'Pro-American' husband and wife become farmers, reveal how their product aligns with healthy living goals

Fox News

07-04-2025

Dana and Lauren Cavalea were living in Florida in 2020 when they were visiting family on Long Island, New York, and decided to buy a farm on a whim.
The husband and wife told Fox News Digital that the venture was their "little COVID experiment." (See the video at the top of this article.)
"The property was somewhat majestic. It was 180 acres, never seen a parcel of land that big. The current owners took us for a beautiful tour and basically sold us on the property," said Dana Cavalea.
Flash forward to the present day — and the Cavaleas are now running Freedom Farms in Greene, in upstate New York. They've been doing so for five years.
The farm produces MRNA vaccine-free, grass-fed, grass-finished prime beef with no added hormones.
"We're pro-American. We're very patriotic. We want to bring farm-raised meats to Americans nationwide," said Dana Cavalea.
He added that amid today's Make America Healthy Again movement, they have seen an influx of new customers.
"A lot of people are concerned about that today, and they want to get back to the land and get back to finding out where their food comes from," said Dana Cavalea.
The couple said that ever since they've been producing their own meat, they can see the difference in quality.
"The color was different. The flavor was different. The taste profile was different. And then we said, 'Well, what have we been eating all of these years?'" said husband Dana Cavalea.
He also told Fox News Digital, "If we start eating off the land and we start raising our own food, how good can we feel? And the answer is, you can feel pretty good."
Freedom Farms has chickens, pigs and 180 heads of cattle, and also partners with like-minded farmers who are also "pro-America," said wife Lauren Cavalea.
The Cavaleas share that they are optimistic about the conversations HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and USDA Secretary Brooke L. Rollins have been having.
"I think less regulation is always a good thing," said Dana Cavalea.
"When we first started, we were told that the waiting list was over a year to get into a USDA slaughterhouse — and that became an issue," he said.
They went to find custom butchers, but since they were not under USDA guidelines, they could only sell in the state of New York.
"We were sort of forced into the USDA model," he said.
"I think lifting some of the regulations and allowing farmers to farm in a more natural way would be a great thing."
Various fast-food chains and restaurants have begun swapping out seed oils for beef tallow, heeding the call of MAHA advocates to ditch seed oils from cooking and from diets.
"If we start eating off the land and we start raising our own food, how good can we feel? The answer is, you can feel pretty good."
"I see a lot of attention to seed oils today. If you really just look at them, think about them, study them, they can't be good for you," said Dana Cavalea.
"When you look at the raw material of tallow, which is suet, which comes from the fat that surrounds the cow's kidney, it's literally a white block of fat that you could render down and turn into a very clean oil," he said.
Lauren Cavalea said the farm just "can't keep it in stock."
"People are wanting to go back to using lard and tallow in order to have the mental security [to know what] they're cooking with," said Lauren Cavalea, "with very clean and natural byproducts."
She said she and her husband have not had the opportunity yet themselves to try cooking with tallow, as it sells out.
"It's like the barber that needs a haircut all the time," she joked.
Toward the end of each year, the farm hosts "Freedom Fest," where it welcomes members of the community to gather for a day of free activities.
This year's gathering is taking place on Sept. 14. It will feature a pig roast, BBQ, live music, rides and games.