Reshaping the Meat Industry One Farm at a Time

By partnering with regional meat producers across the United States, Cream Co. Meats is working to create opportunities for small farms and ranches to support a more localized food system.

“We’re living in a time when the health of our planet is in peril, and regenerative agriculture offers a beacon of hope,” Pollard tells Food Tank. “By regenerating soil health, sequestering carbon, and restoring biodiversity, sustainable ranching practices have the power to reverse the damage caused by decades of industrial agriculture.”

Founded in 2016 by Cliff Pollard in the Bay Area of California, Cream Co. Meats requires all their partner farms to be operating with never-ever practices or better. This means crops and animals are raised without pesticides or hormones, have access to open areas and are entirely or partially grass-fed. Many of Cream Co. Meat’s partner farms also go beyond the baseline to employ land stewardship practices, minimize resources, and implement regenerative practices.

An assessment by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) finds that if farmers and ranchers continue to produce the same amount of livestock, but employ tactics used by the lowest 10 percent of greenhouse gas emitters, overall emissions from the industry could decrease by 30 percent.

Pollard explains there are many barriers standing in the way of a more sustainable meat industry, which make it especially difficult for independent producers to be successful. These include economic pressures, consumer preferences and lobbying by large agricultural corporations. Cream Co. Meats works to connect small and medium-sized independent producers to distribution avenues and larger markets.