Introducing Beef Shares

In last week's Farm Journal entry, Martin posed the question "What is the biggest ongoing challenge for our business; the one thing that keeps us up at night?"
The answer: Meat Processing.

Meat processing is in the national news. There will be a trickle down effect to the small local level and we'll have more to say on that topic in the coming weeks. But for now we wanted to focus on rolling out this exciting new buying option! 

A new way to buy One Straw beef!

We love the typical butcher-case way of selling meat - the way you're used to buying from us - where the meat is USDA inspected so you, the customer, can purchase any individual cut you want. This is our bread and butter (or meat and potatoes). It provides the greatest flexibility in your purchasing choices and makes it simple because you know exactly what you're getting. And it's a nearly instant transaction because the meat is already in our freezer, ready to be bagged up and delivered to you. And while this is a great way of buying and selling meat, there is stability in diversification and we want to provide more options.

Why are beef shares an awesome option? 

This is the same high quality, delicious beef you've been buying by-the-package, but there are a few differences in the process. Here are a few things to consider as you decide if this is the right decision for your meal planning.

• When you purchase a beef share you are buying a share of a live animal. This is a pre-order item. Buy now - pickup later. We expect these boxes to be freezer-ready in September. We will contact you with an exact date and then you can choose from any of our regular pickup/delivery options.
• The share process allows us to have the animal slaughtered on the farm by a mobile slaughter truck. As the farmer we can be intimately involved in the process, the animal doesn’t have the stress of travel, and we are able to support a small, local business owner who has a stake in strengthening our local food supply chain.
• Because you have purchased a share of a live animal, we are able to arrange (on behalf of you, the owner) to have the beef aged, cut, and frozen at Sunrise Meats in Port Angeles - a long-time, local, small, State-inspected butcher shop. Across the nation, the number of local butcher shops is declining as regulations make it more difficult for them to operate. We are glad to have a local butcher shop (Sunrise Meats is the last remaining custom butcher shop on the north peninsula) and, as they are a key player in local food security, we want to support them as much as possible.
• There is a cost savings in this process that we can pass on to you! 
• You are buying a share of a specific animal so the final weight you receive will vary slightly after we divide the animal out into equal shares.
• The meat is wrapped in one layer of plastic and one layer of paper, rather than our typical vacuum sealed plastic.
• A share is about 20 lbs of delicious meat. This fits in a grocery bag so will fit in a small freezer. Just finish the ice cream in all those almost-empty tubs and you'll be fine!
  
  Are you ready? Head over to the Bundles page of the farm store and choose a Ground Beef Share, a Slow Cooker Share, or one of each!