Community Supported Agriculture: It isn’t just for veggies anymore.
NPR reports that a growing number of farms are offering subscriptions not for baskets of farm-fresh produce, but for big bags of meat.
Each month, subscribers of Stillman’s CSA recieve a 10- or 20-pound bag (depending on whether you join for a half or full share) of frozen animal parts. It could contain lamb, beef, pork, or chicken or a combination of all of the above.
Many of the meaty CSA’s members were inspired by … wait for it … Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma. They’re psyched about getting their meat fresh and local, and, according to the broadcast, conscientiously raised.
‘The idea that you know the farmer and you know where your meat comes from is profoundly reassuring on so many levels—in terms of health and how the animals were treated, and from an ethical perspective, and from an environmental perspective,’ [Lara Tavarez] says.
Do you have a CSA that provides meat to your city?
While I don’t know if 10 or 20 pound deliveries of frozen meat to my door would be extremely practical for me, it is reassuring to know exactly where the meat I would eat comes from and how it was treated. It’s great to know that CSAs are expanding to include meat subscriptions that that locally raised and humanly treated animals are more readily available and easily accessible. The site eatwellguide.org is a great resource for finding local farms and another way to find fresh meat.
I know that several of our local CSAs have had to supplement their offerings with local meat, eggs, and even soap and honey after we had a disastrous mid-spring freeze. But I participated on one for a few years in which we had meat items as part of our either-or choices (as in, “we’ll give you more kale than you can ever imagine, but you can have either one pint of strawberries OR a half-pound of bacon.”)
My CSA has had a meat share for going on ten years now. But we’re in Iowa, the cutting edge of sustainable ag.
My CSA has a relationship with a local organic meat farm and we get to order these products in addition to our veggies. They do this with some other local producers/products as well like cheese.
We are in the Philly area.