Producer Profile – Margie Lamb, Meadowbrook Meat Market

Producer: Margie Lamb, owner
Business: Meadowbrook Meat Market, Berwick

Why is it important to you to raise your hogs naturally?
Having our numbers small (150 sows) and raising our own hogs means better overall health for the herd. It also affords us the opportunity to grow our own grains for feed. To be honest, raising hogs naturally, without antibiotics, is less expensive. 

When did you begin processing and selling your meats?
Around 1989 we started selling homemade pork products in a little building on the farm with just one small smoker.

What is your signature product?
Our signature Taste of Nova Scotia product is our ham. It’s even included in our slogan “Home of the Jimmie Lamb Ham”. We offer a variety ham products including traditional, picnic, boneless fully-cooked, honey and maple smoked.

A lot of commercial meat products contain gluten, why have you made a conscious decision to not include it in several of your products?
All of our products with the exception of our pies are made without gluten. We aren’t certified gluten-free, as wheat products are used on the premises, but we take care to not add gluten to any of our products. When we started producing pork products, gluten wasn’t even in the picture. I grew up on a small hog farm and it was never added in. It’s what I knew growing up.  It’s how we started traditionally, and is now a continuously conscious effort on our part to not include gluten in our products.

What makes a Jimmie Dog better than a hot dog?
A lot of hot dogs are made with lesser cuts of meat that normally would go to compost: organ meats, skin, even tongue. We’ve chosen to not use any of those is making our Jimmie Dogs. We use pure muscle meat, which is a blend with our pork with beef that we get from Maritime farms. Our Jimmie Dogs are by-product free and contain no MSG or artificial dyes. Having worked in the educational system, it is important to me that we made a product that could be served in schools. Jimmie Dogs have riboflavin and naturally occurring nutrients including omega fatty-acids from our pork. They’re also allergen free: Jimmie Dogs contain no gluten, whey, soy or dairy.

What is your favourite product from Meadowbrook?
Do I have to choose!? I eat our bacon the most, but two products I particularly like are our smoked bologna and our shaved ham. They’re both perfect in a sandwich, and the shaved ham tastes great as a panini or with breakfast.

What is your favourite cut of pork to work with?
My favourite cut is the pork shoulder. It’s easy to work with and it’s moist. It has a little bit of fat, but it’s a really versatile cut that makes great left-overs for sandwiches.

What is your favourite recipe using one of your products?
Something I make often is a nice appetizer using our fresh sausage and one of Ran-Cher Acres flavoured goat cheeses. You just wrap the sausage around a bit of cheese, almost like a meatball, and bake. They’re quite good!

Other than pork, name one Nova Scotia ingredient you cook with a lot?
We actually use a lot of Nova Scotia honey in our products like our Honey Baked Ham and sausages. We also sell Acadian Maple Products in our store, and I find I use it a lot at home on roasts or even a bit on bacon.

What tips do you have for the at home-cook on preparing pork?
Do not overcook! Cook it low and slow. Use a slow-cooker, or bake it uncovered with a little bit of moisture like maple syrup or apple cider to keep some humidity and moisture in the meat. Also don’t be afraid to leave your pork (whole pieces) a little pink. As long as you use a meat thermometer and cook the cut to the appropriate temperature, you’ll be fine. A thermometer is especially helpful when making something like pulled pork, where the internal temperature must reach 180 F for pork to pull properly.

What makes Meadowbrook Meat Market different from other meat producers?

• We do not use pumps or fillers in any of our products, nor do we use preservatives in our fresh products. The turn-around time between the processing and selling of our products means we have no need for those things and that customers are getting the freshest, purest product possible.
• We only operate in Nova Scotia. We are not federally licensed, we are provincially inspected and as such limit our carbon footprint. Our products are mostly sold within 100 miles of our farm.
• We are one of six commercial-sized pork producers left in Nova Scotia. Meadowbrook Meat Market products are one of the few pork products that bear both the Premium Nova Scotia Pork ribbon and the Taste of Nova Scotia logo. Our products meet certain industry and culinary standards and it’s a privilege to be a member of both of these organizations.