Jolie Vue Farms

Jolie Vue Farms

A table set on a hill.  A multitude of 170 will once again gather alfresco to celebrate the family farm with food, wine and camaraderie.

On October 9, 2010, Jolie Vue Farms teams up with Outstanding in the Field, Houston Chef Paul Lewis, Cullen’s Grill, Clear Lake and other local chefs, winemakers and food artisans to provide an outstanding dining experience.

Marching To The Dining Hill:  Guests tour Jolie Vue Farms on their way to dinner.

Boudreaux grandson, Henry Coffman, with Dad, Chris Coffman, enjoy the Jolie Vue Farms Outstanding in the Field dinner.

Jolie Vue Farms’ pigs are always a little curious about the whole Outstanding in the Field event.

Story and photos courtesy of the The Houston Chronicle.  Article written by Alison Cook with photos by Steve Champbell.

Click here for a PDF version of the full article from 10/22/2008′s Houston Chronicle.

Click here to see more photos courtesy of The Houston Chronicle’s Steve Campbell.

Does wholesome food cost more?

Yes, pasture-based foods raised in nature can be more expensive than the factory methods employed by conventional confinement-based producers. It is also more humane, cleaner, more nutritious, and tastier, so we question whether the food factories and are our true competitors.

But when we acknowledge being more expensive, we are only considering the price point per pound of their meat versus ours. If you consider what you get in our meat, perhaps we coud persuade you that it is not so expensive after all. Consider the advantages of our meats:

• If you were to compare what you pay for good nutrients such as the Omega-3′s, you are paying 3 times more for their meat than for ours
• If wholesomeness is high on your list, we must be cheaper
• If you’ll pay more for meat producers who did not torture the earth’s creatures or spoil the environment, our way is your way
• If you like the idea that your food is grown locally without chemicals or pharmaceuticals, we don’t have any competition
• Lastly, it is demonstrated around the world that certain diets promote health and a longer life. If you can gain years and a higher quality of life, and avoid the drugs, doctors, and hospitals just a little bit longer, how much will you have saved by paying more now?

We hope you will join the community of natural food artisans in Houston and its region. It’s good for the planet, good for the creatures, good for the farmers, and good for you!

Natural terminology can be confusing…

Terminology which originated in the natural farming community has been adulterated, and adopted, by the industrial producers. Unfortunately, they have been assisted by our government through the USDA. The result of the USDA’s promulgation of the definitions for terms that already had a clear meaning has been confusion and ambiguity for the consumer searching for clean, healthy food. Here are some examples:

Natural - One would assume that meats labeled as “natural” indicates that the creatures were raised in the way designed by nature – not confined to factory production houses but raised in the sun and fresh air, free of pharmaceutical injections, and on their natural diet containing no animal by-products. That is truly the “natural” way to raise good food.

You will be surprised to learn that the term “natural” on your meats at the grocery store has nothing at all to do with how the animal was raised! According to the USDA, the term may be used on meat labels if the meat has been “minimally processed.” What does that mean? It simply means that no artificial ingredients have been added at the processing stage. Again, it has nothing to do with how the creature was raised!

Free Range – Free range is another example of USDA-approved labeling that can be used to hide the truth. In USDA parlance, “free range” can be used to describe poultry raised in crowded confinement houses so long as they have “access” to the out of doors. Anyone who has experience with chickens raised in the confinement house knows that the last thing the chicken will do is go outside. Its food, water, and pharmaceuticals are in the confinement house. Because of growth hormones and feed, the chickens grow so fast that they literally outgrow their ability to walk around! This is no exaggeration. They are too fat to do anything other than wobble over to the feeder trough. The chance of these chickens seeing sunlight or fresh grass approaches zero.

Free range at Jolie Vue Farms means exactly that. Our chickens are provided a mobile shelter in the pasture for safe harbor from night predators and inclement weather. But during the day, they are dining on fresh air, sunshine, native pasture and their favorite meal, the grasshopper. The chickens at Jolie Vue Farms express their “chickenhood” every day!

Organic – The original organic community, a loose coalition of small idealistic farmers, were the genesis of the burgeoning retro-movement to foods that were raised humanely and without the use of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, or unnatural food supplements. But be careful, because the term does not necessarily tell you everything you need to know about your food. Under current usage, you might actually be better off with food that is technically not “organic”, but which is actually healthier, fresher, and more nutritious than organic. Sound upside down? Here’s what can happen.

Unless you’re a mega producer, it may be difficult or impossible to find the organic feeds which supplement the wild forages for chickens and pigs. And, if it is found, it may be prohibitively expensive. When organic became popular with a better informed populace, the mega-producers realized they had to jump on the bandwagon. Their gross economic power enabled them to contract with large industrialized farmers who agreed to produce organic feeds for them and them only. This can have the effect of squeezing the small producer out of the supply chain. So, while the small producer may be cut out of the loop for organic feeds, his product may actually be healthier than the product labeled “organic.”

