Scan Magazine | Activity of the Month | Denmark
Activity of the Month, Denmark
A family farm with an organic heart Behind the idyllic organic farm Johannesminde is the couple Tine and Jan Thybo. With animal welfare as their top priority, they offer meat from their own pigs and cattle as well as an organic range of poultry, lamb and vegetables from equally ambitious organic partners. By Mette Hindkjær Madsen | Photos: Johannesminde
A swing off the main concrete road, little pigs wagging their tails as they run around their mother and splash in muddy puddles on the giant fields will catch your eye as you drive down the avenue to Johannesminde. As you pull up at the farm shop, you will be greeted by a herd of bulls grazing and the butcher waiting to serve you inside. “From soil to table, our concept is really quick. We sell our own pork and beef, all bred here and butchered by someone carefully selected nearby, so the meat can be back here in one day. We have a butcher in our shop every day, so you can pick out the exact cut of the meat you prefer,” says Tine Thybo, co-owner of Johannesminde. 92 | Issue 89 | June 2016
The farm shop offers everything your organic heart desires as the Thybo family has handpicked partners who deliver organic vegetables, poultry, lamb, eggs, milk and cheese to the farm. Along with the home produce courtesy of Johannesminde, which the butcher uses for sausages and cold cuts alike, the farm has created its very own fully organic supermarket.
Award-winning animal welfare One of them a former building constructor and the other a Volvo fitter, the path as farmers was not naturally paved for the Thybo couple. In 2003 the family bought Johannesminde, a non-organic farm at the time, but though the farm was not fully certified organic until 2006,
the Thybos’ plan was clear from the beginning: “We are passionate about being organic. It’s common sense to us, due to health reasons and animal welfare. If we couldn’t run an organic farm, we wouldn’t run one at all,” Tine maintains. “The silver lining in our business is animal welfare. All of our animals live out in the fields, as closely as possible to how they would naturally live. A sow, for instance, has her own house where she can build a nest for her piglets.” In 2011, Johannesminde was awarded a prize recognising its high standards of animal welfare – something atypical for a farm that breeds its animals for butchery. Tine is unmistakably proud: “It’s a huge acknowledgement of what we do every day to receive such an award, praising the way we treat our animals.”
For more information, please visit: www.johannesminde.dk