Well-Loved Meat

“I come back to the same decision each time: I am part of nature, not above it. I choose to be within the food chain, not to stand outside of it. I think nature has given me a pretty good path to follow, just like it gave all the other creatures a path to follow to survive.” - Katherine Dunn

Over the last month and a half, we have taken 8 animals to the butcher and supplied beef to 19 customers! Once or twice per year, we align all of our butcher dates and have a flurry of activity as we get thousands of pounds of beef to people’s freezers. As a small startup farm, we have started by selling “freezer beef” that comes in quarters, halves, or wholes so that all parts of the animal are purchased and we can move large quantities at once. This enables us to sell meat without commercial freezer space. As we consider ways to expand, we are looking to increase our freezer storage and to sell smaller bundles of meat. We hope this will allow customers who don’t have chest freezers or who want a smaller amount of meat to access our products. Stay tuned for when we start offering $100-$200 beef bundles!

I’ve been thinking about the dozens of labels used to define food — organic, natural, non-GMO, free range, grass-fed, sustainable, pasture-raised, certified humane, etc. While these terms can often be confusing (sometimes intentionally so), they attempt to tell a consumer how a product was raised. And as I’ve often said, I wish people focused less on what they should eat and more on how their food is raised. This is why the phrase that I feel best describes our products is “well-loved meat.” Because this phrase takes care of all the others.

An animal that is well-loved has access to fresh water and shade. A steer that is well-loved gets to eat what he has evolved to eat — grass. A cow that is well-loved is humanely handled in safe and stress-free facilities. An animal that is well-loved lives in a chemical-free environment on green pastures with room to roam.

To some, the thought of loving an animal raised for meat is unsettling. But as a consumer, I settle for no less. I want my food to have lived an easy, content, well cared for life. As I wrote about in the From Birth to Butcher newsletter, the experience of bringing animals to the butcher is an emotional one. As it should be. I believe that to eat meat, I must recognize the life given to sustain me. To consume conscientiously, I must ensure that it was a life well-loved.

Below is a poem I wrote after returning from the butcher earlier in October…

Tender

My heart
expecting what this day
will deliver.

The steer
beneath my hand
cautious of the bright light to which
I deliver him.

Today,
its everyday
holiness.

We sip dark coffee
in the barn
on this last crisp morning
when we’ll greet these animals.

There are rituals to be had.
A certain clank of the steel trailer door must ring
out against the murky hills,
our hushed voices must usher these three
brown-eyed beeves out of their pens,
a swift movement of hands is needed
to ensure a smooth passage.

Once they are loaded
we drive the hour to the butcher
to repeat the ritual in reverse.
Walk beside the cattle as they
approach their final hours,
make sure they have fresh bedding,
clean water,
a soft place to lie down.

The ride home is quiet.

Mustn’t I love who sustains me?

What I’m reading…

Love Medicine | Book by Louise Erdrich | Set on and around a North Dakota Ojibwe reservation, Love Medicine is the epic story about the intertwined fates of two families: the Kashpaws and the Lamartines.

What I’m listening to…

My Winter playlist has been keeping me company on these dark days.

I recently re-learned about the Danish word “hygge” which has no exact translation but loosely means “cosiness and surrounding yourself with the things that make life good, like friendship, laughter and security, as well as more concrete things like warmth, light, seasonal food and drink.” These songs have been bringing me hygge. I hope you’re finding some hygge in your days too.