Meat School Episode 2: Buying Meat In Community
This is the transcript of a video broadcast for IGTV ‘Meat School.’ You can watch the archived broadcast here.
Hey everyone, Meredith Leigh here again, and I’m here to talk to you about creating what might be called a community meat buying club. After last week’s post there have been a lot of questions, which is amazing, and at first I kind of struggled with what to get to first in terms of some meat schoolin’.
This is a topic that has been a passion of mine for a long while, and it is definitely more relevant than right now with what we are seeing in the wake of COVID-19. In this space we are cover the reasons to take back the meat supply at the community level, and some tips for doing so. I don’t want to take a ton of your time, and I am planning on following up here weekly with more info, but because of the sound byte nature of this type of communication, I do encourage you to follow up with me and check out my books to back up the info shared here and give you some richer foundations for your buying club effort.
My books are The Ethical Meat Handbook and Pure Charcuterie, both of them are based in my long-time effort to open-source ecological farming that includes animals, and champion the efforts toward relational, nutritious, just, safe, and delicious food. I do a lot of teaching, writing, and talking about good meat, good farming, and good cooking as a result, and am in the process of developing online education in butchery and meat curing so that more people can join this pilgrimage for better meat.
So I guess it would be good to ask what is good meat? The definition I like to share is that good meat means the animal had a good life, a good death, a good butcher, and a good cook. That’s a definition that we can unpack for days, but the bottom line is that nobody is really exempt. The biggest thing about this definition, and the hardest thing about it, too, is that the responsibility can’t rest solely on one or two players. It kind of takes a village. The other thing I want to note about the definition is, if you look at this slide closely, is that it requires that we think about the role of animals, the role of the land, and the role of the people in the system, and recognize that everything and everyone has a role to play, and all the entities and roles are interconnected.
So you might be thinking that this sounds like a lot of responsibility, and a lot of work. And the truth is, well, it kind of is. But there are a lot of reasons to do it anyway, and my job is to talk us through doing it in a way that spreads out the responsibility and the hard work, rather than lumping it on a few people and hoping it works out. There are so many reasons to do this meat thing better, and we can’t go into them in depth but here are some of the big ones.
Better animal welfare, of course. Paying more attention to the animal’s well-being.
Healthier soil, water and other natural resources, through better farming practices.
There is always the ability that ruminant animals have to sequester carbon in the soil, and we will talk about that in more detail at another time. Here is some reading on it.
The capacity for greater nutrient density in our foods from regenerative type farming.
Also, the implications of decentralized food systems are really good for an improvement in worker rights, and worker and farmer health and safety is huge. We are seeing some of the ugly underbelly of worker conditions and “profits over people” with COVID’s effects on the supply chain.
Another aspect of community meat is that it offers one of the only ways to open accessibility of ethical meat to people who usually can’t access it. One of the most backward things about the American food economy is that food that is whole and fresh is considered “gourmet” whereas food that is processed and devoid of nutrients is somehow accessible for everyone. We will talk about accessibility when we talk about structuring your buying clubs.
And last but not least, we are going to be talking about systems which value farmers being able to do what farmers do, without sacrificing their mental, emotional and physical health, or the well-being and viability of their families and rural communities.
So- what we do know is that there is good news out there about how we can raise animals and produce meat with respect for all the players, including the land, and so we want to focus on how to make what is GOOD even better. It has been sort of the “popular” thing to do to turn away and check out from meat and animal agriculture because the problems with it are so overwhelming, but what I know is that the people who have the greatest influence on the lives and deaths of animals and the health of the land in agriculture are the people who EAT meat. Not really the people who don’t. So this is about checking into solutions, not turning away from problems.
Some more good news is that there is a framework of farmers, processors, butchers, chefs, and consumers who have been working for decades on alternative supply chains for meat, and that is really good news right now, because we are leaning on these systems pretty hard. So we want to look at those frameworks and call out the opportunities that they provide and the challenges that they face and how our individual and community actions can respond right now.
