“Grass-Fed” Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Does

The Illusion of ‘Grass-Fed’

In the UK, beef can be labelled grass-fed if just 51% of the animal’s diet came from grass — and no one checks whether that claim is true.

The result?

Grain-fed cattle, finished in feedlots, marketed as “grass-fed.”

Imported beef with a misleading label.

And a public trying to eat better, but left guessing.

What Pasture for Life Means

We’re the first restaurant in England to be certified by the Pasture for Life Association.

That means every animal we serve was:

100% pasture-fed and on organic hay and haylage, for life - no grain, no soya, no “finishing”.

Raised outdoors, in natural herds.

Reared on a certified farm with real inspection, not self-declared standards.

The cattle you see from your table are the supply chain.
We don’t just claim it. We prove it in the open.

Why does this matter?

Grain-fed beef relies on mass imports, chemical fertilisers, and often intensive farming.

The Pasture for Life certification is new to England’s restaurant scene, but its farming principles follow old traditions.

They mean keeping livestock on biodiverse pastures to produce healthier meat, to enrich the soil, and to allow animals to live happier lives together with natural outdoor social structures.

Lilliput Farm Kitchen marks a return to those pre-industrial traditions, proving that meat doesn’t require ‘feedlots’ and fertilizers, grain or intensive farming - just proper grazing.

"We’re proving that this kind of farming works commercially and that public demand can sustain high-welfare, local producers - even when the system is rigged against them." Aidan Stanley, Lilliput’s co-founder.

Why It’s Disappearing

As support for regenerative farming is cut and small abattoirs vanish, Britain is quietly losing the infrastructure behind sustainable, transparent food.

Just four companies now control most beef processing. Most people have no idea it’s happening.

We’ve kept going - not out of nostalgia, but because it works.

Pasture for Life respects animals, restores soil, and produces food with integrity.

This isn’t about looking back. It’s about proving there’s a better way forward - and every time someone chooses to eat here, they help prove it’s possible.