How To Buy Meat Direct From A Farm

So you eat meat, and you want to get it from a farm you know and trust. Don’t we all! If you are considering buying meat direct from a local farmer for the first time, you may have some questions and uncertainties.

在我成长的过程中，我的父母从西夫韦(Safeway)和其他杂货连锁店购买肉类。大多数时候有肉吃，一天至少两次。我们吃了很多鸡肉，一些瘦牛肉和猪肉。我从没见过那些活着的动物。2022欧洲杯葡萄牙vs德国我知道肉类行业的动物福利存在伦理问题，但我尽量不去想它。

随着我对当地食物和农业文化的了解越来越深，我开始吃我认识的人养的肉。我吃我遇到的2022欧洲杯葡萄牙vs德国动物，我喜欢它，因为我知道它们过着健康、快乐的生活。That is a gift that many people do not have in their lives, but luckily, with the local food movement growing yearly,ethical meat比以往更容易接近。

I want to clear up your worries, answer some questions, and help you transition towards eating farm-raised meat. My partner and I run apig farm, selling primarily at farmer’s markets, so I have strong feelings and a lot of insight about local meat.

Buying by the Share Versus the Cut

In the grocery store, all the meat you can buy is sold “by the cut,” that is, butchered into individual portions of animal, like rib steaks and tenderloin. When you are buying meat directly from a farmer, you may have the option to buy meat “by the share” instead.

A meat share means buying a whole, half, or quarter animal all at once. A butcher will cut your share any way you would like, so that you still end up with country style ribs and bacon, but those cuts are not resellable. All that meat is yours, so you’d better have the freezer space!

Benefits Of Buying Meat By The Share

按份额购买肉类有一些很大的优势。It is almost always cheaper per pound to buy a share than the same meat by the cut, even though it is a large one-time purchase.

Also, all the expense is upfront, easy to budget for and you know exactly how much money you will be spending. (Around a thousand dollars for a whole pig, closer to two thousand for a whole cow, in case you were wondering.)

Challenges Of Buying Meat By The Share

One of the challenges of buying meat by the share is that you will end up with some parts of the animal that you might not choose to buy, like trotters, liver, and tongue. This varies widely depending on your butcher.

Ask the farmer to put you in touch with their butcher if you have questions about what they include in their shares, and what they scrap. Maybe this is an opportunity to develop a taste for more unusual cuts of meat!

Another problem for many people is the sheer quantity of meat. Hogs are sold by the half and whole, and a whole pig is around 160 lbs. worth of cut meat. Beef, available by the whole, half, or quarter share, weighs out at around 500 lbs. of meat per animal. That’s a lot of food, although consider that the average American eats more than 200 lbs. of meat per year.

Related Post:Biodynamic Farming: What It Is and Why Do It

Many families buy a meat share with another household, or even two or three. Then everyone shares the benefits of reduced cost and high-quality meat, without the hassle of storing almost 500 lbs. of cow.

In some states, including Washington, the licensing for selling meat by the share is different than by the cut. All cut meat, everywhere in the country, has to becertified by the USDA. Meat by the share, on the other hand, is sometimes regulated only by the state—so it’s less expensive.

Some farms only sell meat by the share, and many farms do both kinds of orders.

Trusting the Quality of Meat

It’s easy to assume that just because a farm is small and local, it must have good practices for animal welfare and sustainability. Let’s be honest,that’s not necessarily true.虽然我们都站在小农户一边，但认为规模或地点是质量的保证是愚蠢的。

The key difference, however, between buying from local farms, as opposed to the industry, is that you can talk directly to a local farmer.

工业化农场和工业化食品体系依靠广告、形象和认证来证明其产品的质量和安全。这些标签可能会误导人。

肉类行业故意混淆和误导消费者。Claims like “pastured” and “natural”are not evaluated by the FDA and are not binding. Anyone can put them on a product and meat with these labels is not any different than unlabelled meat.

Certifications like “organic”are closely regulated by the government, but many people do not realize that even “organic” producers may use toxic organic-approved pesticides likecopper sulfate, and that third-party certifications are only as reliable as the group that issues them.

You should only buy meat from an operation that highly values animal welfare, pastures their animals whenever possible, and gives them high-quality feed. Some big farms do this—but how can you know for sure? The best thing about buying from a local farms is that you can get to know your farmer, visit their farm, and see for yourself.

How To Meet A Farmer

Farmers are a notoriously reclusive and shy breed, but if you take a pair of binoculars to your local farmer’s market, you are sure to spot one or two.

If you don’t have a local market, or if your market doesn’t have a meat farmer, you might have to do more sleuthing. Ask one of the veggie farmers, or any kind of farmer you can get your hands on—the community is small. Or call yourlocal extension office—they work with local farms and will know who sells meat commercially.

