Author // Georgina Auton, Place Graceville
Amy Tiller’s family have always owned a farm, but in 2013, her dad Adrian Tilley decided that instead of carting their cattle around the country, he wanted to bring it directly to the consumers.
Sherwood Road Organic Meats was born.
Amy now owns and works at the butcher, which only serves up organic meat.
“Certified organic meats don’t always have to be expensive,” Amy says.
“You can look at some of the more secondary cuts and they’ve got just as much flavour and are a great alternative.”
Amy says that it’s a harder method of farming, but assures us the results are definitely there in terms of taste.
“It has a lot lower yield so obviously the animals don’t get as fat as quickly as the conventional ones, which is where the extra premium comes in.”
Amy says, all of the red meat comes from her family’s farm, but the chicken and pork is also just as traceable, with the pigs spending their whole lives outdoors in paddocks and the chickens coming from a small farm on the Sunshine Coast.
“What keeps us afloat is people who are looking for ethical meats,” she says.
“We get a lot of vegetarians in here who may be trying to take on a little meat themselves or are feeding their families.”
“It’s because finally after decades of seeing intensively produced meat, they’ve found us and can see that they can make ethical choices.”