FUN fact: as depicted in the movie Snatch, pigs can and will eat an entire human, bones and all. But they won’t touch onions or lemons.
This was just one of the many interesting things I learned while touring the Farmer Angus operations at Spier in Stellenbosch, guided by Farmer Angus himself. “Farmer Angus, one of two exclusively grass-fed, pasture-reared cattle farms found in the Western Cape. The 126 hectares of rolling green pastures is testament to Angus McIntosh’s dedication to grass and microbe farming. Here you won’t find cows squashed together in feedlots eating GMO grain, or crowds of broiler chickens stuffed into tiny metal cages. No, farms like Farmer Angus practise a technique called regenerative agriculture, which values the life of the animals and the land they graze on. This form of artisanal livestock farming offers a protein source that is high in nutrition and free of any hormones, antibiotics or chemicals.”
Then it was off to visit the chickens. Spier is home to thousands of chickens who frolic in the fields all day, and pop inside their egg-mobiles to lay their daily quota as the urge takes them. They are moved to a different field every day which has the important benefit of them not frolicking in their own poo (worlds away from chickens kept in cages and coops). Farmer Angus explained other practices, and how free-range does not necessarily mean what we think it does. And the legal wording means Farmer Angus eggs and other eggs are both labelled “free-range” despite not being laid under similar conditions. There’s comparable red tape when it comes to labelling beef as well. To make sure you get eggs from hens like Farmer Angus’s, you’re going to have to do a bit of homework. The carton does say “outdoor eggs” though, so look out for that.
Their habitat is also moved, every four or five days, houses and all; for their comfort and for that of the land. They get expired fruit and veggies from a supermarket chain (no lemons or onions), and on weekends, frozen yoghurt for a treat. Being a compact operation, there are no belly roasts or chops; the various parts are all cured – prosciutto, copa, chorizo and such.
Then there is the issue of additives. “Conventional animal protein production depends on the widespread use of antibiotics. 90% of antibiotics issued by the pharmaceutical companies are consumed by animals in the confinement feeding animal operations (CAFO) where almost all the meat you eat is produced.”
Why do they give animals antibiotics? “There are two reasons for the (ab)use of antibiotics. The first is that in the 1950s it was discovered that continuous use of antibiotics promotes animal growth and the second is that because these animals live in their own excrement daily, they are under huge disease pressure. Routine antibiotics are used to prevent the outbreak of disease.”
As a regenerative livestock farmer, Angus says he knows that if animals roam freely in uncrowded outdoor spaces and eat only grass, there is little need to administer antibiotics. None of Farmer Angus’s meat contains gluten, MSG, GMO, nitrites, nitrates, antibiotics or hormones. You can be sure you are eating a product that is of the earth in its most natural and nutritious state. To find out more, Angus hosts farm tours monthly, for R40 per person, on Sundays at 9am. Upcoming dates are 20 March and 17 April. Click here to book and for more information.
Our educational day concluded back at Vadas where we had juicy burgers, and sampled the Farm House organic Chenin Blanc which is, I think I mentioned on Instagram, ridiculously good.