Meatshare

MeatshareWhole animal buying for local, sustainable, pastured meat

Why Meatshare? Knowing too much about the industrial system! If I’m going to eat meat, I want meat from healthy happy animals But going to the organic butcher shop or the farmer’s market = serious sticker shock! Buying in bulk is ALWAYS cheaper

The Whole Animal Advantage Cheaper Ensure you get the best quality meat Cooking adventure! A way to make friends with farmers and people you are sharing with

Who to share with? Small  Big  Roommates  Internet meetup groups  Family  Gym/dojo  Friends  Church  Social circle

Finding Sharers Social Networking  Facebook  Twitter  Google Plus Meetup.com

The Trump Card: Chest Freezer A chest freezer is the best way to buy in bulk and store your meat 5 CU chest freezer from home depot for less than $200 Very energy efficient, can cost less than $25 a year Stores ½ pig or a whole lamb/goat + fish +vegetables Foldable cooler is also a good idea

Meat share is for people who Eat special diets (like Paleo or Primal) Place a high priority on saving money Like to cook Don’t mind trying new things Willing to take small risks Have some freezer space for at LEAST 10 lbs meat

Meatshares are NOT for people who Want a precise amount of meat Want or don’t want certain cuts Aren’t willing to take on a little bit of gambling (less meat than you want, cuts you might not like) in order to save money Direct these people to a butcher like Dickson’s Farmstand Meats, The Meat Hook, or Fleischers

Finding Farms Localharvest.org Word of mouth Setting up a Meetup group Google

Poultry Are they truly free-range? No such thing as a grass-fed bird, all birds need some supplemental feed Might ask about the quality of supplemental feed. Some farms doing soy-free birds One bird per person usually, with a bulk discount, so don’t save that much money, but worth it for higher quality meat such as heritage turkeys and chicken

Goats/Lamb Most popular meat in the world, underrated in the US Variable taste based on pasture Depends on breed, but usually pretty small from 15-65 lbs Small very young goat or lamb (15-20 lbs) can fit in a normal freezer Definitely recommended

Swine Taste and fat % vary heavily by breed, so ask the farmer what to expect- Mangalitsa = very fatty, Duroc= pretty lean for example….how much lard do you want? No such thing as grass-fed pig, pigs need supplemental feed What is the supplemental feed? Should be pastured on grass though so they can eat at least some grass Lots of butchery options…sausage, bacon, et c.

Large Ruminants like Cattle 100% pastured always preferred 100% grass-fed usually preferred, but if you want fattier meat, some supplemental grain is OK, but make sure to ask about the quality You’ll get TONS of ground beef Might be worth sharing a share like a quarter if you don’t have many people, but will buy more per lb for it

Other animals “wild” game Rabbits Ostrich

How to buy? By animal  Flat rate per animal regardless of weight By live weight  The weight of the live animal  Final yield can be 25-60% of live weight By hanging weight  The weight of the WHOLE carcass after slaughter but before being cut  Some risk as final yield can be 50% to 97% of hanging weight By final weight  The weight of all the butchered cuts added together

Butchering Butchering probably done by a professional butcher Each butcher is different Might have to talk on the phone with the butcher to determine what products you want the animal turned into For example: Ground meat or sausage? Smoked or fresh ham? How thick do you want the chops? Recipes for cured meats and sausages? How will it be packaged? Paper or plastic? Fresh meat = impractical

Regulations USDA Slaughterhouse= sell anywhere in the US State-inspected slaughterhouse = can only be sold in the state it was slaughtered Some exemptions allow for on-farm processing, most of them are for poultry DIY slaughter if you buy the animal by live weight??

Advanced Meatshare Ideas Buy whole carcass and do butchery demonstration/supper club Rent commercial kitchen and make your own sausage and other chauceuterie Hunting club

Buying checklist What am I paying for?  Final weight? Live weight? Hanging weight? Are fees and taxes included? How will the meat be packaged How will I get the meat? Pickup? Or delivered? We prefer all-inclusive final weight pricing

How to split What products are variable and what are predictable? For example: lamb has only two legs, but unknown amount of ground lamb Fewer shares= easier for us, members can use message board to share a share We set a MAX amount and charge for that, then we give a refund if the amount in the share is less Flat rate per lb, but we try to equally distribute the most premium predictable products among shares Each comes in a thermal pig with a weight label

Other split models Randomly, flat-rate First come, first serve When you have a random model, it’s best for one person to distribute things “randomly” before the shares are picked up = handling meat too much will mess up vaccuum packaging

Easy Meatshare: Goat with Roommates Reserved a goat from Glynwood farm Talked with roommates about splitting it since we have a chest freezer Drove up there and picked it up Split it 50/50 by labeling with Sharpie – there were a few parts there were only one of like the liver and kidneys, so we each took half of those

Spring Lake Farm 1/8th Pig What items are premium and predictable?  Spare ribs, fresh ham butt, etc. What items are variable?  Bacon, sausage, chops, just divide as equally as possible Basic share  2 Premium predictable items (you can let people pre-pick these or just pick randomly)  1/8th the sausage, bacon, and chops  Distribute the one-off items (liver) randomly Picked up in individual labeled and pre-weighed thermal bag

Gym Meatshare Gym invested in 25 CU chest freezer and a scale, financed by charging a meat club joining fee Bought half a cow online at $4 a lb to split among twenty members = 400 lbs 265 1 lb packages ground beef split and 40 packs stew meat evenly Random 5 premium cuts per share (steak, filet) Farmer dropped off and organizer (gym owner) put in freezer When member picked up, organizer weighed and filled their cooler with their share, then refunded deposit

Bad Example: First share I did 10 people to one lamb, even though one lamb was 50 lbs hanging weight Didn’t research any cuts Cuts weren’t pre-weighed Went to farm and got a back of un-weighed cuts Had to weigh them and randomly distribute them Stressful, people didn’t get hardly meat

What is hard? MATH Coordinating with people Collecting deposits and payments Planning how to divide the share and dividing it into packages if the farmer doesn’t do that Transportation Coordinating pickup and dealing with money/people during pickup The organizer may want to charge a commission or organizing fee I use Google Docs frequently

The perfect farmer Willing to let organizer visit Delivers Willing to split, weight, and label shares for you before delivery All-inclusive pricing, no dealing with butcher fees, taxes, etc.

The Fun Part: Eating Cooking nose to tail Learning how to braise!! Meat keeps for up to a year or more with a good vaccuum seal, a few months in paper

Some farms to work with http://healthymeat.org/ Email kkleinpeter@glynwood.org and ask to be on meat mailing list

http://huntgatherlove.com	3314
http://www.huntgatherlove.com	266
http://www.newsblur.com	3
http://iprism	3
http://translate.googleusercontent.com	2
http://a0.twimg.com	1

Meatshare

by Melissa McEwen on Oct 26, 2011

Accessibility

Categories

Upload Details

Usage Rights

6 Embeds 3,589

Statistics

Meatshare — Presentation Transcript