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Diane LeBold and the West Chester Food Co-Op examine local food production and bring eaters closer to the source of their food.
Grown
What happens when a Chicago investment banker reads The Omnivore’s Dilemma, a book that examines what’s at stake in our eating choices? In the case of Dean Carlson, it meant leaving his investment career, buying a 360-acre farm in Honey Brook, and creating a sustainable alternative to the industrial method of producing meat. Specifically, it meant a commitment to raising cattle, pigs, and chickens (and sometimes sheep or goats) in a caring, respectful, and humane environment—and creating a place where Chester Countians can experience a direct connection between animals and the food they ultimately become. Since that beginning, Wyebrook Farm has become a leading local source of humanely raised meat products, available only at the farm’s on-site market. According to Tara Dostalik, manager of the farm’s market, the meat isn’t certified organic, but the animals are raised in a way that’s healthy for them and for those who consume their meat. She points out that the farm’s methods also protect the environment, provide for fair treatment of workers, and support the rural community that’s such an important part of Chester County’s heritage. But, you may ask, what exactly is involved in raising animals humanely? In order to make the humane approach work, farmers have to give a lot of thought to the breeds they choose, because they’re not going to use hormones to grow them bigger or antibiotics that aren’t necessary. And they’re going to feed them a natural diet, not the standard factory farm diet. So, at Wyebrook, the cattle come from smaller breeds that do well on a diet of only grass and legumes (organic hay is added in the winter, when grass isn’t accessible). The pigs come from a breed that has great foraging abilities, because they’re raised mainly in woodland pasture. The broiler chickens are a breed that grows more slowly than factory-farm breeds, and, because they’re pastured outdoors, where they can eat grass and bugs in addition to their non-GMO grain ration, they’re raised only in the warm months. Wyebrook is also focused on connecting customers with the source of their food. Their products are available only at their farm market, so customers are able to experience the animals in the farm environment. Visitors also can reserve a table for lunch or dinner in the farm’s café to enjoy meat and produce raised on the farm. You can’t get a shorter distance than that for farm-totable. And because the farm retains the entire animal for butchering, they’re also able to offer cuts that aren’t normally available in grocery stores. —dlebold@thewcpress.com Learn more about Wyebrook on December 3, when West Chester Food Co-op host a Marche de Noel at Gay and Walnut Streets in West Chester. An outdoor holiday market in the French tradition, the market will offer small gifts and a menu of delicious local winter pleasures made with ingredients from the abundant farmland around us. Wyebrook and other local food producers will be on hand, bringing the farms and fields of our county to West Chester. More at wcfood.coop
NOVEMBER 2016 THEWCPRESS.COM
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