Stocking the Freezer

Yesterday was an important day for us.  I drove to the butcher to pick up our side of beef!  It was a lovely 45 minute drive through some beautiful countryside and I enjoyed every minute of it.  I packed up the meat into coolers and boxes and drove it immediately home to stock our pre-chilled empty freezer. What a great feeling that is to have a nice stockpile of grass fed beef!

We were fortunate enough to see our beef cow grazing happily on the farm for 4 weeks before it was butchered.  Although I won't share photos here, I do have photos of the butchering process that prove the internal health of the animal (taken by our farmer friends who were present at butcher time).  It may seem a bit macabre to speak of this, but if you eat meat as we do, the butchering process is an unavoidable part of putting meat on your table.  If you buy meat from the store, you are detached from the process and probably don't think about butchering at all.  In fact, many of the people I talk to have no idea where their meat comes from.  The most they know is the name of the store where the package was purchased.

If you buy meat like we now do, you are involved the butchering process.  I LIKE knowing where and how the animal was raised, what it was fed and how the animal spent it's days.  I want to know who cared for the animal, how and under what conditions it was slaughtered and ultimately who prepared the meat for us.  When you support local farmers you are not "just" supporting local producers, you are also directing money (and therefore your support) away from the commercial, mass produced, faceless way of doing things.  Standing up for what you believe to be better is essentially voting with your dollar.  

Another wonderful benefit to buying locally produced food (directly from the producers) is the friends you'll make!   It's fantastic to personally connect with other people who are passionate about healthy local food and you'll get referrals for all sorts of other producers in your area.  Networking and referrals are hugely important in sourcing and promoting these local producers.

If you eat meat, I encourage you to look into supporting local producers in your area.   eatwild.com is a great place to start looking for local producers if you don't know any in your area.