About six years ago a friend from church introduced me to the book, Nourishing Traditions. This sent me on a quest to find nutrient dense real food to feed my family. Since then I’ve dabbled in different “diets” including keto, trim healthy mama, and even plant-based for 6 months! My biggest take away is that no matter what diet you follow there seems to be missing key nutrients and also easy loopholes to eat certain things that don’t work for me. Perhaps someday I’ll write a post about this in more detail… but I’ve learned that eating nutrient dense food and making that a priority in my home is an ever learning and evolving process!
And one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that buying your animal product from an organic, orthomolecular, ethical, and local farm makes a HUGE difference!
We became farmshare owners at Helios farms about a year and a half ago.
This alone has made a drastic impact on our health and I want to share with you some of my favorite reasons to be a part of a farmshare program!
Helios Farms, OR
Being a part of a farmshare program is budget friendly!
This may come as a shock to most of you but we end up saving money through our farmshare. We budget between $100-$150 each month for all our meat and raw milk. Last year we purchased a half a cow, raw milk, and chickens to last us 12 months. I learned to be creative in how we incorporate our animal products into meals. It doesn’t always look like eating a lean cut of meat with a side of veggies. Sometimes it is bone broth filled with veggies for dinner, sometimes it is rice, veggies, and organ meats! I’ll share more about the health benefits of eating nose to tail in a later point.
You get to know your farmer and know your food
Theo and Kira and their farm team are absolutely incredible! Knowing how they care for their animals, feed their animals, and test the animal product according to safety measures speaks FAR greater than a label on a grocery store. I was able to benefit from the aminos, vitamins, and probiotics from raw milk my entire pregnancy without being concerned about the health risk. In fact, the raw milk from Helios farms is actually cleaner in the health testing than pasteurized and homogenized milk on your grocery store shelves. We’ve also purchased half a hog this year! Rarely do I feel comfortable eating hog meat, but after learning how Theo and Kira care for their hogs and how CLEAN the liver is (research hog liver alone!!) allows me to eat with a clear conscious knowing i’m feeding my family with nutrients from the hog meat.
I’ve learned to eat quality over quantity
I alluded to this earlier. Eating quality animal product over quantity has made a HUGE difference in my mindset, budget and health. We are no longer buying animal product on demand by running to the corner grocery store whenever we are in the “mood” for burgers. Instead a whole chicken can last us 3-4 meals by roasting, dividing, making bone broth, and eating organ meats. This is a very similar way of eating as our hunter/gatherer ancestors and it allows us to eat a variety of nutrients that our body needs. And after studying the main stream agriculture industry I’d much rather eat quality animal product fewer times from a local farmer I know.
I’ve learned and benefited from eating nose to tail
Chris Kresser in his article, Eating Nose to Tail, Everything You Need to Know, explains the VAST benefits from this practice.
“Eating nose to tail provides more complete nutrition than muscle meat alone. Cartilage, skin, and meat synergize when consumed together. For example, methionine, abundant in lean meats, requires B vitamins, choline, and glycine from organ meats, connective tissues, and bone broth. Making and consuming the bone broth provides collagen, gelatin, glycine, and minerals. Rendering the animal fat for use in cooking helps the body to absorb fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K.”
Health benefits we’ve experienced
Theo and Kira have not only provided us with nutrient rich animal product, but also educated us on many amazing health protocols such as high dosage of C based on Dr. Klenners research.
Here are just a few of the health benefits I’ve personally noticed in our family:
Eczema: two years ago something in Richard’s environment started triggering eczema. Since starting the farmshare his eczema has all but diminished. If you research raw milk and eczema you’ll find there are studies to support raw milks ability to line your gut, which aids in healing your gut, which aids in healing symptoms such as eczema!
Neuro Inflammation: being a stroke survivor I need to be really conscious inflammatory foods. Animals products that are genetically modified, contain antibiotics, or added hormones are extremely inflammatory and I can almost always feel pressure and brain fog after consuming them.
Brain fuel: not only do low quality meats feed inflammation, but nutrient dense farmshare meats promote needed nutrients to enhance brain performance! “Meat provides an ideal mix of amino acids, fats, vitamins, adn minerals for brain growth and maintenance.” - The Paleo Cure, Chris Kresser
Healthy Pregnancy: one of the most important times in your life to focus on a nutrient dense diet is pre-conception and during pregnancy. I am thankful for an extremely healthy pregnancy and an extremely healthy baby! I attribute a lot of my health and Piper’s health to our farmshare! Not to mention her first foods will be liver, egg yolk, and bone broth from our farm. :)
This is not meant to be a researched based article with scientific studies and facts. This is simply meant to be a non-sponsored personal testimony of why I have really enjoyed being a farmshare owner at Helios.
If you’re in Oregon I highly recommend giving Kira and Theo a call to discuss payment plans and meat options!
Here are a few more benefits specific to Helios farmshare:
Kira and Theo welcome us anytime at their farm to pick in season berries!
We are welcome to camp and enjoy the wonderful microbiome at their farm anytime!
The education they provide us on animal product and orthomolecular medicine is remarkable!
They offer smaller portion pick up options for those who don’t have a deep-freezer.
They offer payment plans
We’ve made friends and built a community of like-minded individuals striving to live a primal life.
They welcome us to be a part of the farming and butchering process.
“Once you buy shares in our livestock, we deliver your healthy, nutrient-dense foods weekly, and encourage you to participate in our vibrant and knowledgable farm share community. Helios Farms uses chemical-free farming practices that you will feel good about supporting, learning, and being a part of. We love sharing the fruits of our labor and engaging our farm share owners, delivering milk and eggs weekly to your drop point, and working with you to harvest your chicken, pork, and beef to fill your freezer! When you become a farm-share owner in Helios Farms, you will have opportunities to participate in traditional farm and butchery experiences, and you will be delighted with each delivery of your farm share treats. Yum!”