fatten up for slaughter. Grass-fed dairy cows have spent five times more time spent roaming on pasture and developing intramuscular fat. And then, after the cows are weaned from milking, all of the energy that had previously gone into producing milk gets dispersed throughout the animal’s body. What you get is this super delicious and complex flavor you cannot find with conventional beef. It’s really unbelievable.
It’s all the rage in the culinary world –you will see retired dairy beef on the menus of San Sebastián’s three-Michelin-starred Arzak, Paris’s famed market La Grande Épicerie, and the Basque restaurant Sagardi in London.

Sustainability:
While a single beef cow typically turns into 600 pounds of meat, the dual-purpose cows—those used to produce dairy and later beef—produce about 80,000 pounds of food in total, including milk, cream, butter, and beef. True- they do live a longer life and need more feed, but it is a more sustainable approach to animal husbandry.