We are getting lots of questions these days so we thought we would share some information direct from some of our growers. Send us your questions and we’ll answer you and post the answers here for others.


Question: Where can I buy roasts or steaks? I noticed that there is sausage, ground beef and pate at Vita Health but not roasts or steaks.

Answer: Best to contact one of the producers that live closest to you. Check out this page and see each producer’s information.
Currently we are only selling frozen products but with new producers coming on stream we hope to be able to sell fresh in the future.


Question: I know you have grass-fed beef and I have made a note on where I can purchase it.... are your steers given hormone shots?

Answer: No, none of our animals are given antibiotics or hormones, see our production protocol.

Question: I've been buying your grass-fed beef at Vita Health and am thrilled to read about how the cattle for this beef is raised.  I am wondering if there are any plans to progress to organic.  To be honest, what I most would like to know is not so much that these cattle are "certified organic" so much as to know that the growers are not grazing the cattle in pastures that have been sprayed with pesticides.  

Answer: from 3 of our producers:

Jonathan Bouw - Anola:

Thanks for your support of our family's farm products.  We appreciate your desire to support local farmers, and your efforts to source healthy, safe, and delicious food for yourself and those you share your food with!

On our farm, Bouw Farms Ltd., the cattle are not certified organic, but all of our pastures and cropland are certified organic by the Organic Producers' Association of Manitoba.  No pesticides or commercial fertilizers are applied to any of these parcels of earth.  The cattle graze these pastures and eat organic feed during the winter months with the exception of a small percentage of hay that we buy, which I cannot confirm is absent of fertilizers, but certainly no pesticides are applied to the mixed-forage hay that we purchase.  The cattle are raised without the use of antibiotics or growth promotants, and we fully adhere to the protocols of the MB Grass-Fed Beef Association.

We hope that your experience of Manitoba Grass Fed Beef is truly satisfying on many levels! 

Thanks for your appreciation of our story and our values!

Doug & Carol Turnbull - Binscarth:

Speaking for my own operation, Grip-Fast Farms, we are not currently certified organic nor do we have any plans in the near future to move in that direction. As a member of the Manitoba Grass-Fed Beef Association, we have certain production protocols that we must follow. On our own operation we run some custom grazed cattle as well as our own grass-fed herd and while they are run separately the owners of the custom cattle use some conventional treatments that would not be allowed under an organic operation. We also purchase hay from outside sources and we cannot verify that this is organic as well. There are no pesticides or commercial fertilizers applied to any of our land and we do not use any antibiotics, hormones, pesticides, etc. on our grass-fed cattle. If you have any further questions or would like to tour our operation, please call.

Jim & Carolyn Lintott - Dugald:

The very short answer to your question : do we use sprays on our pastures is NO!

However in defence of most every cattle producer I know, and I know a lot of them through my work custom seeding, is that almost no one sprays their pastures. First, this is because any plant growing in a pasture is potential food for the cattle. There are very few plant species that a producer might want to control, but interestingly enough the cattle generally learn to avoid them. Also, as our pastures are a multi species environment, there would be very few herbicides that could be used without having a negative effect on a good portion of the pasture species, so it is not the pasture which would be the source of a potential herbicide carry over.

Grains, conventionally produced would be the most likely source of any carryover any and of course we don't use any in our grass-fed program. Hay is the only other potential source and herbicides are not used in hay production as a general rule as the cutting program normally eliminates those weeds after the first cut.

So though we do not use herbicides in our production protocol, and we are not "organic certified", most of use would qualify under that protocol also. It is the fact that we produce 100% grass-fed beef that our beef is desirable for its health benefits and sustainability.

Hope you enjoy our product and if you have any more questions please email.
Thank you for your support.

Question: Do you sell turkeys, chicken, lamb, etc.?

Answer: Some of our producers do also sell natural chickens, lamb etc. Email them directly to find out.

Question: How can I become a grass fed beef producer? Then please send us an email with the completed application form. Our fee if $100 per year. If you want more information contact us.