Yarra Valley Free Range Pork

Do You Care Where Your Meat Comes From?

'Think about the animals from which the meat that you eat comes. Are you at all concerned about how they have been treated? Have they lived well? Have they been fed on safe, appropriate foods? Have they been cared for by someone who respects them and enjoys their contact with them? Are you sure? Perhaps it's about time to find out a bit more about where the meat you eat comes from. Or to change to a source that can reassure you about these points.'

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (chef)
The River Cottage Meat Book

The idea of food becoming extinct may at first seem strange but if a breed is allowed to die out, then along with them go the special qualities that make them unique and these qualities may never again be found.

The meat from rare breed animals is renowned for its flavour and succulence. Pure breeds have unique eating qualities that remain constant. To help preserve these heritage breeds, they must regain the support of the buying public. At a trial conducted in the UK, the Large Black was judged the best of all the breeds for taste and eating quality. Eastwind Rare Breeds Farm is now supplying quality, tasty pork to top restaurants and butchers in Melbourne and the Yarra Valley. To enquire about Yarra Valley Free Range Pork or to order any of our smallgoods please e-mail us. By doing so, you will be supporting biodiversity and helping to ensure a viable future for these endangered breeds.

Where can I try Yarra Valley Free Range Pork?

Wholesale enquiries should be addressed to Daniel at Commercial Wholesale Butchers in Springvale (03 9558 4544).

For that special occasion dining experience, Yarra Valley Free Range Pork is currently on the menu at the Chateau Yering Hotel, Melba Hwy, Yering (03 9237 3333).

Our retail outlet is Yarra Glen Quality Meats Ph. 97301252 Shop 3, 36 Bell St (Melba Hwy), Yarra Glen. Rod Falkner makes delicious smallgoods including his trademark ham on the bone. This can be provided sliced in packets of around 350gms and is ideal for making sandwiches throughout the year. Of course, ham on the bone is perfect for that special celebration.

Yarra Valley Free Range Pork is also available at the Healesville Organic Farmers Market, which we attend every 3rd Saturday of the month.

Another way to save both travel time and money is to buy in bulk and freeze it. Click here to find out how to order a Pig In A Box.

Ham on a table
One of our delicious hams.

Your Carbon Footprint.

As the planet struggles to cope with Global warming, ask yourself what part you can play to assist. One way is to Buy local food. The embodied energy (food miles) in food that has travelled long distance to its point of sale is simply not sustainable. Doing our part, we believe in not only farming sustainably but selling sustainably also. We sell to local outlets, attend local farmers markets and sell in bulk giving people the chance to support a local farmer and reduce their impact on the earths dwindling resources.

Why not become a locavore? Check out this link to find out more.

What Is 'Bred' Free Range?

'Bred' Free Range is a relatively recent termed coined by a few opportunists marketing their product as free-range and also, when butchers themselves label it as such in their shops. In reality it is only the mother that lives outside and, when her piglets are weaned (usually at three weeks of age!), they are raised in enclosed shelters or sheds the majority of which contain straw over a cement floor. So, in reality, the pork products you may have bought in good faith were not free range. This label is causing a lot of confusion amongst consumers so don't be afraid to ask the retailer to tell the truth. Is it genuinely free-range? What is the name of the producer? Can you visit to check?
Christine's pigs are fed a grain based homemade mix and allowed to graze on the lush pastures of the Yarra Valley. They are reared outside and are free from hormones, chemicals and antibiotics.