Food: Full Circle Farm

Embracing Our Interdependence With Nature

Food: Full Circle Farm

When I decided I had to write about Full Circle Farm, I realized I needed a new category for this article. I have created the Food Category, and I am thrilled to be starting out with a positive article about food. Given the condition of our national food system and the stuff that passes for food these days I am not surprised I hadn’t created this category until now. But ah yes, staying positive, onward and upward!

I have found a Florida farm that produces food with a nutrient density, cleanliness and humanity that I have faith in. My husband and I have been for decades eschewing grocery meat, dairy, and vegetables because we lack faith in the way that those foods are produced, and we believe that food produced properly is medicine for our bodies.

I had been a member of a raw dairy group for over 5 years, when I heard about a better dairy farmer.

Several months ago I met a friend from Tallahassee who had done a 2 year apprenticeship in the milking barn of Full Circle Farm in Live Oak. He told me about Dennis (the farmer) and how he had undertaken to learn how to farm for the most nutrient dense foods rather than focusing on how to make the biggest profit. Dennis and his wife Alecia and their children have been living, working and eating on the farm for 13 years.

Full Circle Farm is becoming famous in Florida for their raw dairy. It is amazingly rich and creamy. I asked Dennis how he’s doing it, he told me his cows are fed on pasture only with free choice kelp meal, and absolutely no grains, not even during milking. He told me this means his cows only give one or two gallons of milk a day, and that milk is nutrient dense. This also means that his cows are comfortable, they are not giant super udder cows. That makes me feel comfortable too.

Dennis also pays great attention to the condition of his pastures, building and improving their nutrient density as well. I don’t know if he’d like me to say so, but I think that makes him a very good grass farmer. Furthermore, and you can read about this on the farm blog, Dennis is working on a selective breeding program to make sure that his heifers are producing A2 milk proteins which are the more digestible milk proteins. Most American bovine dairy protein has become A1 which is less digestible. This may have happened inadvertently when dairies were breeding for increased udder size and capacity. It is my understanding that this selective breeding for milk protein correction has already been completed throughout Europe. 

Some products that I am just over the moon about from Full Circle Farm are the milk, so rich with just a slight hint of yellow from the grass the cows eat, and a cream line that goes at least a third of the way down; Yogurt, so thick and delicious I don’t add any fruit or honey to it; Cream so heavy you don’t have to whip it to serve it on pie; Several different vegetable ferments like kim chee, a variety of cheeses, including a cheese sampler, and for those of us who are omnivorous; Delicious pasture and forest fed meats.

The best thing about all of this is that Full Circle packs a van of coolers with our orders and drives down here to deliver their products. You can go on line and make an order, pay for it there on line, and it will come down to your location. The website is https://fullcirclerealfoods.com/

The next delivery for Fort Pierce is expected in March. We don’t have a date yet.  There are fees associated with ordering, so if you are not getting very many items, combine your order with a friend to save a buck or two.

If you are placing an order for the Fort Pierce delivery, we gather at a local farm in the grass under shade trees for the delivery, It winds up being a very nice social opportunity for those of us who are waiting for the van to arrive. We look forward to meeting you there.

 

3 Responses

  1. Sara says:

    Thanks as always for the great information and insight.

  2. T.A. Wyner says:

    Fricken……….Fan………..Fricken…………Tastic…………

    Great find……….
    Bouquets to the farm family showing “the way”.

    Will they let us visit?

  3. Adina says:

    Yes T.A. They schedule farm tours by appt. You can contact them to make an appointment. I am looking forward to visiting in May when spring has sprung there.

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