Boer & Natuur

Boer & Natuur is a neighbourhood shop at Bankastraat 78G in the Archipelbuurt of Den Haag that sells grass-fed beef from Zorg & Natuur, a care farm and online butcher whose own cattle graze in Dutch nature reserves.

The beef comes from Zorg & Natuur's own Black Angus, Scottish Highland and Limousin cattle, which according to the supplier's website graze freely in various Dutch nature reserves in cooperation with Staatsbosbeheer and are fed entirely on grass. The meat is sold without artificial additives. Zorg & Natuur also sells heath lamb (heideschaap), chicken, pork and game, but we could not confirm which of these reach the shop, so only the beef is credited here. The shop also stocks vegetables and fruit, dairy, cheese and eggs from suppliers it doesn't name, so those we haven't judged. Zorg & Natuur holds no organic certificate; what qualifies its beef here is the grazing itself, the herds living year-round in nature reserves on grass alone, which is more than the organic label asks for.

The shop is open all year, Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 18:00 and Saturdays from 9:00 to 17:00, and it doubles as a pickup point for orders placed in the Zorg & Natuur webshop, which otherwise sends its meat frozen from stock within two working days.

The cattle live in natural social herds, either suckler cows with their calves led by one bull or groups made up only of bulls, and every calf born there grows up with its mother.