Our way…

We have given you the unnatural definitions of “natural” and “free range” promulgated by the the USDA. Combining those definitions with the term “organic” one could produce a chicken in a confinement house and call it “natural, organic, and free range chicken.” All of this just by supplying it with organic feed. It could be called free range if it had access to the out doors, even if it never went out of its confinement house. And, it could be called natural if it was “minimally processed.”

On the other hand, we know that the chlorophyll found in pastures is a natural detoxifier. So a small producer who is raising his creatures in a natural setting where the critters roam free on native, diverse pastures daily, but with non-organic grain to supplement their diet, is likely to produce a cleaner healthier product than the industrial producer who is taking advantage of the USDA definitions while raising his chickens in a fecal-infested, confined environment. Those producers can legally claim their product is natural, free range and organic. Judge for yourself.

The lesson here is to know how your producer uses these terms. And the best way to know that is to know your producer and their farm. Don’t ask Tyson, Pilgrim, or Sanderson for that previlege. They may not want you to know how they implement these terms. But, you’re always welcome to see our operations at Jolie Vue Farms. We’re proud of it, and we have nothing to hide. Just call.

Why are Americans getting so fat?

Although there may be many contributing causes – eating large portions, too much sugar, too much trans fat, and so on, there is another factor which is seldom mentioned because it is so hidden from public view – we are what we eat, and what we eat is also fat and lazy.

This is not by choice, but by design of our modern system of food production. We have chickens raised in crowded confinement facilities, pigs shoulder to shoulder in cages, cattle taken off of pasture and confined to crowded feedlots. And all of them are eating unbalanced diets laced with hormones and other pharmaceuticals. These creatures are deprived of sun, fresh air, sunshine, and exercise. If you look at physical and nutritional profiles of our meats, you will see a profile which mimics our own. Until the things we eat are raised in a natural, healthy way, we will NOT be healthy.

Consider a different approach to eating and open up a whole new world for you and your family.

Make the kitchen a focal point again – where your family comes to reconnect and relax at the end of the day. Let them enjoy the aromas of a meal cooked at home, served fresh, nutritious and in appropriate portions and types. Add a table topics session to your meal – where you enlighten each other about topics of interest. (We often opened the encyclopedia to a random page and learned something we would not otherwise have known.) Serve a glass of wine for the adults, and as the children get older, serve them a diluted glass. Teach the children how a proper table is set, and table manners. Incorporate them into the cooking process. Have this hour when phones are not answered and TVs are turned off. And while all of these good things are going on, put clean wholesome food on the table – in all of its seasonal diversity. This ritual not only satisfies bodily hunger, it promotes intimacy and affection among those that share it.

It’s not more expensive than serving processed food. It doesn’t take as long as going out to eat. You don’t have to do it every night. And if you are looking for a hobby, what better one for you and your family? Your children will thank you. And they will do the same for your grandchildren, because there is nothing that bonds a family and connects the future to the past more than the nightly celebration of life at the dinner table.

The Nutritional Benefit to You!

Analysis of food produced in the natural environment consistently demonstrates the health benefits for humankind. For a comprehensive text and bibliography of the many nutritional benefits of pasture raised livestock, go to Jo Robinson’s Eatwild website (www.eatwild.com).

In the meantime, here is a short version of the many nutritional benefits of meats raised the way nature intended, condensed from Eatwild and other sources.

Omega 3 Fatty Acids

The Omega 3 fatty acids in free range, grass-fed meats are associated with healthy hearts and sharp minds. But these nutrients decline rapidly in confined, grain-finished animals. In pastured meats, we see the Omega 3′s reaching or approaching levels found in fish oils! This is good news for your heart and your mind. The vitamin and mineral content of pastured meats goo off the chart when compared to those raised in confinement. This should not surprise anyone – our creatures are in the sun and fresh air, dining on the salad bar of our native pastures and woods. That’s where you find vitamins and minerals; not in artificially-lit, Clorox-drenched cages.

Fat Content

The fat content in our meat is up to 3 times lower, but the news here is even better than that. The fat of our meats is significantly higher in HDL (good fat) and lower in LDL (bad fat).

CLA

CLA, conjugated linoleic acid, the newly discovered emerging star of nutritionists, is believed to be a significant factor in the suppression of cancers. You guessed it – CLA abounds in pasture raised meats. It is almost non-existent in cage-raised animals.

What’s NOT in our meats

As important as what is in our meats is what is NOT in our meats. There are no artificial growth hormones, no animal antibiotics, and none of the many chemical sterilizers that are a daily routine for animals raised in cages.

Mad cow disease comes from animals fed processed parts of other animals – a startling revelation in itself. Our cows are vegetarians! We raise happy, not mad, cows! Our livestock get everything they need from nature itself.

Salad Bar Beef

Jolie Vue’s beef is raised exclusively on fresh air, sunshine, and our salad bar of native grasses, clovers and forbs in the warm months, and alfalfa hay, oats, rye and clovers in the winter. The beef you buy at the store spends its last 3 to 6 months in a crowded, waste-laden feedlot eating corn and all manner of unmentionable waste products. The feedlot diet, combined with the dreary environment, drastically changes the nutritional profile of beef from a very healthy food to a nutritionally deficient one. Here are the results of a recent study, one of only many revealing the astounding health benefits of grass-fed beef versus feedlot beef.

