With numerous plant closures due to COVID-19 and the resulting disruption in the national meat supply chain, meat processing has been a fixture in the news cycle for months now. Inevitably these national disruptions trickle down to the local level, and last week the Seattle Times ran a front page story about our local meat processing system. Local meat on the front page? You better believe we noticed!
When you're cranking a ratchet strap on one side of the trailer and hoping the end on the other side stays hooked, it turns out it actually is useful to have a three year old who likes to pull on ropes. And when a one year old (who looooves to climb on things) is entertained, it's as good as having help! Haha.
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 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.
From time to time we get asked how we came to be doing what we are doing. Farming was not an uncommon profession just a few generations back, but today only 1.3% of the employed population of the United States are farmers, and that number continues to trend downward. It turns out we are a bit of an oddity! I want to share a bit about how we came to be farmers, but the real purpose of this post is to introduce you to our farming idol.
In recent weeks we've been dropping hints about the advent of an exciting new cheese from our neighbors at Mystery Bay Farm, and it's finally here! We're pleased to announce the release of Farmstead Tomme - Mystery Bay Farm's first ever aged cheese. And for this special release it's exclusively available to One Straw customers!
