‘People are coming back to meat.’
I’m chatting to Nick Tallas, manager of new-kid-on-the-block Conscious Ground, purveyor of
grass-fed beef and pork. I’d been curious to know how, in a region as dedicated to veganism
as this one is, their products are received. ‘When you offer people an alternative to
something that’s good for the planet, that’s when you get a lot of ex-vegans now eating
meat.’
On 240 acres of land at Myocum, owner Richard Togersrud started his business about five
years ago ‘with the intention,’ Nick tells me, ‘of educating people as well as producing
organic food,’ Of those acres, 110 are for grazing while on another 20 – 30, pigs are rotated
around. The cows are 100% grass-raised and -finished and, unlike grain-fed cattle with their
higher methane output, more carbon is locked in to the soil. Management is holistic, the
animals moved around regularly, also offering a means of controlling pests as is the organic
apple cider vinegar they are fed, used for internal parasites. It’s a great challenge
maintaining their ACO organic status (‘those internal parasites in a sub-tropical
environment’, Nick tells me, deterring a lot of other farmers from going fully organic) and
yet the selective rotation of animals, the many water catchment areas on the property and
its holistic management all assist. ‘Running a diversity of animals – the pigs running around
– in that natural environment brings so much joy’, Nick says.
From the little grill set up, he and fellow stall-holder Felix offer samples of meltingly tender
beef on toothpicks – for a high-vegan customer base the proffered plate seems to empty in
seconds! I myself come away with fat Italian pork sausages I devour that night with mashed
potatoes, relishing their coarse rustic texture and their very hot spiciness.
Conscious Ground are at Mullumbimby every Friday from 7 – 11am
Victoria Cosford
