Foxhollow Farm

Today we visited with Maggie Barrett and Janie Newton of Foxhollow Farm. A 400-acre farm in Oldham County, KY, they have recently converted their farm to an organic, biodynamic, grass-fed beef farm and vegetable CSA. Janie's mother created Foxhollow as a spa and wellness center years ago and simply leased out the surrounding land for conventional farmers to use. After the doctors at the wellness center noticed that so many of the problems had by the patients visiting from across the globe stemmed from chemical exposure, it just didn't make sense that they would have an interior haven for alternative medicine only to step outside onto a farm where the use of pesticides and fertilizers were commonplace. Thus, the conversion began. 

All of the pastures have been chemical free for years now and upon hiring Laura Riccardi to head up the biodynamics creation on the farm, the preparations have also begun treating the land. Foxhollow felt the first place to start was in healing the land and then slowly began adding cattle to the mix. They wanted only the best and healthiest grass for their animals because that would directly translate into healthfulness for their customers. The beef operation is truly a labor of love for Maggie, now the 3rd generation on the land.  While in college she had a marketing project and used as her example a "mock" grass-fed beef farm. The school project went so well and seemed very feasible. As soon as she graduated, Maggie returned to Kentucky to put her plan into effect. A year later, Foxhollow beef is well known all over the city. It's served in a local school and sells out at the farmer's markets. 

The amazing thing is that the price is almost exactly the same as what you could find at any large grocer - except you don't have meat that has chemicals, was mistreated or fed corn at any part of their life. For those of you who may not know, the importance of grass-fed beef is that cows are born with 4 stomachs that are undeniably made for eating grasses and only grasses. Corn is fed to them to make them bulk up so the farmers can get more for their money and have a heavier animal at a younger age. This causes the cows to be very sick to their stomachs for their entire lives and thus they are given heavy doses of antibiotics to keep them "healthy". These very antibiotics go right into your body when you eat the animal. By supporting grass-fed beef, you have a healthier animal, therefore, a healthier meal. The ladies (and gentlemen) behind Foxhollow consider this a labor of love. Their pride in their product is seen at any of the farmers markets where they sell their goods. You can even order an entire whole or half steer to feed your entire family for a year. A beautiful farm with beautiful people and happy cows, Foxhollow is truly a leader in amazingly tender and healthy beef.