​T-N-T Market’s story begins over 100 years ago in Anderson, Tx, where the Grupa family settled and started a family. They farmed thousands of acres on which they transported their herds of cattle.

Ben Grupa, born in 1925, grew up on the family farm in Anderson; a real cowboy driving cattle to market on horseback.
​After serving in the US Navy, Ben returned home and worked all day, seven days a week working and tending cattle. Eventually sharing his knowledge with his bright-eyed grandson, owner and founder of T-N-T, Travis Pavlock. A little boy living his best life on the knee of his Grandpa, learning the family business.
“I remember him as a cowboy – he always wore blue and white striped overalls, thin long-sleeved shirt, straw cowboy hat and not to mention the dip in his cheek. I can still picture riding on his lap on his 444 International Tractor pulling a New Holland square baler.”
Travis worked with his grandfather every weekend from age 5 to 18 - processing beef and pork and taking cows to auction. “I thought this was what all kids were doing on a Friday night, I was so excited to have that time with him.”
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Ben passed away in May of 2007, leaving behind a legacy that Travis and his family are compelled to continue. 
“This is in my blood. I am driven by the memory of my Grandpa to provide all-natural, high quality meat you can't beat."

T-N-T has plans for a store front very soon, but we are at the Grogan's Mill Farmers' Market every Saturday (weather permitting) from 9 am to 1 pm. Look for our "Meat Market" flag. Of course, you can always order online and have your meat delivered. 

Do you eat beef? Probably. Do you know what it takes to get good beef? Maybe not. Meat connoisseurs will most likely know the basics of raising cattle and how diet and living conditions affect the final product. For everyone else, the lines get blurred with words like “organic”, “all-natural”, “grass-fed”, or grain-fed." Isn’t organic the same as all-natural? Why does it matter what the cow eats? 

Grass-fed vs. Grain-fed
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The way cows are fed can have a major effect on the nutrient composition of the beef. You are what you eat, right? This applies to cows too. 

Grain fed means the cows are fed a high fat grain based diet made from corn or soy. The cattle are typically kept in over crowded, stressful environments. The result is a less nutritious and more fatty meat.

Grass-fed means the cows have had grass in their diet. But it goes a little deeper than that.. Grass fed can  mean that the cow was fed grass for the majority of their life, then finished off with a high fat grain diet before slaughter. So if you want to be sure you’re getting 100% grass fed beef, look for “grass fed, grass finished” on the label. Grass fed cattle contains less calories, healthier fat content, five times as much omega-3s, and is packed with higher concentrations of other vitamins and antioxidants. 

So what makes beef organic or all-natural?
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​The terms are commonly used interchangeably. There is actually a pretty significant difference between the two. 

All-natural beef can’t contain any artificial ingredients, flavorings, coloring, chemical preservative or any other synthetic or artificial ingredient. The product and its ingredients are not more than minimally processed. The animal is not given any antibiotics unless medically necessary, and must complete a withdrawal period before going to slaughter. 

With much more stringent standards, “organic" beef refers mostly to the things you CANNOT do while raising cattle. The restrictions are kind of overwhelming as there is a lot of them. Here’s an article from the USDA explaining in more detail. 


When buying from your local grocery store, read labels carefully, wording is important. 
When you purchase from T-N-T Market, you can be assured our beef is all-natural 100% grass-fed/finished and raised humanely. All of our beef is raised locally and is always fresh.

Find our booth at the Grogan’s Mill Farmers Market every Saturday from 9am to 1pm