By Doug Fletcher,Staff Writer

WALES – Shaded by a row of trees that separate the paddocks, cattle graze on what Roger Fortin calls his “wonderful grass.”

Perhaps a hundreds yards or so distant is the final destination for these heritage Devon-Black Angus bovines: the Little Alaska Farm Market.

Inside, on trays resting beneath spotless glass framed by stainless steel, are package after package of every imaginable cut of steak. Neighboring the rich red beef are pink hams – whole and sliced – bacon, pastrami and bologna, yellow cheeses, an assortment of Italian and breakfast sausages, and hot dogs.

Over the meat case stands an array of Maine-made sauces and condiments. Nearby is a cooler filled with more cheeses, flavored and unflavored unpasteurized milk, butter and eggs.

Another cooler is filled with a variety of frozen sausage, while yet another display stand features more Maine-made goodies – jams, jellies, honeys and the like.

A refrigerator holds specially produced dog and cat treats.

Through a window behind the meat case, Wendall Clemmer is busy cutting meat and then filling sausage casings.

He’s surrounded by new, gleaming meat-processing equipment, from knives and saws to grinders. To his side is a stainless steel door that leads to a stainless steel-lined cooler. In it are quarters of whole beef and sides of hogs, as well as larger sections of beef that are being aged before they’re butchered to order.

All natural

Linda Fortin is being the perfect hostess, joining her husband, Roger, as they explain the benefits of their 100 percent grass-fed beef, their heritage Tamworth hogs and their free-range chickens and turkeys.

They note things the animals don’t have, stuff that’s bad for people and avoided like the plague by health-food fanatics: Antibiotics. Growth hormones. Contaminants such as heavy metals.

Then they note the things the beef in particular do have: high levels of Omega 3 fatty acids and conjugated linoliec acids, stuff that’s good for people, stuff that’s coveted by health-food fans.

“When I was growing up,” Roger was saying, “it was taken for granted that we’d have fresh eggs, milk, beef.”

Now, while the meats and produce might be fresh, they’re also adulterated with growth hormones and antibiotics, and exposed to things such as pesticides, herbicides and other nasty things that could be kept in the garage or under a sink but not with the food.

The Fortins opened Little Alaska Farm Market in a new building built last year specifically for the retail operation. Now, says Roger, business is so good he’s hoping that they can keep up with it.

Until opening the farm store, the couple had sold their beef through Hardwick Beef, a Web-based business that also wholesales to health-food stores in Massachusetts and New York.

And the winner is …

Little Alaska’s beef made a name for itself a couple of years back when a cut of its filet mignon won a taste contest sponsored by Wine Spectator magazine.

The Wales farm’s beef beat some pretty famous names: Omaha Steaks, Niman Ranch, Allen Brothers and Lobel’s among them.

Unlike Omaha, for example, Little Alaska’s pricing is comparable with that charged by Shaw’s or Hannaford for certified choice cuts of Black Angus steaks.

Now, the all natural meat is sold nearly exclusively through the Little Alaska Farm Store, with only its excess going to Hardwick.

Soon, the Fortins think their business might be at the point where there is no surplus to sell elsewhere.

For years, the couple were dairy farmers. It was a tough way to make a living.

“I didn’t want to quit farming,” said Roger, but eventually “dairy farming quit us.”

He and Linda discussed their options, considered their assets, then decided that beef farming to use the high-quality grass available on their farm was the way to go.

“I knew we’d need a niche, though,” Roger said, and they focused on all natural foods. Keeping their beef grass-fed, instead of topping it off with grain as is typical of most industrial farms, was a key to filling the niche.

Now, the couple notes with just a bit of pride, people drive to the market off Leeds Junction Road from all over the place. Sometimes customers will special-order enough to fill a couple of coolers. Most of the time, people come in a pick up a week or two’s worth of meats, eggs and cheeses.

The store at 170 Leeds Junction Road is open 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday; and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. For further information, people can call (207) 933-3300 or go online to the farm’s Web site, www.greatfallspro.com/beef. The Web site includes a map to the farm.