• Omega 3 fats are 75% higher in our beef
• Beta-carotene is 78% high in our beef
• CLA is 500% higher in our beef
• Vitamin A is 400% higher in our beef
• Vitamin E is 300% higher in our beef
• Our beef is lower in overall fats, and higher in HDLs (good fats)

These total results demonstrate that eating grass fed meats in your diet results in lower incidences of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and helps build a stronger immune system and a denser bone structure.

Pigs + Acorns = Olive Oil

Oleic oil is the fat found in olive oil, salmon, and other heart-healthy fruits, nuts and creatures. The same oil is found in acorns and other related nuts, and is the source of the “good fats” that are so essential to our physical well-being. Remember, we must have fat to be whole, healthy persons. It is not fat per se that is bad for us, but rather the processed fats as well as the fats from animals raised in unnatural environments that cause us problems. Good fats, such as found in the oleic oils, are essential to a balanced diet, good health, and mental acuity. But that’s old news, right? The new news is that pigs raised as we raise them at Jolie Vue Farms are resplendent in oleic oil. Why? Because certain pigs, such as our heritage breed Berkshires, develop the loeic oils when they are raised below a canopy of hardwoods – our oaks and native pecans. Our pork is good, health-giving, antioxidant producing pork from animals dining on a rich, natural diet in our native forest. So when you eat our porkers, you are enriching your body and promoting your good health with food rich in heart-healthy nutrients.

As you know, our way is Nature’s way. Everything we do at Jolie Vue Farms is calculated to mirror the centuries-old formulas given to us by Mother Earth. As a result, meats produced from our livestock are healthier, happier, and better for you than anything produced by industrialized food processors – and not by just a little bit, but by quantum leaps in both nutrition and taste. Here is a short description of how that happens.

Pork - We start with heritage breeds from old England – the Berkshire, and early America – the Duroc. Why? Because these breeds have the genetics and therefore the instincts to thrive in the natural setting. Within large boundaries that we establish in our native oak and pecan forest, our pigs are free to roam, root, recreate and rest within that cool, shady setting. They are happy porkers and our favorite characters on the farm.

Beef - We start with British Isle heritage beef, primarily the Black Angus, but with a twist. Our Angus come from Ireland, the only country to preserve the Angus in its original form – a short, stocky, small frame animal that produces vigorous young calves and thrive on the native pasture. Our cattle are pure vegetarians – no “mad cows” here. Our beef is never fed the grains that are used by conventional growers to accelerate the fattening process. Cattle were made to prosper on the natural salad bar found in our diverse, native grass pastures, and they do that from our farm to your table.

Chicken - Our chickens are raised free range – by the common definition, not simply by having “access” to the out of doors as the USDA allows. They are out of doors all day long, and in their protective shelters at night, where their floor is kept clean by fresh layers of hay. They feast on grasshoppers, bugs, and other insects, as well as the clovers and grasses. Yes, chickens really do eat from the salad bar of the native pasture. This is where they incorporate the essential fats, vitamins and minerals so important to their health and yours.

Fresh Eggs - Our hens call the egg mobile their home on the range. During the warm months they follow behind the cattle wherever they may be. They are constantly on fresh grass from their henhouse on wheels. During the cool months, they clean up the greens in our garden, or range on the winter pasture of clover, rye and oats. As a result, they make eggs that not only can be, but should be, a regular part of your diet. Their eggs are brimming with nutrition and are beautiful to see. As one of our customers states, “these eggs stand up and salute when cracked into the skillet.” One of nature’s perfect foods.

So, there it is, a short course on how we practice our philosophy that nature has a better idea. You are what you eat, so eat from nature, not from factories. We make real food naturally at Jolie Vue Farms.

People seem to like our name, Jolie Vue Farms, but are curious about its origin. Simple – Glen’s grandfather was a free range, organic, dairy and vegetable farmer (although they just referred to it as “farming” back then). His farm was know as Fair View Farms. We wanted to adopt the same name, but it was already taken. Since our family is predominantly of French heritage, we translated “Fair View” into French – hence the name Jolie Vue, or pretty view.

We credit modern agriculture for having produced an apparent cheap and abundant food supply, but it comes with many hidden costs – pollution of our soil and waterways, tax dollars for subsidization of crops grown only for livestock consumption, and nutritional deficiencies for our population which ave led to poorer, not better, health and higher medical costs to treat those deficiencies. So, is it really cheaper? Why not get back to nature? She is best equipped to address your health and the health of your environment.

Jolie Vue Farms rejects modern concepts of artificial fertilization of the soil and the pesticides destruction of nature’s “unwanted weeds and insects.” Creatures will thrive when they are freed from confinement and left to free range on healthy soil, fresh air and sunshine. And you will thrive when you eat a balanced diet of clean, healthy food. Artificial chemicals and pharmaceuticals are anathema to truly healthy critters and humankind, so…our farm doesn’t do chemicals, and our creatures don’t do drugs!