why raw?
and why Holistic Harvest?
a biologically appropriate diet
Dr. Ian Billinghurst, a veterinary surgeon and founder of the Billinghurst Institute (https://www.billinghurst.institute ) is considered the “father of raw feeding.” Let’s go over some of his teachings.
Dr. Billinghurst teaches the BARF diet for dogs. This acronym stands for “biologically appropriate raw food.” What does this mean?
Dr. Billinghurst teaches that the gold standard way to feed any animal is to feed the food that animal evolved to require. This seems obvious. We would not feed corn to pandas. This is because pandas did not evolve to eat corn. A diet of corn for pandas would cause a lot of sickness. Conversely, pandas fed a biologically appropriate diet of bamboo are healthy.
The same principle applies to dogs and cats. Dogs did not evolve to eat kibble. In fact, kibble did not become widely used as dog food in the United States until after World War II. Kibble is an overcooked, dry, ultra-processed, often grain-based food-like product. Vitamins and minerals have to be added. Otherwise, it would have none. It leaves our dogs feeling hungry after they just ate. They require real raw food
So what does a biologically appropriate diet look like? Dr. Billinghurst teaches that cats are carnivores. They require meat based diets. In natural environments, dogs are omnivores and scavengers. They eat raw muscle meat, organ meat, bones, some plant material, etc.
The 80-10-10 rule can be helpful when feeding dogs real food. This rule states that dogs need about 80% muscle meat, 10% percent bone, 10% organ meat. These percents are not exact. Dogs also need some plant material and other food groups in their diet. Nutritional balance is best achieved over many different meals.
why Holistic Harvest?
Holistic Harvest only uses human-grade ingredients.
All our ingredients are ethically sourced. This means that we consider human, economic, and environmental factors when choosing suppliers. (All our chickens got to live happy chicken lives.)
We sell three meal toppers and one treat.
Our chicken recipe includes muscle meat, organs, bones, ligaments, tendons, connective tissue, healthy fats; the list goes on. Finely ground bones are safe for dogs and cats to eat. Bones are a great source of minerals. When we fed our pets whole food, we meet their nutritional requirements without needing to know what those requirements are.
Our beef organ recipe includes heart, liver, tongue, and kidney. This recipe is potent—organ meat are nutritionally dense. For example, liver is high in vitamin A; heart is high in vitamin B12 and other B vitamins.
Our pork recipe (coming soon) is mostly muscle meat but also includes pork liver and heart. These pigs got to live outside on pasture, and there is a noticeable difference between our pork and most pork found at grocery stores.
Our beef tallow + peanut butter treat product is a happy blend of organic peanut butter and beef tallow. Lots of healthy fats! If you use it frozen, it will last longer. If you use it refrigerated, your dog will get more with each lick.