"I wanted to be buying it from a place that I knew was doing right by the land, the animals and the humans."
Matilda Brown is the daughter of Australian acting icons Bryan Brown and Rachel Ward, and she spent 15 years in the film industry herself, writing, acting and directing. That includes Lessons from the Grave, "a show I did with my dad for ABC". Today Matilda is the co-founder of The Good Farm Shop with her husband, nutritionist Scott Gooding. She joined Lee and me in the cabin for episode 22 of The Lee & Irene Show.
Matilda left film at 30. "I think what a lot of people don't know about the film industry is that you give so much for quite often a very small amount back."
You can listen to the full episode here:
Here are the 3 things I learned from our chat with Matilda
1. The missing piece was nutrition
Matilda says her turning point was meeting Scott. "Before that, I was someone who had bounced around from diet to diet." Scott came into her life when she was 30 and "had such a clear understanding of nutrition". "I never knew the missing piece was nutrition. Just understanding what you need for your body to function."
Matilda hadn't eaten meat in years, partly because of what she'd seen about factory farming. Scott told her "you can buy meat from people who know where they get it from." The first thing he cooked her was slow-cooked lamb.
Matilda says that "was the beginning of our journey into the Good Farm Shop." "If I was going to have it myself at home and be buying it, I wanted to be buying it from a place that I knew was doing right by the land, the animals and the humans."
2. Regenerative farming works with nature
Matilda's family farm on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales has been in the family for over 40 years. Her parents bought it while they were filming Umbrella Woman in the area. For the first 35 years it was a conventional cattle farm, run by a manager.
Then the 2019 bushfires came through. The farm survived, but the house next door burnt down, and Rachel decided, "if we're going to be farming, we should be farming responsibly." The son of the neighbouring farmer took over the farm and together they started to regenerate it. When COVID hit, Matilda and Scott were locked down there for a couple of months. "That was the first time I heard about regenerative agriculture."
Matilda explains it simply. "It's basically the antithesis of conventional and industrial agriculture. It works with nature, not against it." And "essentially, it's all about soil health. And when soil is healthy, it sequesters carbon."
One way they do it is by moving the cattle. "You create smaller areas for the cows to graze. And then you move them along... So they don't overgraze. And in that way, you're basically just working with nature. There is no need for chemical input."
3. Certified organic doesn't mean regenerative
I asked Matilda the question I think a lot of us have. If I'm paying $89 for a certified organic steak, is it regenerative? "No, it doesn't" mean that, she says. "The organic certification umbrella is covering it doesn't use chemicals. It's not covering, you know, the cows have been rotationally grazed."
There's no logo to look for on the pack either. So how do you know? "Education, these kind of conversations." Matilda's advice is "the best thing that you can really do is find a farmer and connect with them and buy directly from that farmer."
She named a few who deliver straight to your door, including Ethical Farmers in Dungog, The Food Farm on the Central Coast and Provenir in Victoria. She also mentioned Feather and Bone as a butcher that supports regenerative farming.
The Good Farm Shop meals
When Matilda and Scott got back from the farm, they couldn't find regenerative meat at their butcher or the supermarket, so they started The Good Farm Shop. Today it's a ready meals company built on "animal health, animal welfare, human health and land health."
"Every meal is made from scratch with organic and regenerative ingredients" by a team of 15 in their kitchen in Brookvale. Scott grew up in pubs, so they're "classic hearty, comforting meals" like shepherd's pie and lasagna. Even a cottage pie is made in two steps, the way you would at home. "It's home cooking."
The meals come frozen in compostable packaging, delivered in an insulated box. You thaw them in the fridge, and they last six months in the freezer. If you'd rather cook, Scott wrote The Good Farm Shop cookbook with Hachette. Matilda says she "literally put in two recipes. I am not the cook in our house", and that Scott's recipes are "very easy". You can order the meals at The Good Farm Shop.
Listen to the full episode
After Matilda left, Lee and I talked about microplastics in beauty products, and the plastic polymers I keep off my No List. You can listen to episode 22 on Spotify.
About the Author
Irene Falcone is the founder of Clean Nectarine and co-host of The Lee & Irene Show. She started her first clean beauty business in 2011 with $100 in her garage and grew it to $20m in four years. She has spent over 15 years reading the backs of beauty and wellness labels, is a Telstra Business Women's Awards winner and an EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist, and has been featured on A Current Affair, The Project, Sunrise, Channel Nine Mornings and Sky News.
About Irene · Instagram · Podcast
Leave a comment