FAQ

What is biodynamic farming and how is it different from organic farming?

Biodynamic farming is like organic farming in the sense that no chemical fertilizers, pesticides and fungicides are applied. 

The difference between biodynamic farming from organic farming is that biodynamic farming  will look at the farm not only from a micro (soil , compost , bacteria things we don’t see) and macro (things we see, plants, insects etc) point of view but  it considers the farm as a living organism and part of the super macro which is the universe.  To do this biodynamic farming uses a sowing calendar as a guide to implement farm activities, like planting, harvesting , making compost  and making biodynamic preparations.

Some differences are: we use a sowing calendar to time activities, we use crop rotation and we apply biodynamic preparations which are like homeopathic remedies that are given to plants.

Read more about Biodynamic Farming.

What is Grass Fed Beef. What is the difference between grass fed beef and commercial beef ? 

Our beef is raised in 100% grass from start to finish.  The cattle is left to graze in pasture.  When cattle feeds on grass as nature intended, you get the maximum health benefits.  For example, the beef is high in omega 3  (ten  times more than commercial beef).  It is also:

-       Very high in cancer fighting CLA’s  . 

-       No hormones

-       No antibiotics

-       Humane treatment, cattle are tamed. 

Read more about Grass Fed Beef and its Health Benefits. 

Are your animals humanely treated?

We believe that the Philippines has the most humane treatment of animals in the world because our farmer to cattle ratio is 1:1 or 1:2.  The animals are all tamed and grew up with their owners like a family pet.  They are not dehorned or castrated like cattle in other countries. 

Where is your farm?  Where is the beef from?

We have several locations:

    a. The vegetable farm is in  Manolo Fortich Bukidnon. It’s about an hour from Cagayan de Oro  towards the foot of Mt. Kitanglad.

    b.  The Cattle and pig farm is in Talakag and Baungon Bukidnon, about an hour and thirty minutes from Cagayan de Oro near the airport.

   c. We also source our beef from small farmers and family farms who raise 1-2 animals 100% on pasture around Mindanao.    See our List of Farmers.  

How can we cook the beef?  

Grass fed meat is very lean. That is why there is hardly any fat.  We recommend moist cooking like cooking it as a stew or casserole.  For example, Beef Stew, Osso Bucco, Caldereta.  You will also notice that when you leave the dish and it gets cold, you won’t see any “sebo” or grease like commercial beef.  We can give you tips. See Handling Tips.  Also see Cooking Tips.

Do you deliver? Where else can we get your products? How do we pay?

You can call our office at 632-8140854 or SMS 0917-6731947, and we can deliver or you can pick up from our shop.  We take orders Monday to Tuesday and deliver Wednesday to Friday. We have a minimum requirement of P1000 for delivery.  We also charge P100 for delivery of 3 kilos.  In excess of 3 kilos, we charge P20./kilo.

PICK UP

You can pick up your orders from: MAKATI CURB HOLDINGS, No. 7433 Ground Floor, Unit J, Yakal St., San Antonio Village Makati City.  (End of Mayapis St., near CASH & CARRY and next to Titania Wine Cellar & near SANTIS Delicacies.)

MARKETS

You can also find DowntoEarth at:

The Salcedo Market: Jaime Velasquez Park, Tordesillas St., Salcedo Village

Every Saturday: 7:00-2:00PM

Mara's Organic Market (Legaspi Park): Legaspi Park, corner Rufino St., Makati

Every Sunday: 7:00-2:00PM

We are also in these retail stores:

Echo Store and Rustan's Marketplace groceries

OUTSIDE METRO MANILA

If you live outside of Metro Manila, we can arrange to send you a box of produce.  You will be charged for the freight and the box.  The minimum amount for provincial delivery is P1000. The shipping box is P250 and could fit up to 8 kilos of produce. The freight charge is P500 for door-to-door delivery. (Your total will be about P750.) It might be too high for you so we usually advise that you ship in bulk. Alternatively you can choose to pick up from the airport. Please call us at 632-8140854 or 0917-6731947 to arrange for this set-up.  

PAYMENT 

You can pay us using your credit card, by bank deposit, Paypal or upon pick up or delivery.   

What are the ingredients of smoked meats?

For bacon: we cure it with salt and honey, and smoked with mango wood

For fresh beef bacon:  salt and honey, it is not smoked

For Sweet Tapa: we cure with salt and muscovado

For fresh Tapa: we marinate it with salt, garlic and pepper it is not smoked.

For jerky: sea salt

We use wood to smoke our meats in a traditional smokehouse.  

Containers – why do you use plastic for your vegetables?

We grow mostly specialty organic baby vegetables, and micro greens which are very delicate  from Bukidnon.  Because of our shipping and handling we need to use hard food grade containers.  But these are reusable containers and we give a refund for every container our customers return.

How can you assure that the cattle are only fed grass?

Cattle are ruminants, ruminants can live on grasses alone because they feed on the bacteria that grows in their rumen not on the grass itself.  We buy the native cattle direct from small farmers who feed their cattle only grass because its free.  To these small farmers feeding their cattle feeds or grain is too expensive and does not make any economic sense. See How to tell if you are buying grass fed

What does Pastured Pork mean? What do you feed your pigs?

This means that the pigs were not fed commercial grain, not given hormones or antibiotics or GMO crops.  They are not entirely grass fed though. Pigs are omnivores they cannot survive with grass alone.   We try to duplicate what the pigs would eat if they are in the wild and try to come up with a diet that is as close to their natural diet as possible.  We mix our own feed that consists of root crops mainly cassava, copra cake, and greens like kangkong, kamote tops , and native grasses.  We do not feed them any genetically modified corn or soybean, we also do not feed them any animal by products.

How long does it take to grow your pigs?

Commercial pigs only take about four to five months to get them  to a marketable size.  Because we do not feed it commercial grain and give hormones, it takes us at least 10 months to grow our pigs to a good size.

What are the cuts of beef and pork, and do you have suggestions for recipes

a)   Shanks, kanchi (shin)- pochero , osso bucco

b)   Beef stew (kalitiran) , beef ribs, kansi, brisket-   caldereta, goulash, mechado, nilaga

c)    Ground lean, ground sirloin –  chili con carne, arroz  al lacubana, la sagna, hamburger,  meatballs

d)   Sukiyaki cut-  beefsteak tagalog -  tapa , 

e)    Tenderloin-  beef carpaccio ,  tenderloin tips with mushroom,  beef salpicao

f)      Pork  cubes- adobo, mechado

g)    Beef brisket- corned beef

h)    Rib Eye- Roasted or grilled like steak

See  More Recipes.