.jpg)
Co-founded in 2012 by a family, led by a fed-up Physician Assistant Rob McDaniel, Primal Pastures has quite literally turned the idea of meat consumption in America on its head by raising, nurturing and offering some of America's most pristine, organic, sustainably-raised and environmentally-friendly meat on the market. Primal Pastures, based in Southern California, began with an order of about 54 free-range chickens that they raised on an acre of land. Today they offer their customers a range of everything from lamb to pork, bone broth and turkey. It is with extreme care and love that they raise and produce their animals, with the happiness and health of the animals' lives front-of-mind.
We recently sampled what they had to offer, prepared by a private chef in a New York City loft for an event. It is, with no hesitation, that we can truly say their products are outstanding. The taste being truly incomparable.
Farmer Rob, as he is now affectionately known, is at the head of Primal Pastures yet is surrounded by a team of passionate people who work on everything from caring for the animals to preparing them for consumption, as well as customer-facing representatives. It is an organic operation in every sense of the word that, at its heart, does everything with respect to nature.
Through a holistic approach, Primal Pastures lives and breathes the motto, "You are what you eat", and you will find no misstep in their operation from start to finish. They are conscious of everything from the energy the animals absorb through their daily lives and environment, to how the customer consumes and enjoys their products.
Customers who happen to live near the Temecula Valley in California can purchase a farm membership where they have access to events, the stunning grounds, fresh fruit and more through the farm program. For the rest of us, we can enjoy their delectable products shipped frozen right to our doors - ready to be thawed and cooked to your liking. Their farm shop menu is extensive and always showcases their best products. You can purchase everything from Italian sausage to whole chickens, fresh halibut to pork shoulder. Our order arrived frozen and soon after, the chef began to work on planning a menu to present Primal Pastures' products in the most elegant of ways.
The menu included Primal Pastures baby lamb, seared and roasted to perfection. It included pork shoulder that was cooked, pulled and smothered in a homemade BBQ sauce. Sliced bratwurst with a side of mustard, terrines of seasoned bone broth, Korean-style chicken drumsticks, and New York strip steaks, sliced.
Whole chickens were roasted with lemon and thyme and the most tender beef patties were used to make American-style cheeseburgers.
Knowing that all this meat had been raised ethically and sent right from the farm made enjoying the food that much easier. Aside from the fabulous taste, the quality was probably some of the best we've had in the world - even compared to strict international standards in places like Europe and Japan.
After the event, we spoke with Farmer Rob through email and asked him a few questions that we wanted to know about Primal Pastures and how he gets his product to ascend well above others on the market.
IC: Why was Primal Pastures founded?
FR: Fed up with misleading labels and a desire to improve our health, in 2012 we started on one acre of land and we purchased 54 baby chicks. What started as a way to reclaim our health and source better food for our family, quickly turned into a business. We accrued a waitlist of more than 100 families before the first batch of birds was even ready. This humble little operation morphed into a dream of producing premium grade, healthy and happy pastured poultry, grass-fed and finished beef and lamb, pastured pork and turkey raised sustainably and responsibly for healthy families.
Through the years, we’ve witnessed the massive demand for high-quality meats without confusing labels, that families can be confident in what they're feeding their members. To be able to meet the demand, we’ve partnered with very select, small family farmers across the country who raised our animals using the Primal Standard. This way, we can guarantee quality, nutrient-dense, pasture-raised products and deliver them to your door, for your convenience.
IC: What is the Primal Pastures ethos when raising and producing meat products?
FR: To sum it all up, we respect nature. A lot. We are quick to acknowledge that nature is smarter than we are! It’s also smarter than science. Everything that we do is aimed at creating a natural habitat for our animals to thrive in.
IC: How does Primal Pastures source their animals to bring to the farm?
FR: All of the cattle, hogs and lamb are bred on-site where they are raised, which allows us to know exactly how the animals were raised, what they ate and how they were treated - from start to finish. For our chickens, we found hatcheries that don't vaccinate and our farmer receives them when they are only about 12 hours old.
IC: What is your most popular product amongst customers?
FR: Our chicken was our first product and was the catalyst that allowed us to grow into the operation we are today. While all of our products are pretty well loved, our whole chickens and various chicken cuts are the top sellers.
IC: Primal Pastures also offers fish. Where is the fish sourced?
FR: All of our fish products are wild-caught (never farmed) and sourced from the Pacific Ocean directly off California's shores, supporting local fishermen. We carry only the highest quality and healthiest fish available from boats that use hook and line, which allows the regeneration of our ocean's life. It is a sustainable method that is more environmentally friendly than other methods, like those that use nets, for example. Hook and line is as simple as it gets with a line, a hook and bait. It's a fishing line (on a pole, reel, float, stake or held by a person) that has one or several hooks.
IC: Are there any new products coming in the future?
FR: We are always looking at what new products we can bring in. Recently, we brought in chicken breast tenders (which almost always sell out as soon as we load them in) and rendered pork fat. Rendered pork fat is an excellent alternative for baking and cooking compared to other oils because it has one of the highest smoke points, not to mention the high vitamin D content. It’s 100% pure pasture-raised pork, with zero additional ingredients and cooked in small batches to ensure perfection in every container. We have a few ideas of what we'd like to bring in, but both clean ingredients and a quality product that tastes good are a priority for us and sometimes that takes time to ensure it meets the Primal Standard.
IC: What advice would you give customers looking to truly know where their meat comes from and the standards of living in which the animals are raised?
FR: My biggest advice is to know your farmer. Ask them questions about how the animals are raised and the food they eat. Transparency is important. We’re all at a different point in our health journey. What is important to you may not be the same standards for another person. So, by knowing your health priorities and what your expectations are, you can find a farmer who can provide what you are looking for.
