Krista Grant did not always pay close attention to the food she ate.

That changed when the Arlington woman, then pregnant with her first child, watched Food Inc., the 2008 documentary that examined the country's corporate food and farming industries.

The film opened hereyes and dramatically changed how herfamily ate. Grant and her husband, Micah, now run Farm to Fork Foods, a fast-growing meat and seafood co-op in Arlington that draws hundreds of clients from across North Texas.

";We want to be healthy for ourselves, each other and our children,' Grant said. ";And that starts with the food we put in our body.'

The idea for the co-op came when Grant began looking for local, grass-fed and pasture-raised meats but found few affordable options.

So she and a couple of friends decided to order grass-fed beef from a Texas ranch in bulk to save money. Next, they placed a bulk order for pasture-raised chicken from a local farm.

A fisherman in Alaska then said he would ship salmon if they could order at least 1,000 pounds, so Grant and her friends began recruiting others.

In January, the couple officially launched Farm to Fork as a business and moved from their home garage to a location on West Mayfield Road in central Arlington.

Krista Grant did not always pay close attention to the food she ate.

That changed when the Arlington woman, then pregnant with her first child, watched Food Inc., the 2008 documentary that examined the country’s corporate food and farming industries.

The film opened hereyes and dramatically changed how herfamily ate. Grant and her husband, Micah, now run Farm to Fork Foods, a fast-growing meat and seafood co-op in Arlington that draws hundreds of clients from across North Texas.

“We want to be healthy for ourselves, each other and our children,” Grant said. “And that starts with the food we put in our body.”

The idea for the co-op came when Grant began looking for local, grass-fed and pasture-raised meats but found few affordable options.

So she and a couple of friends decided to order grass-fed beef from a Texas ranch in bulk to save money. Next, they placed a bulk order for pasture-raised chicken from a local farm.

A fisherman in Alaska then said he would ship salmon if they could order at least 1,000 pounds, so Grant and her friends began recruiting others.

In January, the couple officially launched Farm to Fork as a business and moved from their home garage to a location on West Mayfield Road in central Arlington.

Nearly 600 families now receive e-mails from Farm to Fork, and the company has more than 1,300 Facebook followers.

“We never expected this to grow so much so fast,” said Grant, who now has a 3-year-old and 1.5 year old. “We were definitely surprised.”

Customers can order Texas-produced bison, pork, chicken, honey, Longhorn and Angus cattle, and Alaskan-caught salmon, halibut and crab.

Farmers and producers must meet certain standards. For example, beef must be grass-fed and grass-finished, meaning it is not fed grain or given hormones or antibiotics. Chickens are always raised on pastures.

In addition to the Arlington location, customers can pick up in Fort Worth, Allen and Dallas. No membership fees are required, which helps keep costs down for families.

Anna Chapa, an Arlington mother of two, joined the co-op last year as a way to improve her family’s health. They had already cut out processed foods and were eating more fruits and vegetables.

Chapa now orders nearly all of her family’s meat from Farm to Fork, and the co-op has even turned her into a salmon lover, which she never fathomed.

“When we had kids, it was like a wake-up call,” said Chapa, adding that diabetes and heart disease runs in hers and her husband’s families. “We knew we needed to make some changes, and we did.”

Lauren Wirth, of Arlington, joined the co-op after researching meat options and costs in the area. She wanted to provide her son, almost 1, with the best food possible on a budget.

“Farm to Fork has made healthy, fresh meat accessible and affordable,” Wirth said.

For more information, go to http://arlingtonmeatcoop.blogspot.com