当其他方法都失败时，试试互联网。新的在线平台，如CrowdCowandBarn2Doorconnect consumers directly to farms. Meeting online is convenient for both farmers and consumers, but the farmers get a lower premium on their meat, since the web host takes a cut.

此外，大多数农场还没有实现这些平台，所以如果你完全依赖它们，你将错过一些优质的肉类和很棒的当地农场。你错过了最好的部分——了解你的农民。

Get To Know Your Farmer: What Questions To Ask

The best part about buying meat from the farmer is just that—the farmer. You can ask them questions about how they raise their animals, how to store and cook the meat. You can chat about their families, get to know and trust them.

The gift of a relationship with your farmer is that you feel safe about the food you eat, and good about spending money to support them.

When I first met the farmer who would become my partner, the first question I asked was, “Do you want to dance?” but you probably will want a different opening line. Here are some great questions to ask a farmer selling meat, and some responses to listen for:

你卖股票还是减持股票?

Some farms sell both, some sell just one or the other. If you have a preference, this is an important question to ask first.

Where do your animals live on the farm?

Pasture is always the gold standard of raising animals, but depending on your climate, animals may need other accommodations. Having a dry barn in a rainy or snowy climate is an animal welfare issue, and so is having shade and water in hot climates.

Different breeds of animals have different needs. Pigs are much hardier in cold weather than hot weather.

What are you feeding them?

There are a wide range of feed options between certified organic, and conventional soy-and-corn mix. Even if the animals are not certified organic, they may be eating a high quality, healthy feed. Ask the farmer why they chose the feed they chose.

Do you breed? Where do you buy your young animals?

My partner and I decided to start breeding our own hogs after about 3 years of raising pigs. We do it because we get total control over the health and welfare of our animals from the day they are born.

However, not all farms have the infrastructure breed animals all year. Having baby animals means having a barn or great shelter to keep those small animals healthy. If your farmer doesn’t breed their own stock, find out what farm they buy their babies from, and how they are treated early in life.

What do you do when they get sick?

At our farm all our veggies and grain are certified organic, but every year we debate certifying our animals, and so far we have decided not to. Theorganic regulations对动物健康严格且有争议

我们强烈反对常规使用抗生素和其他有毒杀虫剂，但我们的底线是，当我们的动物生病时，我们希望使用最有效的治疗方法。2022欧洲杯葡萄牙vs德国

Organically approved treatments havevarying effectiveness. When certified organic animals get sick, the farmer has to choose whether to treat them conventionally, which is likely to be fast and effective, but that animal can no longer be sold as organic.

对我们来说，不证明我们的动物是一个动物福利问题。2022欧洲杯葡萄牙vs德国对于使用现代医学治疗生病的动物，我们不希望有任何犹豫或重新考虑。和你的农民谈谈，了解他们在最佳实践和认证之间的权衡。

Do you do farm tours? Can I come visit?

Many farmers will say yes! Even if they do not do farm tours, most are happy to have visitors and many make sales on the farm.

Of course, a farm is a busy working place, and a farmer may have guidelines about when you can come and where you can go. If a farmer says no, it doesn’t necessarily mean they have anything to hide.

Farms have high liability and worries about biosecurity that can make it hard to host informal visitors. Ask more questions, and respect that farmers need to prioritize the safety and health of their farm and their visitors.

Can I see a picture of the animals?

A farmer running a great operation will be happy to show off.

我能看看你的全家福吗?

只是开玩笑。但实际上，了解农场的人脸会让你更容易掏出钱包。

4 Reasons To Buy Direct From The Farm

如果你关心地球的健康，你自己的健康，动物的福利，是的，还有你食物的味道，你应该直接从农民那里买肉。

1) Farm Meat Will Be The Best Meat You’ve Ever Tasted

Whether they are ruminants or omnivores like pigs and chickens, animals that have had room to move their whole lives and high-quality feed have a distinctly stronger, richer flavor.

事实上，有些人发现食草和放牧的肉是一种后天养成的味道，因为味道强烈，但许多人，包括我自己，不能回头。再也没有什么东西吃起来像真正的肉了。

在卖猪肉的时候，我发现工业食品革命之前出生的那一代人特别珍惜他们记忆中的正宗猪肉的味道。硬币的另一面是，放牧的动物也不可否认地更强壮。2022欧洲杯葡萄牙vs德国与传统肉类相比，在较低的温度下烹饪肉糜的时间要更长，并盖上盖子以保持水分。额外的咀嚼值得额外的味道。

2) You Can Know For Sure How The Animal Was Treated

When you get to know a farmer, you can ask questions and look at pictures of their operation, and know exactly where and how their animals live. This is an enormous advantage over our conventional food system, which is intentionally opaque and actively discourages scrutiny.

Buying direct from a farmer you trust gives you peace of mind about how your food lived.

3) Meat Direct From The Farm Is Better For Your Body

Animal fats from pasture-raised animals are higher inomega-3 type fatty acids and beta-carotene, a fat soluble antioxidant, and the meat contains other beneficial compounds likeconjugated linoleic acid, which has been tentatively correlated with cancer prevention.

