Where to Buy the Best Regenerative & Grass-fed Beef in California
Regenerative & Grass-fed is all the new rage but before I list the places to score some meat, what is regenerative?
Regenerative agriculture practices are a dynamic approach that looks to nourish people and the earth through practices of restoring soil and ecosystem health, and to leave our land, water and climate in a better shape for future generations.
A great article that explains the difference between organic, grass-fed & regenerative. (BDA Farms).
True grass-fed in nature is regenerative. That being said the best way to know if a product is truly grass-fed is to look for certification like American Grass-fed Cert.
There are two ways to buy beef:
1) By the Cow
Comes in various sizes like a half cow or a 1/4 cow. This is ideally what I want to push myself to eat variety of cuts and to me it feels more ancestral in nature where you use every bit of the cow. If you’re buying by the cow (aka bulk) get yourself a freezer. I got the 5 cubic feet which should fit a 1/4 cow (so I’m told by the ranchers).
2) Individual Cuts
You can select a certain cut or a combo of sorts. Some even offer subscription like the popular ‘butcher box’.
Here are the places I’d order from:
1) Perennial Pastures Ranch - San Diego County, CA
The big picture of their practices is providing whats best for the planet, animals and people consuming their products including a low-stress livestock handling techniques as well as infastructures designed by the one and only Temple Grandin (Awesome movie about her).
Love this line from their about page: “In our current era, choosing to invest in a larger portion of an animal, like ¼ or half of a cow saves you more trips to the grocery store, connects you deeper to the animal and is the most symbiotic option for this earth.” ... A big reason why I want to buy in larger portions.
They provide combo boxes for purchase if you’re looking for certain cuts or smaller portions. Not to mention, they do ranch tours for kiddos and sell pasture-raised chicken through a farm partnership.
2) Leftcoast Grassfed / TomKat Ranch - San Mateo County, CA
They’re currently sold out but I joined their waitlist for the next round of beef. What makes this ranch stand out is they are American Grass Fed Certified!
3) Morris Grassfed Beef - San Juan Bautista, CA
Their website describes all their practices and I’m very much impressed. They even mention low-stress handling techniques too as well as how their approach is helping climate change. They get audited by the American Grass-fed Association meaning they’re regenerative alright. Did I mention that you not only can get individual cuts, you can also get dry-aged portions of cows?
4) Mariposa Ranch - Mariposa, CA
They’ve been ranching in Central California for 15 years. All the things I want to see they do: no herbicides, pesticides, commercial fertilizer, hormones & antibiotics. Their beef is grass-fed and finished - all on the pasture the whole time! They have all the purchasing options, certain cuts, bulk beef, combo & subscription boxes as well as offer a pasture raised chicken through a farm partnership. From my research, great prices if you’re looking for a portion of a cow without all the organs, etc.
Honorable Mentions:
Bates Grass-Fed Beef - Sierra Mountains, CA
They don’t mention no pesticides nor hormones but their philosophy alone about happy cows and how they raise them along side them in the Sierra Mountains has me swooning.
Avenales Ranch - Shandon, CA
My friend sent me this and I was impressed. All the grass-fed, grass-finished, organic goodness. So the site doesn’t go into detail about their regenerative practices BUT they’re Audubon certified which deserves an honorable mention for their respect to the ecosystem/pastures. Also, the best part is their beef is dry-aged 27 days - longest I’ve seen in my grass-fed/regenerative search!
On a personal level, writing this post brought back a ton of memories of raising cattle with my Pop-pop in the Shenandoah Valley in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. My parents would gift us cows on our birthdays. I remember learning when they’d have babies, or when we’d butcher one for the winter ahead. Once you see what it takes to raise cattle, your respect for your meat, the local families who take on this task and the ecosystem shifts. I’m excited to support local families directly!
To find other local California beef ranches check out this directory!
My personal favorite way to cook a steak is to reverse sear it. Let Martha Stewart walk you through the process. It’s super simple and my husband will tell everyone who will listen that it tastes as good if not better than in at a steakhouse. Shout out to Fogey from Three Jerk Jerky for teaching me how to during the pandemic.
Lastly, my favorite ground beef recipe; Lemony Greek Beef & Rice Bowl (or lettuce cups). Super super simple. I double the beef to have a higher protein ratio & add butter to taste usually ended up using less. Been making this for my family for six years.
XO Amy Lee
