What is a meat CSA and why should I join?
A CSA is Community Supported Agriculture. The usual form of a CSA is a vegetable one in which a customer buys a share of the year’s crop in exchange for paying at the beginning of the season. This allows for a stronger relationship between the consumer and the farmer and allows the consumer to know exactly how their produce is grown. For us, we have decided to raise the animals and sell the meats instead of the vegetables, but we are operating our CSA along the same fashion as the vegetable ones. We are selling shares of the meats, though we aren’t expecting the season’s full payment up front. This allows you the ability to learn how the meat you eat is treated before it reaches your table. By joining a meat CSA, you are helping support our local family farm while providing your family with a healthy and nutritious source of meat. You are allowing us the guarantee that our meats will be sold and more easily let us plan for what our future needs will be. In return, you get a guaranteed amount of meat at a great deal that is raised without all of the hormones and antibiotics that have become a standard in the growing practices of many of the large factories farms. You can eat knowing that your meat came from animals that were allowed to roam pastures, eat grass, breath fresh air and generally lead a happy life. For more information about the term “CSA” or what this movement is all about, I suggest you do a little research to learn more about subscription farming. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community-supported_agriculture
What are the benefits of becoming a Stonewall Farm Meat CSA Member?
- Convenience
- Safety / purity
- No chemicals of any kind
- Local delivery to your area.
- Eliminates need for large freezer storage
- No cloning or genetic modification – Naturally bred
- You receive priority registration on scheduled farm events
- Humanely raised in low stress conditions, grass fed, free range
- Guaranteed supply of fresh, healthy, and delicious premium meats
- Up to 20% discount in cost over Farmer’s Market or Farm Sales price
- Priority ranking for special cuts and products such as turkey, lamb, Cornish hens
- Receive 5% off any additional meat purchased from our farm at the Farmer Market
- First to try our new offerings: rainbow trout, fresh ground organic grains and breads
- You earn the right of first refusal on future membership renewals (yearly subscriptions)
What is in a share?
Our shares in general will contain a variety of premium cuts from beef, pork, chicken, and in the future occasional cuts of lamb, and goat. We are offering share sizes of 5, 10, and 20 lbs of meat. There are no guarantees on what exactly will be in a share from month to month but there will always be an assortment of roasts, stew and ground as well as the steaks and chops. The approximate amounts of types of meat can vary from month to month as well depending on what we have recently gotten back from our butcher. Each month’s selection is different and no one cut is guaranteed – but each is full of a great selection of our all natural pasture raised meats.
A sample 20 lb share:
Sample share A: 2 lbs of ground beef, 1 sirloin steak (about 1.5 lbs), 4 ribeye steaks, 2 lbs of sausage, 4 pork chops, 1 Pkg of bacon, 3 lbs pork shoulder roast, 1 whole broiler chicken, 4 lamb chops Sample share B: 1 lb sirloin steak, 1 lb bacon, 1 whole and 1 cut-up broiler chicken (4 pounds), 2 lbs ground beef, 1 lb ground pork, 2 lbs pork chops, one 3.5-lb roast and 2.5 lbs stew beef, 2 lbs. sliced ham. Sample share C: 2 lbs New York strip steak, 1 stewing chicken (4 pounds), 1 lb bacon, 2 lbs ground beef, 2 lb ground pork, 2 lbs pork chops, 1 lb cube steak, one 3 lb beef brisket and 1 lb pork sausage, 3 lbs. arm roast.
How do you know each month what you will get in a share?
You know you will get at least the number of pounds of meat you signed up for – but you don’t know in advance what particular cuts will be in your share each month. We work hard to make sure each share has a mix of daily cuts and higher end cuts. We also try to make sure we have at least three meats represented. That said, we are a family farm and do not have an inventory control program for our meat. We take our animals to slaughter and pick up the boxes, and then we divide the boxes into shares. We DO pack and label individual shares and try to honor requests when possible, but we are a CSA–not a grovery store. Your shares will vary each month, but will usually include a couple pounds of hamburger, some sausage, a breakfast meat (either bacon or breakfast sausage), some poultry, lamb or pork chops, a steak. In the winter we include roasts and in the summer we focus on easy grilling items.