Premium Beef From… Maine?

Wolfe’s Neck Farm is a beef producer from Freeport Maine. They sell themselves as "all natural" Among the Wolfe’s Neck Farm items available at my local Hannaford market are frozen burgers, fresh hamburger, and steaks. I do wonder if this is truly premium beef or simply premium priced beef.

I do buy Wolfe’s Neck Farm beef on occasion, but I do have concerns about it:

1. Idiot descriptions of the cattle having an ocean view. Not a selling point with me.

2. They work as a cooperative, many different farms contribute cattle to Wolfe’s Neck Farm.
Well, there goes the ocean view…only some of the cattle have an ocean view, I guess.

3. All of the "benefits" of the naturally raised cattle are negated if you buy the fresh ground beef. After asking a butcher friend at Hannafords about this product he told me they do not have a dedicated grinder at the store for the Wolfe’s Neck Farm hamburger. The result is that this premium beef goes through the same grinders as the ordinary beef. There goes the all natural claim.

4. Somehow Maine does not resonate with me as a cattle state. I can’t remember that many cattle drives coming out of Maine.

5. A disturbing quote from the Wolfe’s Neck Farm web site: "Our animals spend a minimum of 120 days on select rations to ensure consistent texture, taste, and finish" Select rations? Sounds like a feedlot where they fatten the cattle with grain which negates any grass fed health benefits and makes this special cattle the same as any other.

Has anyone tried this product? What do you think?

Wolfe’s Neck Farm Website:
http://www.wolfesneckfarm.org