On the heels of Freemans introducing a (mostly) grass-fed beef burger, Telepan is doing the same. The curious thing here is that the news comes to us from Animal Welfare Approved, a relatively new organization that aims to identify meat sources that are “healthy, safe, environmentally responsible, and humanely raised.” The organization, which inspects participating farms in order to ensure compliance to its apparently rigorous standards, has been slow to put its stamp of approval on New York farms and restaurants. Of the 118 area restaurants listed on AWA’s site, most of them are recognized only because they occasionally sell turkey from Good Shepherd Turkey Ranch, and only a handful of Northeast farms have been approved to date. But with the AWA offering publicity to farmers (and not charging fees for it) and Telepan already scoring a public shout-out for ditching Masters of Colorado in favor of Rain Crow Ranch/American Grassfed Beef, we’re likely to see more restaurants hop aboard the grass-fed bandwagon.