SO- let’s look at what’s going on. The basic work of all these good folks for the past few decades is to put meat production back into the context of nature, and back into the hands of independent business owners like butcher shops, farms, and abattoirs, and to increase consumer satisfaction, and consumer understanding of good food and cooking. The status quo meat system throws up a lot of roadblocks to that, and it can be difficult as an everyday eater to see them for what they are. We go to the supermarket and buy our pork chops in a Styrofoam tray but we can’t see all the moving parts that make or break a farmer from competing with that corporate product, or an independent abattoir being able to make his business work.
We call this section “Why is good meat hard to do?”
Corporate Consolidation: 80% of the American meat supply is controlled by about four companies. This makes it difficult for smaller businesses to enter the market, receive representation in regulatory decision making, and receive support from their communities or the local, state, and federal government. It also means that consumer options are limited.
Subsidization of Production and Vertical Integration: So this means that production is paid for regardless of whether it is profitable (via your tax dollars), and that all aspects of the supply chain (from farming to slaughter, processing and distribution) is owned by the same company. This drives down the cost of meat at the point of sale, which the customer associates as a positive, not realizing that he or she is paying for all of it via tax dollars, and that the true cost of the products is not being reflected in the market. This also perpetuates the devaluation of farmers and other laborers.
Aging or non-existent post-production infrastructure- so this means that the buildings, trucks, storage capacity, and other “stuff” that happens after the animal leaves the farm are often in disrepair, or they have disappeared.
Degraded Land- The agriculture that has been favored over the last 75 years or so is an agriculture that is very extractive, meaning that it takes more than it gives back to the land.
Compromised Animal Genetics- A topic far too complex to go into now.
Farmer & Worker Living Wage and Quality of Life- are a huge problem. And we will go into that at another time.
Fear of Death- We have a cultural fear of death. We live in a death afraid society. This really has huge bearing on meat systems.
Too Much Meat- We have grown accustomed to cheap meat, and we have a culture that celebrates with meat, and we enjoy eating meat. These things have driven up consumption of meat from its historic and more conservative roots.
Myths about Meat- We deal with a lot of myths about meat. You’ve heard a million reports that meat is bad for you, bad for the earth, bad for animals, bad for your fear of death, and on and on. This gets to be a really tricky subject.
Stress and Anxiety, Grief, Fear and Helplessness about the State of Systems and the Capacity for Change- from all the work it takes to try to front load these systems, to keep going and trying to make good meat happen.
Lobbying & Politics- This kind of comes along with the industry consolidation, but basically the meat industry has a really powerful lobby, or voice, in the political realm that small farmers don’t tend to have. And this really ties into the next thing which is
Industry Driven Regulation- because big meat has big money they have big voice in legislative and regulatory bodies, so the rules applying to farms, food safety standards, and processing regulations and inspection standards are generally created in a way that makes sense for these massive companies driving large volumes of product. Often times, these rules and processes don’t make sense for people operating businesses on the small to very small scale, and can be prohibitive to efficiency and cost effectiveness.
Racism and Injustice- An entire other webinar could be centered around the roles of institutionalized racism and injustice, and cultural repression and their bearing on efforts towards good meat.
Solutions- Cooperate!
- Pooling Resources tends to work really well. The most obvious example of this is pooled capital or money, but I’m also speaking about collecting a variety of resources that will be needed to recalibrate the way we match needs with solutions. In the mainstream supply chain that we see faltering right now, a lot of the work and process is “hidden” from view, like we don’t see transportation happening, or other things pertaining to the aforementioned death issues, but also due to the lack of collaborative involvement.
But when we start to reclaim these supply chains, we see that there is a lot more required than meat and money. We’ve got to have proper transportation and proper cold storage for animals as well as animal products as they move between nodes of production and processing. We’ve got to have space and infrastructure to process the animals, skilled laborers to do the work, and in the case of a consumer-based buyers group, valuable resources may come in the form of time and skill spent organizing the group equitably, communicating with farmers, butchers and/or processors, and otherwise planning and providing administrative needs. Example: someone who has cold storage for the group’s meat may count that as part of their buy-in, and perhaps someone interested in learning to cure meats or make sausages is providing value by further processing and preserving the bounty. So this is what I mean when I say money isn’t the only thing that talks, or has to talk. These clubs that I’m talking about where resources are pooled are powerful tools that communities can wield to not only get the work done but also to welcome in people who might be left out of the more traditional buy/sell relationships that dominate our efforts to feed ourselves.