4) You’re Supporting Local Businesses, Local Families, And Conservation.

Big farms are family farms too.97% of US farms所有大小和类型都是由家庭拥有和经营的。然而，当你购买工业包装的肉类时，利润就流向了公司。只有一小部分最终进入农民的口袋，更不用说屠夫、包装工人、仓库工人和其他需要照顾家庭的人了。

通过直接从农民那里购买，你的钱会进入农民的家庭。你当地的屠夫，同时也是一个小企业主，也能分得一杯羹。

But What About The Cost?

There is no way around the fact that farm-raised meat is much more expensive than conventional meat. The entire industrial meat system is designed to produce the cheapest meat possible for the highest sales volume.

American meat consumption has beenon the risethroughout the 20th century, with thelargest increase in poultryproduction. Chicken is now the cheapest staple meat available to Americans.

有了这些预期，农贸市场可能会出现严重的价格冲击。我希望为农场饲养的肉支付至少5美元/磅。在这家商店里，你可以买到每磅1美元的工业加工肉。

When meat is a daily staple of your diet, like it was in my family, that kind of cost difference can be prohibitive. The most straightforward solution, although not always an easy one, is to eat less meat.

The US is thesecond largest consumer of meat per person in the world, after Luxembourg, and there is aconsensus among doctors, scientists and environmentaliststhat Americans shouldeat less meatforhealthandsustainabilityreasons.

The research is staggering. Eating less meat gives your budget a break as well, especially if typically eat high-quality meat.

然而，每个人的烹饪习惯和需求都是不同的。我认识一些人，如果没有足够的动物蛋白，他们的身体就无法正常工作。如果少吃肉对你的家庭来说是一个挑战，那就有时去杂货店买肉，在特殊场合从农场买肉。

我的父母最终选择了这样的中间立场。尽管他们的女儿是一个肉农，但他们有一半的时间是从杂货店买肉。工业肉类最适合用来掩盖较低质量的味道，比如砂锅菜和意大利面酱。

如果你在精打细算，当你想吃烤鸡或牛排时，把钱省下来买新鲜的、农场优质的肉类——这些都能展示肉类的味道。

Another option—instead of buying the familiar and expensive cuts of meat you’re used to seeing at the store, consider trying some less popular cuts of meat. Farmers sell parts of the animals like trotters, heads, and organs much cheaper than steaks and loins—these can be delicious and nutritious options that won’t break the budget. All it takes is a little courage and creativity.

Meat and Food Safety

Sometimes people ask whether meat from the farm is as safe as meat from the grocery store. The answer is: It is equally safe or safer. There are several factors that go in to the safety of the meat by the time it reaches your plate.

The first place diseases start in animals is on the farm in the living animal. Many pathogens that make humans sick, like salmonella, e-coli and trichinosis, live in the bodies of healthy animals.

All farm animals carry some diseases, so the important measurement is “pathogen load”—how heavy is the contamination. The good news is that animals on a small farm aren’t going to have a higher pathogen load than their industrial counterparts. They are likely to have less, because there are fewer animals to incubate diseases, and most farm-raised animals get more exercise and sunlight, which help fight disease.

肉类安全的下一个重要步骤是清洁的屠宰和屠宰过程。在农贸市场或杂货店出售的所有切肉都要遵守全国相同的安全法规。

美国农业部的检查员在美国各地的所有肉类包装厂工作，包括小农户用来出售肉类的小型定制肉店。If you are buying meat by the share, every state will be slightly different, but state regulations are no less strict, or less strictly enforced.

The last step in having safe meat on the table is your own safe handling and cooking. If you are buying a meat share, it is important to have enough freezer space to store it. Always thaw your meat in the fridge or under cold running water, so the temperature doesn’t rise above 41 degrees F until the cooking process begins.

Chicken and pork should always be cooked thoroughly, no matter whether it comes from, because salmonella and trichinosis are common on all farms, big and small.

Meat on your table from a small farm is just as safe, if not safer, than meat from the grocery store. I am happy to buy meat from farmers that I don’t know personally, once I’ve asked some informed questions. The bottom line is that all meat that is legally purchased in the US is all about equally safe to eat.

Making The Choice To Eat Farm-Raised Meat

当我第一次开始吃我认识的人种的肉时，我开始狂热地追求高质量的肉。有一年感恩节，我和妈妈大吵了一架，因为我们要从杂货店买火鸡还是从当地农场买。

My parents, both children of Depression-era families, and cautious with money, hated the cost. Farm-raised meat is so expensive, they complained. Well, you eat too much of it, responded I, the young environmentalist.

但事实是，每一点改变都很重要。直接从农场购买肉类不仅是你预算中的一项大项目，而且还改变了生活方式、时间和便利。你不需要每天都做，这样才能对农民或你自己的健康产生影响。