A growing number of health-conscious consumers are turning to beef, poultry, pork and other meats coming from pasture-raised livestock, and more Maryland farmers are striving to satisfy those appetites.
The demand for grass-fed beef, lamb and other products has risen about 10 percent the past two years, according to Theo Weening, national meat coordinator for Whole Foods Market, the Austin, Texas-based company that identifies itself as the world's leading retailer of natural and organic foods.
He said the popularity results primarily from news media reporting on the benefits of grass-fed livestock, as opposed to animals fattened in feedlots.
To link buyers and sellers, Future Harvest-Chesapeake Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture (CASA) has published a new directory of farms in Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia offering grass-fed livestock products that sell directly to the public.
The "Amazing Grazing" directory, published by the nonprofit network of farmers, agricultural professionals, landowners and consumers in the Chesapeake region, lists 28 Maryland farms in 13 counties.
They offer a variety of products coming from pasture-fed animals.
Many of the farms say their animals are USDA-inspected, free of antibiotics and hormones, and vaccine-free, and that their food is certified organic.
One of those closest to Baltimore is Rumbleway Farm in Conowingo, on the Cecil County side of the Susquehanna River.
The 62-acre farm on McCauley Road is operated by Robin Way, who says the rising demand for meat from naturally fed animals conflicts with her desire to keep Rumbleway "a small family farm."
According to its listing in the directory, Rumbleway sells chicken, turkey, rabbit, beef, pork and goats. Beef and pork are available year-round in individual cuts and in bulk.
Chickens are processed fresh on the farm from April to October.
"Animals are vaccine-free and raised naturally on certified-organic pasture with no added hormones or synthetic vitamins," Way says in the directory.
Way said beef and chicken are the most popular items. Customers can buy half a cow, a quarter of a cow or individual pieces.
"We sell hamburger, roasts, packaged pork chops, anything you can buy at the grocery store," she said.
About 70 percent of the meat is sold at the farm. The rest goes to cooperative markets in Delaware, Way said.