- Creative Business Models: This speaks to how we re-invent our mode of interaction between farmers, butchers and consumers. One way this is happening is the “on the hoof” sales of animals. Under this scenario, farmers sell consumers live animals but they keep the animals on the farm until slaughter. Think of it like buying a share in a company, it’s just in this case, your share walks and chews and says moo. Then, the farmer and/or butcher provides for slaughter and processing of your share, and you take it home in the form of a bulk box of meat.
The reason this is creative is because it opens up the possibility for facilities with different levels of inspection to handle the meat, thereby relieving some of the bottleneck at the processor level. It can also give smallholder farmers more income and business flexibility, and it gives customers more options. This is because under this scenario, in some states, it allows animals to be processed on farm, avoiding the stressful and costly trek to the abattoir, and potentially opening up more possibilities of what kind of meat products the customer can order, if the farmer is offering on-farm butchery for example, or if the meat is being sent to a custom exempt facility that specializes in adding value to the carcass through the creation of sausages, salamis and other fine products. These types of facilities sometimes can’t sell meat off-premises, but if the customer owns the animal already, the facility is merely selling their services, not the product itself.
- Eat and Cook Differently- This speaks to eating less meat, but better meat, and skilling up in how you cook meat and use animal products. My books have a lot of information on this, such as how to prepare lesser-known cuts, how to tenderize generally tougher cuts, and how to cure or preserve meats. It’s all part of it.
- Meat Buying Clubs are often a combination of all of these things: pooled resources, alternative business models, and attempts to re-invent the way the carcass is used. They are generally consumer or butcher-driven, and involve groups of people with an interest in local meat supply chains organizing around shared needs and resources to support farmers and feed themselves. They can take a couple of approaches- either working directly with farmers to buy meat in bulk, or working via a butcher to source meat from a farmer in bulk and then have it processed down into steaks, roasts, sausages, etc. Which way you swing it is going to depend on the resources and needs of your group. For example, is there a butcher in your community? Or perhaps someone in your group that wants to learn butchery? Is there a real lack of butchery in your community but a good local source for quality meat? Consider the resources within your group/club and your community, and go from there.
Some Need to Know Terms.
- Regardless of whether you are working directly with a farmer, or you have a butcher to help guide you, here are some common industry words that will help you situate yourself in conversations about buying and cutting meat, to get your closer toward arranging what you want.
Live weight- This is the weight of the animal when it is alive. People also say “on the hoof” to refer to live animal sales.
Dressing- Removal of blood and organs
Kill Only- Having a processor slaughter and dress an animal, but otherwise leave it intact. This is usually a flat service fee, and then the animal can be picked up for further processing and butchery by another person ( you, or your butcher) or your fellow meat club members.
Hanging Weight (HCW), Hot Carcass Weight, Dressed Weight- This is the weight of the animal once it has been killed, bled, and dressed. And sometimes even after the head and sometimes the feet have been removed. This is usually the weight used in bulk meat purchasing. So if you approach a farmer you want to ask what is the hanging carcass price.
Cut and Wrap- This is the processing that happens after the kill. In cut and wrap processing, the dressed animal comes apart into smaller portions and eventually retail cuts that are sealed for resale. This is one of the most expensive aspects of small scale meat production— it’s usually a price per pound, and it is a big reason for you or someone in your group to learn some butchery and DIY.
Cut-out weight- The yield of sellable weight of meat from the carcass once cut and wrap processing has occurred.
Cut Sheet or Cut List- A list of desired cuts, or instructions on how you want the animals butchered. And this can be one of the most daunting aspects of consumer-driven meat buying clubs because consumers who aren’t butchers don’t really know what all of the options are within the carcass, and so it can be really helpful to have a butcher to guide you through the formulation of your cut list. And my books provide diagrams and discussions of this to sort of help you learn your way through this process. And indeed a lot of the work I do in my community as a butcher is not just cutting meat but also just helping people who are ordering something from a butcher or abattoir talk to that abattoir about how they want it cut.
