Why Do People Eat Local Meat?

There are lots of reasons that people eat local meat. They are all valid.

Some folks don’t want to eat meat that’s been raised on a CAFO. These are not traditional farms. CAFO stands for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation.  This is not your picture-book-Old-MacDonald-type of place. It’s lots of livestock on a relatively small piece of land. Often these are entirely indoors. No fresh air and sunshine. No green grass.

Many people are concerned about what the animals are eating. They might be bothered by the antibiotics that are in animal feed. Scientists have found that farm animals that are fed a constant low level of antibiotic in their feed will grow more quickly and efficiently. So, big operators feed antibiotics to animals whether they are sick or not. Folks are also concerned about the use of hormones in animals and what that does to our children’s growth. There is also an issue surrounding feeding livestock animal by-products.

Maybe it’s the processing plant stories we read in the newspapers. The issue of E. Coli  and the massive recalls of millions of pounds of meat from  single processors.

Around the early1900s our meat was butchered in filthy, unregulated plants by huge Beef Trust operators. The workers were poor immigrants who had no choice to work difficult and horribly dangerous jobs to feed their families on tiny paychecks. Then came clean food regulations, trust-buster legislation and labor unions all of which made  packinghouse work a good job.  Not an easy job by any means – but one which brought home a good wage to raise a family.  Sadly, this is no longer the case in corporate meat.   

  Or maybe you want to stick it to The Man and strike out at a food system in which 4 companies control 83% our nation’s beef supply.  

Maybe you like the idea of knowing where your food came from and take comfort in knowing that out of every load of animals we bring to be processed  - some of that meat will go directly into our personal freezer. And it’s the meat I’ll be cooking and feeding to my husband, Shannon and kids – Taylor (age 16), Jack (age 14) and Maggie (age 12).

Maybe you like the idea of knowing that you shopped locally and so do we. Our family  makes a big effort to patronize local establishments and avoid big box and chain stores. We’re not perfect, but we do try.

Maybe you don’t care about any of that stuff and you just want to eat tasty clean meat that tastes like the food Grandma cooked on the farm.  Most customers say it’s just like they remember meat used to taste.

Lots of people like the idea of buying a 1/2 a pig, and a ¼ of beef and a bunch of chickens and filling a nice big chest freezer. There’s a really special feeling that goes with having many months worth of a meat paid for, stacked, and neatly labeled in a full freezer.

All of these are fine reasons for eating locally.  Most people will point to one of two of them as their main reasons for finding a farmer and buying directly from them. Maybe you have reasons I haven’t listed. I’d sure be interested in hearing your thoughts and comments. You can either comment publicly below or click Contact Us and send me a private email with your feedback.