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StarK-GLATT OUR STORY: Kosher Pastured Meats

Our Story

Working Conditions

Recent scandals in the kosher meat industry have reminded us of the importance of looking at the entire chain of production to ensure that the people involved in producing our meat are paid fairly, well-treated and work in conditions that are healthy and fair.

Grow & Behold:
  • Pays farmers fair prices for their products and rewards high kosher rates
  • Operates in small-scale slaughterhouses where employee safety is the first concern
  • Works with processors who pay their workers fair wages
  • Respects Jewish halachic guidelines in all aspects of business, including highest standards of kashrut and ethical labor practices

We work with processors who pay their workers fair wages

Animal Welfare

Raising animals on pasture helps to ensure they have a natural, healthy life, and are free to behave as cows (or chickens or sheep) are wont to behave. Grow & Behold only works with farmers who share our views on animal treatment, farming practices, and business ethics. We endeavor to source our animals from farms near our processing facilities in order to minimize the time that the animals spend on a truck from farm to processing.

At our slaughterhouses, the pace is slow enough to ensure that workers treat animals with respect. Our slaughterhouse systems are based on the animal handling guidelines developed by Dr. Temple Grandin to ensure that the animals are calm and stress free from the moment they arrive at our facility throughout the shechitah process. We never use electric cattle prods or shackle and hoist slaughter methods.

Click here for more detailed information about our animals.

Naftali & Anna Hanau

Environment

Caring for the land, for our sake and for the sake of our children, is one of our highest concerns. We regularly inspect the farms that produce our meats and reserve the right to inspect without notice at any time of the year.

Grow & Behold operates according to the following principles of environmental stewardship:

  • We pay farmers fair prices for their products and rewards high kosher rates/li>
  • Operates in small-scale slaughterhouses where employee safety is the first concern
  • Works with processors who pay their workers fair wages
  • Respects Jewish halachic guidelines in all aspects of business, including highest standards of kashrut and ethical labor practices

We pay farmers fair prices for their products and reward high kosher rates

Food Safety

Producing a tasty, healthy and safe product is of utmost importance to us. Grow & Behold produces in USDA inspected facilities, and follows all USDA guidelines regarding animal handling, processing, packaging, refrigeration and storage. Small-batch production allows us to pay close attention at every step of the process.

Our Farmers

While we value transparency, we do not publicize the names and addresses of our farmers to protect their privacy. Our farmers are busy and hardworking, and have requested that our customers not contact them directly. We are in constant contact with our growers and make regular, unannounced visits. We are happy to answer any of your questions about the farms and farmers.

Our Standards

We've provided an overview of our standards above, but we also want to make sure you can read the nitty gritty. You can read our standards by clicking on the links below. These detailed documents are the foundation of our promise to our customers.

Poultry Standards (Chicken, Turkey and Duck)
Beef Standards
Lamb Standards

Our Mission

Grow and Behold Foods brings you delicious Glatt Kosher pastured meats raised on small family farms. We adhere to the strictest standards of kashrut, animal welfare, worker treatment, and sustainable agriculture.

We do it right, so you can enjoy every bite.

Naftali Hanau

CEO And Founder

Naftali is a shochet (ritual slaughterer), m'naker (ritual butcher), farmer and professional horticulturist. He grew up around the corner from the kosher butcher in Rochester, NY, and has been a carnivore from a young age. After spending a summer at Adamah and learning more about the ethical and environmental issues surrounding modern meat production, Naftali realized he had to change his lifestyle a bit. He learned shechita in Crown Heights, NY, and Scranton, PA, and has studied at butcher shops and slaughterhouses across the country with many experts in the field of kosher meat production. Naftali earned a Degree in Horticulture from the New York Botanical Garden School of Professional Horticulture and spent a year as Greenhouse Manager at Adamah, a Jewish environmental farming program in northwest Connecticut; he has also worked on several organic farms and owned his own landscaping firm.

Anna Hanau

Director of Communications & Outreach

Anna is a farmer, writer and Jewish educator. Once a vegetarian, she now eats meat when she knows how it's produced and where it came from. Anna worked for ten years at Hazon, leaving in January 2014 to work at Grow and Behold full-time. At Hazon, she co-authored Food For Thought: Hazon's Sourcebook on Jews, Food and Contemporary Life and helped to produce the Hazon Shmita Sourcebook. Over the years, she directed the New York Jewish Environmental Bike Ride, Hazon Food Conference and the Hazon CSA Program among other projects. Anna was the Farm Manager at Adamah from 2008-2010 and was named one of the "Top 40 farmers under 40" by the Mother Nature Network. In 2013, Anna was named one of the Jewish Week's "36 under 36." Anna keeps a flock of chickens (for eggs!) in her backyard in Brooklyn.