Primal Cuts- The first cuts made to whole carcass (or halves or quarters) in cut and wrap processing. Primal cuts are based on muscle activity— they group similar muscle types together for subsequent steps in the butchery process. Shoulders, legs, bellies, and back straps. It can be more complex depending on the size of the animal.
Sub-primal Cuts- The next set of cuts in the butchery process. Sub-primal cuts are muscle groups within primal cuts.
Retail Cuts- Individual Cuts from the Subprimals that are ready to sell. These are the cuts you are accustomed to seeing at the market or grocery.
NOTE: If you are just getting started, consider asking the farmer or abattoir if you can buy subprimals or primals before you dive in and get the whole animal. In order to do that you are going to need a little more vocabulary for what they are so you know what they are, and they vary by species. My books can help you with this.
Options: Sourcing and Butchery
The biggest first step is getting yourself organized, finding your people and understanding what their skills and needs are. And then you can either find a farmer and butcher yourselves, or find a butcher and they can help you source and cut the meat. Typically if you are going directly to a farmer and sourcing whole carcass or primals to butcher yourself, you are going to be negotiating a hanging carcass price, and then either sharing in or agreeing to pay the kill fee. And then you’ll either pick up the carcass from the butcher, or in some cases you’ll have the option to go directly to the slaughterhouse to pick up the product. But lots of processing facilities don’t like for end-consumers to be showing up on their loading docks, so most of the time you’ll be picking up from the farmer.
If you’re working with a butcher, a good butcher is going to act as sort of a middle woman or man between the customer and the farmer. So butchers who are tapped in already have a lot of contacts and can not only help you source but can also sit you down, you know, as you what you like to eat, and then come up with a cut list with you. And so you’ll be paying the hanging carcass price, and potentially the kill fee, but you’ll also be paying that butcher (unless the butcher is part of your buying club and is butchering is exchange for a share of the meat) a price per pound to fabricate that carcass. So working with a butcher is definitely going to add cost to your endeavor, but it may be something that you can’t avoid, or don’t want to avoid because you’re not interested in gaining butchery skills for yourself.
Essentially you are gathering neighbors to share the cost, share the labor, and of course share the bounty. One way of doing this is to take a class. That’s something I’ve been doing for the past six years is traveling around the world and teaching groups of people in community how to do this. And my online courses that I’m setting up are my way of trying to keep that information coming.
Make sure you ask how participation is valued. Ask how you are going to incentivize:
Openness: by that I mean somebody who is willing to eat lesser-used cuts or organs- does that person get incentivized with a lower price compared to a person who only wants to eat loin chops and ribs?
Work: people who are willing to haul animals around and organixe everybody and keep the spreadsheets in order and do the butchery ought to receive beenfits for that
Taking turns: there’s always the old school way of doing this where everyone got together and slaughtered a steer, and then they chunked it up, and everyone got a chunk, and they wrote down which chunk each family got and that way next time it happened you were sure to get a different chunk than the chunk you got before. And that’s just a way to expedite fair distribution within the group without a lot of special organizing.
Getting Started
Getting started can be daunting. I would say start small. Organize and figure out how many people you need in order to afford what you want, and start there. Do it yourself first. If you’d like to do it with a group of people, maybe start first by buying something more “in bulk” just for your home or family, to start using these terms, or learning some butchery if that’s what you’re after, Then you are going to be better poised to help your neighbors or other community members.
Definitely share your experience. Definitely talk about what you are doing on social media, or at your church, or wherever it is that you roam, because we definitely want the experience of people beginning to take back food to become more common and talked about.
The more you get into this, the more you will discover interested comrades and other people who want to get in. Use the internet to network with people and find more resources.
Communication is a big one. You’ve got to co-create based on the needs of your group, INCLUDING the farmer. So someone in your group or a subset of your group is going to have to take on the work of being the communicators and making sure everyone’s needs are met.
You probably will be unsteady at first and you will make mistakes. But that is how we learn to do things. The key is just to try again. In the past when I have given this talk it has been to people who are interested in this work, and now I find myself giving this information to people who really have no other choice, and so it’s going to be interesting to see where buying clubs go over the next year or 18 months or so but I am feeling positive about it.
You are welcome to contact me about it. my email is mereleighfood@gmail.com
Be sure to tune into IGTV Meat School for more.