A few minutes spent with Shawn Sweet (Owner of Sweet Happy Farms) and his hogs and flock and you will understand why his animals are so happy!  The life of a Sweet Happy Farms Animal is to be respected, well cared for, loved and allowed plenty of outdoor sunshine and play.

     Sweet Happy Farms Owner, Shawn Sweet, feels “respecting the food I eat is vital and necessary in life.  Animals are not supposed to stand in a cage or on concrete for their lifetimes.”(1)  The secret to Sweet Happy Farms Cage Free Eggs, Cage Free Chickens and Pork: Strict adhesion to the core of the Sweet Happy Farms business model.  The essential principle is that of furnishing animals opportunity to live in sunlight and walk on the Earth and play.  He believes, and demonstrates, that pigs can be happy, respected and humanely harvested.   He calls it “Raise and Range.”(2)

    How do Sweet Happy Pigs live?  They play and rototill the land by constantly turning over vegetation and dirt.  In fact, their play clears the way for the chickens.  When the pigs are moved on to the next patch of land, the chickens then peck away and aerate that same earth beneath their feet. Ultimately the soil becomes rich with nutrients and the land will be planted and made ready for bountiful vegetative harvests. The vegetation renews the land and makes way for another cycle of happy animals.

     What do Sweet Happy Pigs Eat?  A diet rich in iron and whole foods.  As a species, pigs are often fighting an iron deficiency; Sweet Happy Farms feeds iron rich foods like wild spinach, clover, hay, nettles and red meat.

What is Humanely Harvesting?  “love translates to flavor.”(3)   Sweet Happy Farms Owner, Shawn Sweet, feels he is part of a movement dedicated to humanely harvesting animals.  This method honors the animal from birth to harvest.  Shawn defines humanely harvesting “as the animal not living under stress during life or death, and that the person handling the animal loves animals.”(4)  He states that “the very existence of Sweet Happy Farms is an act of awareness and [he] is looking for consumers who share this belief.”(5)  He feels awareness also includes consumers looking at the quality and the texture of the poultry, fish and meat on their dinner tables.   Click here to read Kitchen Wisdom Gluten Free Interview with Sweet Happy Farms in 2014 concerning Sweet Happy Chickens.

Where to find Sweet Happy Farms Products:

Northwest Farmer’s Market in St. Albans, VT on Saturdays from 8am-2pm

Contact Sweet Happy Farms

 

 

What are the Sweet Happy Farms Pork Products?  Naturally Cured Bacon and Ham Steak, Pork Chops, Italian Sausage without casing, Sage Sausage without casing, Backfat and Ground Pork.  However, supplies are limited and when a product is sold out you may have to wait a while for it to return!

Sweet Happy Farms Products:

Cage Free Eggs, Cage Free Chicken, Fresh Seasonal Fish and Pork

Sweet Happy Farms Cage Free Chicken will be available Fall 2015

Read Kitchen Wisdom Gluten Free Interview with Shawn Sweet about

Sweet Happy Farms Chickens

 

 

References:

1. Interview with Shawn Sweet 7/30/2015
2. Ibid
3. Interview with Shawn Sweet 9/20/2014
4. Ibid
5. Ibid
6. “Sweet Happy Farms Chicken”; Kitchen Wisdom Gluten Free Cow on a Cliff, Vermont Food Chronicles; 2014; https://kitchenwisdomglutenfree.com/2014/10/06/sweet-happy-chicken-buy-local-cow-on-a-cliff-vermont-food-chroniclesc-2014/
7. “Bacon & Food Safety”; Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the USDA; http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/meat-preparation/bacon-and-food-safety/CT_Index
8. “Ham & Food Safety”; Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the USDA; http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/d1df4c79-ad2b-4dd4-a802-ed78cd14409d/Ham_and_Food_Safety.pdf?MOD=AJPERES
9. Rural Vermont Advocating for a Fair Food System; http://www.ruralvermont.org/about-us/
10. NOFA VT (North East Organic Farming Association of VT); List of local farmer’s markets in VT; http://nofavt.org/find-organic-food/farmers-market-directory
11. “Local Farming & Sustainable Food Resources”; VT Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics;  http://www.eatrightvt.org/page/local_farming_and_sustainable_food_resources

“Sweet Happy Pigs” by Liz Conforti; Cow on a Cliff, Vermont Food Chronicles(c)  2015

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