Where do you get your meat/chicken?

[nukuspot]

I have a really good egg source (my backyard flock) and DH is a salmon fisherman. But I don't have a good local source of grass fed organic meat or good chicken. Our local farmer's market is closed during this time of year, and in the summer it does have a stand selling what they say is GF/organic meat/chicken but I've had some bad quality issues with them in the past, and I also heard that they are making false organic claims, and have had the USDA called on them. Which must have happened because now it no longer says "Organic" on their sign. Anyway, they skeeve me out but there is no other source. I have some organic poultry farmer friends and they do periodic chicken slaughter and so we have gotten some good hens from them in the past, but there is no on-going source, and especially not a good meat source.

What do you all do if there is no local source for your meats? I have resorted to buying organic "smart chicken" from the co-op but there is really no even close meat alternative to what I want. I can find organic meat but not grass fed. Our local co-op is very vegan/veggie centered and thus doesn't have a good meat selection...I can getground bison there (frozen), and I have heard that all buffalo/bison is grass fed. But is that true?

[kl5]

We buy directly from local farms a couple of times a year and fill our freezers with pork, beef, lamb, and chickens. That is the only way we know to have a consistent year-round supply of pastured meats. Plus, it is more fun to buy whole (or portions thereof) animals and be forced to come up with the methods and recipes to use the bits you might not ordinarily buy from the local market. Our first resource for finding farmers was Eatwild.com, but once you start talking to farmers, more and more sources will become available to you. For now, you might consider contacting a few of the farmers on the website and see if any of them do drop-offs during the winter months somewhere near you. A few do in our area, and that is a good way to get smaller portions if you do not have big deep freeze to store your goodies.

[barefootmommy]

We also buy straight from local farms, but we're lucky to live near the heart of organic agriculture in Canada so it's easy to source food. Hope you find something that works for you! I know there are farms and ranches that will mail or deliver frozen grass-fed beef, could that be an option for you maybe?

[mamadelbosque]

We too buy meat in bulk throughout the year. And we hunt deer. We buy goats from some friends, lamb from our neighbors, & chickens from the folks I have my dairy herd share with. I also occasionallly get ground beef from them, though we don't eat much beef really - probably a good 60-70% of the red meat we eat is venison (for reference, DH, my dad & grandpa all hunt and we usually get 2-3 deer a year, which we process ourselves...). The thing is though, you really do need to have at least one or two nice big freezers so that you can buy in bulk. Otherwise you will be buying from big companies with lots of different suppliers. Some of them are better than others (I do occasionally buy Organic Prairie, Applegate Farms, Niman's Ranch & Shelton's meats), but none are ideal, really, IMO.

[aztraea]

I'm having a hard time with this as well. I've had no trouble finding beef or pork or eggs, but I can't find chicken meat anywhere local. I've been on all the online sources, asked everyone I can think of, and googled random phrases - all to no avail. My closest source appears to be five hours away... I've looked into ordering from online sources like united buying club, but haven't done much other than balk at the prices Anyhow, good luck!

[kjbrown92]

paidom meats is online, TX, but I live in CT and they ship. It's very good, and they're really nice people. The grass-fed beef I've tried locally is very gamey, tough and expensive, so I've gone farther afield.

[tinuviel_k]

May I ask what area of Washington you live in? I am in Olympia and I have some wonderful sources for meat and chicken. If you are nearby I'd be happy to email you some info on some of the local farms I've found.

[CrunchyChristianMama]

If you have an Azure dropsite near you ( www.azurestandard.com ) I believe they sell grass-fed/pastured meats.

We have several local farms that we get ours through. We get our whole chickens from our raw milk and egg farmer and beef and pork from a few different sources.

[pixiepunk]

Originally Posted by tinuviel_k

May I ask what area of Washington you live in? I am in Olympia and I have some wonderful sources for meat and chicken. If you are nearby I'd be happy to email you some info on some of the local farms I've found.

if this mama isn't nearby to you, i wanted to suggest maybe posting in your Tribal Area - there might be someone who has a good local(ish) connection for you that doesn't regularly check the TF forum.

[almadianna]

We use paidom as well, we are in texas. I love their meat and Alan is really a great guy.

[nukuspot]

tinuviel_k---I'm in Olympia too! I just found a good source (I think) for organic grass fed beef in Chehalis/Centralia area. I am going in on the next animal they butcher. But I would also love your input and ideas. Please PM me. We just ordered a drop in deep freezer so I will have room for lots of stuff....

[nukuspot]

PS...Thanks to kl5 for the eatwild recommendation, that's where I found the grass fed beef farm!