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Braised Sommerlad Chicken with Apricots

09/07/2016 by Leave a Comment

Braised Sommerlad Chicken with Apricots, Currants and Tamarind

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What is Demeter Certification? Demeter certificat

What is Demeter Certification?

Demeter certification is a guarantee for consumers that products come from biodynamic agriculture.

Demeter stands for farmers who are striving for health and resilience on their farms, who nourish the soil, protect the environment, respect the well-being of their animals and produce nutrient dense food. It stands for those who value and respect their ingredients, treating them with care, tradition and time to create nutritious food. Demeter aims for regeneration at all levels to create living contexts and communities in which we can all thrive.

Questions regarding yesterday's post on Biodynamic

Questions regarding yesterday's post on Biodynamic lamb. What's this biodynamic stuff all about?

Biodynamic farming is like a more intensive version of organic farming, sometimes called “hyper-organics.” It avoids the use of synthetic chemicals such as fertilisers and pesticides, just like organic farming, but goes beyond this by treating the farm as a holistic system. The focus is on creating a healthy, fertile soil that will, in turn, support healthy crops and animals.

What does “biodynamic” mean?
Biodynamic farming means that the animals are raised in a clean, chemical-free environment. This often results in better-tasting and more fragrant meat, and the humane treatment of animals also contributes to improved meat tenderness.

Is biodynamic farming the same as regenerative farming?
Biodynamic farming is a type of regenerative agriculture, first developed by Dr. Rudolf Steiner in the 1920s. It shares many principles with regenerative farming, like creating nutrient-dense food and focusing on self-sustainability, but also incorporates metaphysical and spiritual elements.

How does biodynamic farming differ from organic farming?
While both biodynamic and organic farming avoid synthetic chemicals and share similar certification standards, biodynamic farming views the farm as a self-sustaining entity. This means the farm aims to operate in a “closed-loop” system, relying on its own resources without needing external inputs like feed or fertilisers.

This holistic and sustainable approach distinguishes biodynamic farming from standard organic practices.

The first of our Moorlands biodynamic lamb landed

Flavours of the Earth For a truly exceptional tab

Flavours of the Earth

For a truly exceptional table bird, reminiscent of France’s ‘Poulet de Bresse,’ Grassland Poultry's Sommerlad chicken is the ideal choice.

But this isn’t France—and Sommerlad chickens are 100% Australian, bred specifically for Australian farming conditions. Their heritage genetics are unlike anything else found in the country or even globally.

Beyond their unique genetics, each Grassland's Sommerlad chicken is influenced by their 'terroir,' with subtle differences shaped by farm climate, soil, native pasture species, feed sources, and processing method. These variations highlight the artistry of chicken farming, offering a rich and diverse culinary experience.

Sommerlad chickens are selected for the table between 10 and 16 weeks of age, compared to the 5-week processing of standard supermarket chickens. This slow growth allows for balanced development of organs, muscles, and bones, leading to meat rich in intramuscular fat and nutrients, with exceptional texture and flavour—multiple award-winning, in fact.

By choosing to purchase a Grassland Sommerlad chic

By choosing to purchase a Grassland Sommerlad chicken, you are not only opting for the highest welfare standards but also directly supporting several important initiatives:

1. Fully Australian poultry genetics.
2. The ongoing development of slower-growing chickens that are well-suited to Australia’s outdoor farming environments.
3. Greater diversity in both your diet and the poultry gene pool, at a time when most of the chicken consumed in Australia comes from a limited genetic stock. Sommerlad chickens bring back the genetic variety of the past.
4. Small family farms that uphold traditional farming methods, sustaining a niche market for premium table birds as a sustainable alternative to factory-farmed chicken.

As mentioned in my last post, The two fast-growing

As mentioned in my last post, The two fast-growing commercial chicken strains used in Australia are ‘Ross’ and ‘Cobb.’ Known as broilers, these modern meat chickens have been selectively bred over generations for intensive production. With the ability to reach processing weight in just 35 days, industry geneticists continue to push for even faster growth rates.

While some may highlight the efficiency and high-performance of these broilers, showcasing the expertise behind their breeding, significant health and welfare concerns arise from their rapid growth. Issues like ‘ascites’ (fluid buildup in the abdomen), heart failure, joint problems, and lameness have all been linked to this accelerated development.

Additionally, the heavy focus on performance has led to a loss of genetic diversity. This decline has two key impacts: modern broilers tend to have weakened immune systems, often requiring medications like antibiotics to survive and grow. Furthermore, the limited gene pool increases vulnerability within Australia’s meat chicken industry, potentially exposing it to new disease threats, changes in food, or environmental shifts.

It’s also crucial to consider the welfare of the parent birds, or broiler breeders, who work behind the scenes in the meat chicken industry but receive little attention.

What do you know about The Decline of Genetic Dive

What do you know about The Decline of Genetic Diversity in Australia’s Chicken Meat Industry?

Since the 1920s, chicken meat production has undergone a drastic transformation, with traditional farm chickens replaced by large-scale, industrial farming run by a smaller number of companies.

In the 1990s, driven by the demand for cheaper chicken, the Australian chicken meat industry phased out local breeds and stopped related genetic research. Instead, they began importing faster-growing, high-performance broiler strains. Today, only two strains, ‘Ross’ from Scotland and ‘Cobb’ from the USA, dominate the industry.

The reduction of genetic diversity has become a widespread issue in agriculture, with poultry being particularly at risk. Selective breeding for productivity has displaced many local breeds, exacerbating the problem.

Good things take time. From handcrafted knives to

Good things take time. From handcrafted knives to carefully shaped pottery and regeneratively farmed produce, we live in a world that often prioritises convenience, affordability, and consistency. Our food system has been shaped around these values.

However, there’s no such thing as truly cheap meat—its real cost may not show on the price tag but becomes evident over time, whether in the degradation of soil health, impacts on water systems, compromised animal welfare, or our own nutrition.

Honoring the animal with a death that reflects the value of its life requires time and care. The journey from the farm to your plate is intricate and delicate. But good things take time—the question is, are you willing to wait?

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