Raising Our Standards: Kitava’s Protein Sourcing Explained
When crafting the menu for Kitava, there were certain standards we knew we wanted to adhere to.
First, our meals had to be nutrient-dense, containing lots of vegetables and health-promoting herbs and spices. Second, the fats and oils we used had to come from natural sources, and not become rancid or oxidized when cooked. Finally, we believed strongly in sourcing from healthy plants and animals, in order to achieve our goal to serve healthy food that also supports a sustainable food ecosystem.
While all the criteria listed above were crucial to our food ethos, we quickly determined that protein sourcing was one of the highest priorities. Here are a few reasons why:
- Factory farming is destructive to the environment. Water resource depletion, deforestation, soil degradation, and harmful soil runoff are just a few negative bi-products of factory farming. (1)
- Healthy animals lead to healthier humans. Animals that are fed their natural diets and allowed to roam freely produce meat that is healthier than its factory-farmed counterpart. Cows raised on pasture with a grass-fed diet, for instance, produce significantly more omega-3 fatty acids than grain-fed cattle. (2)
- Better sourcing means more delicious food. Meat sourced from vibrant, healthy animals just tastes better. If we source from farms that raise the healthiest, happiest animals around, we’ll naturally have great tasting food.
- It’s the right thing to do. Animals raised in factory farms have miserable lives. We want no part in supporting this sort of inhumane treatment of other living beings.
Factory farmed meat comes from a broken system that goes against everything we’re about. We strongly believe a healthy and sustainable food system involves holistic farming practices, including the use of healthy animals raised the way nature intended.
That’s why you’ll find the following protein options on our menu when you eat at Kitava:
- Pasture-Raised Chicken - Mary’s (Pitman Family Farm), Sanger, CA
- Pasture-Raised Heritage Pork - Marin Sun Farms, Petaluma, CA
- Pasture-Raised 100% Grass-Fed Beef - Pacific Pastures, Hydesville, CA
- Line-Caught Wild Alaskan Salmon - Ports Seafood, San Francisco, CA
There are a lot of buzzwords when it comes to describing meat, but we believe “pasture-raised” is the description that matters most. While “cage-free”, “free-range”, and “naturally-raised” are all steps in the right direction, animals raised using those methods are likely still in factory farms eating mostly corn and soy. “Pasture-raised” encompasses the best of all these terms, plus so much more. It goes without saying that a pasture-raised animal will be free to roam, without a cage, in its natural environment. Furthermore, because pasture-raised animals spend most of their time foraging outdoors, eating the foods they evolved to eat (and not fed an entirely corn/soy-filled diet), the animals are healthy and antibiotics are rarely needed.
Here’s a deeper dive into each of our sourcing partners:
Pasture-Raised Chicken
Mary’s Pasture-Raised Chicken (Pitman Family Farm), Sanger, CA
Mary’s pasture-raised chickens are raised with a Step 5 animal welfare rating. This means the chickens live their entire lives on a pastured farm, are capable of living outdoors year round, and are carefully raised in small groups. Because they spend their lives roaming outdoors, their diets naturally consist of bugs, worms, and grass (you know, what chickens are actually supposed to eat). In addition, their diet contains NO genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and NO synthetic amino acids. Learn more about Mary’s Pasture-Raised Chicken here
Pasture-Raised Heritage Pork
Marin Sun Farms, Petaluma, CA
Our heritage pasture-raised pork is sourced from Marin Sun Farms, a family-run operation based in Sonoma County. The pigs forage on pasture, and are never given sub-therapeutic antibiotics or hormones. The specific breeds we buy are raised in Two Rock Valley in Petaluma, CA, and include Berkshire, Tamworth, Old Spots, and Red Wattle breeds.
We also source pasture-raised chicken bones from Marin Sun Farms for our soul-nourishing bone broths. Learn more about Marin Sun Farms here
Pasture-Raised 100% Grass-Fed Beef
Pacific Pastures, Hydesville, CA
Our beef comes from Pacific Pastures, which raises cattle in the Sacramento Valley, San Francisco’s East Bay, and California’s Central Coast. They graze on grass their entire lives, and are never fed antibiotics or growth hormones. Learn more about Pacific Pastures
Line-Caught Wild Alaskan Salmon
Ports Seafood, San Francisco, CA
We source our wild-caught Alaskan coho salmon from Ports Seafood, an SF-based distributor specializing in fresh, sustainably-caught fish. The salmon is line or “troll-caught,” meaning they are caught individually in the open ocean, as opposed to net-caught in bulk closer to the shore. This method is widely viewed as the most fish-friendly and sustainable way to catch fish, and generally leads to a healthier, more nutritious catch. Learn more about Ports Seafood
Our goal is to serve food that tastes great, is good for our bodies, and supports a healthy environment and food ecosystem. Sourcing healthy animals from the providers listed above sets us on the path to do just that.