“The meat just seems to taste better,” he said. “The animals aren’t stressed so there is no adrenaline kicking in, so it results in better meat.”
The Prather Ranch Meat Co. was recognized last week as the first retailer in the Bay Area to be “Certified Humane” by Humane Farm Animal Care, a Virginia-based non profit organization that certifies humane treatment of farm animals. The company has an upscale store in the San Francisco Ferry Plaza that sells organic, pasture-raised beef, buffalo, pork, lamb and vitellone (red veal).
The Humane Farm Animal Care unveiled its “Certified Humane Raised and Handled” label in May 2003. It assures consumers that a meat, poultry, egg or dairy product has been produced according to the organization’s standards for humane farm animal treatment. Animals must receive a nutritious diet without antibiotics or hormones and must be raised with shelter, resting areas and space sufficient to support natural behavior.
Forty-eight companies are now certified to use the label.
Rickert admits there is more care taken on a large operation such as the Prather operation; however, being “Certified Humane” is not any more costly than traditional methods in the overall operation. The biggest cost is the labor and employee benefits.
When he hires a new meat cutter there is a question that’s always asked: Would you feed the meat to your family?
“We want consumers to support humanely raised food products,” he said. “We do all our own processing from conception to the store and everything in between.”
Under the “Certified Humane” system, producers must comply with local, state and federal environmental standards and processors must comply with the American Meat Institute Standards, a higher standard for slaughtering farm animals than the Federal Humane Slaughter Act.
Participating businesses must pass an initial inspection as well as an annual re-inspection to be part of the program. Inspectors have training and education in animal science, veterinary medicine or other related backgrounds.
Prather Ranch was one of the first companies to gain certification for its beef, which is raised on its 11,000-acre ranch north of Mount Shasta.
The Prather Ranch Meat Co. also carried “Certified Humane” pork raised on pasture in Capay Valley, Calif. It’s “Certified Humane” lamb, vitellone and buffalo are raised on an all-grass diet by small farmers in Oregon.
Doug Stonebreaker is the Ferry Plaza store manager who said organic meat labeling could be confusing.
“Our customers are more skeptical,” he said. “They want to know about the animal’s food supply and where it came from. Our goals are to use small ranch producers, educate consumers and certify all our meat as ‘humane.'”
Prather’s slaughterhouse is built to pharmaceutical standards.
The beef is dry-aged in rooms 34 – 36 degrees for two weeks. This method is old-fashioned, he said and perhaps a little inefficient, but it works.
“We are inefficient but we are aiming to raise a high-quality product,” he said. “I guess it all comes down to the definition of farming – long hours and low pay, but you have great places to live.”
Meat Company “Certified Humane”
Posted: May 19, 2006 by Certified Humane
“The meat just seems to taste better,” he said. “The animals aren’t stressed so there is no adrenaline kicking in, so it results in better meat.”
The Prather Ranch Meat Co. was recognized last week as the first retailer in the Bay Area to be “Certified Humane” by Humane Farm Animal Care, a Virginia-based non profit organization that certifies humane treatment of farm animals. The company has an upscale store in the San Francisco Ferry Plaza that sells organic, pasture-raised beef, buffalo, pork, lamb and vitellone (red veal).
The Humane Farm Animal Care unveiled its “Certified Humane Raised and Handled” label in May 2003. It assures consumers that a meat, poultry, egg or dairy product has been produced according to the organization’s standards for humane farm animal treatment. Animals must receive a nutritious diet without antibiotics or hormones and must be raised with shelter, resting areas and space sufficient to support natural behavior.
Forty-eight companies are now certified to use the label.
Rickert admits there is more care taken on a large operation such as the Prather operation; however, being “Certified Humane” is not any more costly than traditional methods in the overall operation. The biggest cost is the labor and employee benefits.
When he hires a new meat cutter there is a question that’s always asked: Would you feed the meat to your family?
“We want consumers to support humanely raised food products,” he said. “We do all our own processing from conception to the store and everything in between.”
Under the “Certified Humane” system, producers must comply with local, state and federal environmental standards and processors must comply with the American Meat Institute Standards, a higher standard for slaughtering farm animals than the Federal Humane Slaughter Act.
Participating businesses must pass an initial inspection as well as an annual re-inspection to be part of the program. Inspectors have training and education in animal science, veterinary medicine or other related backgrounds.
Prather Ranch was one of the first companies to gain certification for its beef, which is raised on its 11,000-acre ranch north of Mount Shasta.
The Prather Ranch Meat Co. also carried “Certified Humane” pork raised on pasture in Capay Valley, Calif. It’s “Certified Humane” lamb, vitellone and buffalo are raised on an all-grass diet by small farmers in Oregon.
Doug Stonebreaker is the Ferry Plaza store manager who said organic meat labeling could be confusing.
“Our customers are more skeptical,” he said. “They want to know about the animal’s food supply and where it came from. Our goals are to use small ranch producers, educate consumers and certify all our meat as ‘humane.'”
Prather’s slaughterhouse is built to pharmaceutical standards.
The beef is dry-aged in rooms 34 – 36 degrees for two weeks. This method is old-fashioned, he said and perhaps a little inefficient, but it works.
“We are inefficient but we are aiming to raise a high-quality product,” he said. “I guess it all comes down to the definition of farming – long hours and low pay, but you have great places to live.”
Category: news