Update: We still have a share of beef available. The beef is currently at the butcher shop and ready to go very soon, maybe this week.
We have three head of cattle in the freezer. These were mature cows who have not been successful mothers. They were belly-deep in lush organic pasture. Pretty darn contented cows. No corn, no soybeans, no foot-deep muck. Fresh paddock daily. A complete herd, multiple generations. Ask to meet the meat, they have a comfort zone of 5-10 feet with strangers. It is strangely soothing to stand in the midst of 16 cattle grazing or chewing their cud. Ramadam, our ram, will likely let you scratch his head, especially if you have treats.
We sell shares of animals. We don’t sell meat by the pound. You need to be a partner. This is Community Supported Agriculture, CSA, with critters. The best way to get food if you can’t raise your own is to become a partner with a farmer and eliminate the supply chain.
To sell by the pound, the animal has to be killed and processed at a USDA-inspected facility. This is not a bad idea, considering the industrial meat industry’s historical record.
Unfortunately, loading a cow up, taking her away from the herd, and driving for hours to end up in a strange place is very frightening. Stress hormones, fear, and anxiety are not the best ways to get food.
We harvest/slaughter them on the farm. We encourage our customers to observe. I was raised with the ethic that if you can’t butcher it, you shouldn’t eat it. (Although there are several vegetarians and vegans in my family, our choice is to avoid meat raised in feed lots and CAFOs.) They die by instant brain death while standing amongst the herd. No fear. We strive for an ethical, humane harvest for all of our food: cattle, sheep, lettuce, grapes . . .
After the initial processing, the carcass goes to a local butcher shop. After some aging, it is turned into white, frozen packages. We compost the bits that are left here on the farm. A molecule of moo in every glass?
A share results in about 100 lbs in the freezer, roughly $6/lb. That’s an estimate, not a guarantee. If you came on slaughter day, there could have been an extra 100 lbs of bits that don’t go to the butcher shop: liver and other organ meats, tongue, cheek, oxtail, cow hides, . . . This is nothing like the estrogen-dosed 16-month-old steers that end up in the grocery store.
This is beef that is usually higher in Omega 3 than farm-raised salmon. They eat live green vegetation, no corn, no soy, no GMOs, no glyphosate. When I cook our beef, I don’t use any seasoning. It already has lots of flavor. If you’ve only had corporate agribusiness beef, that’s like Gallo jug wine, not bad at all, just not special.
On our beef, no salt, no pepper, I don’t own “steak sauce.” When I make a hamburger, the only condiment allowed is the Bleu Cheese Dip for the Adult Cheeseburger. No catsup, no relish, no pickle, no onion . . . you can’t have your way with my beef in my kitchen!
The typical refrigerator freezer has room for a share with a bit of space left over. If yours is like ours, most space is taken up with stuff past its prime or unworthy of that space. A share takes up one shelf in our standard upright freezer.
Give me a call, I can provide references of returning customers.
509-388-1153
