One to One with Bill Goodman:
Laura Freeman
aired September 15 and 17, 2006
Laura’s Lean Beef founder Laura Freeman talks with host Bill Goodman about agriculture, nutrition, and private enterprise on this edition of One to One.
In 1985, Freeman founded Laura’s Lean Beef on her family’s farm in Winchester with two goals in mind: to improve the financial stability of medium-sized cattle operations and to improve the nutritional qualities of beef. Eschewing “factory farm” methods, she set up the operation based on her belief that sustainable farming practices produce healthier food and a healthier environment. Her cattle are raised without antibiotics or growth hormones, eating only grains and grasses, and the company follows strict humanitarian guidelines on their care and handling.
Freeman’s experiment has more than paid off. Today Laura’s Lean Beef is a collaboration of more than 750 family farmers around the country—all of whom must use the same methods as the original Clark County operation—and is distributed in more than 4,700 grocery stores in 44 states. The company also has recently branched out into pre-cooked frozen entrees.
