Vegetarian looking for local meat source near Wallingford, CT!

[RachelFromTheBlackLagoon]

Thanks, wildeflowers! Do you know names of any of those places? That's sort of what I planned on doing anyway, buying in bulk and storing in a chest freezer, so I guess making a trip wouldn't be too bad.

Anna, I understand what you meant, I was just explaining why I won't buy it at the store. I'm hoping I'll be able to do this inexpensively because as you know, feeding this many mouths isn't cheap! Are you talking about the EatWild list? I looked at that and emailed a couple of farms. Many were far but I think I'll email them tonight anyway and see if we can make it worth the trip. I'll definitely also look into the deer thing. I have a couple friends that hunt and I'm sure they know many others. Though, whole deer heads may be a bit too much for me, LOL!

 

[Olive Hill]

Go to localharvest.org and do a search for meat producers in your area. Call around and start asking. Those that sell "farm-direct" or "process on farm" will likely be your best bet, but I wouldn't expect miracles unless they are already selling to pet owners. What you want is not something that is just a by-product of processing. It is something that adds not just one but a few more steps to a process that is already labor and time intensive enough. Now, if you want to buy offal straight as it comes and separate it yourself for your organ meats, more power to you. In any case, please be prepared to pay for what you want. There is nothing more irritating and degrading than a consumer who can't grasp the value of a small, sustainable, locally raised product. These farmers' time, expertise and labor is worth what they ask for it -- and in many cases even more.

 

[RachelFromTheBlackLagoon]

Hmmm, I didn't realize it would be so much extra work for somebody. Perhaps I'd be better off going straight to a butcher?

 

[Terri O]

Well--no one has suggested it (so I will); what about road kill? I dont know too much about the style of feeding you are talking about but I do know that lots of predators result to road kill if they cant catch anything to eat! Otherwise might there be farmers in your area with surplus Roos? Or maybe a hatchery? If you have the space, would you consider raising rabbits yourself to cut the costs? T

 

[mamagardener]

how about small local farmers, you can find lots of them around MA, and I am sure in CT. If they don't have items for you, maybe they know of a humane processer that can help you out.

 

[Olive Hill]

Quote:
You want local, humanely and as organically raised as possible, yes? You won't get that going straight to a butcher. Not for sure. Just coming from a small flock or herd locally doesn't even guarantee any more humane or natural an existence than a factory farm. You needn't look any further than this board for evidence of that -- people dosing their birds with chemical medicines and wormers because they might have worms, on other livestock boards you can find people raising a hog or two but trying to mimic a factory setting with concrete flooring, medicated feed, wormers, injections, etc.

Your best bet is really going to be to go to Local Harvest and start calling small farmers in your area directly and see who might be able to work with you. You could also frequent some local farmers' markets and speak with the sellers there as well. Just be prepared to pay for what you want and I'm sure you'll find someone willing to work with you. Don't go into it wanting something for next to nothing. Raising livestock in the way you're wanting them to be raised requires work, knowledge and financial investment in the process. The farmers who stay in business realize this and charge accordingly. The ones that don't go out of business or end up cutting corners at the animals' expense because they can' t cover costs.

All I'm saying is that if you want what you want then be prepared to pay for what you want. The organ meats you want will need to be separated from the rest of the offal, chilled and packaged, the meat cuts could be sold for human consumption so it makes no sense for a farmer to discount the price just because you want them for an animal -- he has a whole other market out there willing to pay for the meat.

I think if you want to feed raw that's great, I'm not trying to discourage you from doing so. I just keep seeing you say you want meat from this specific ideal, which is a market with a limited supply as it is, but that you want it cheap. Those two things do not reconcile. If you want cheap meat Tyson et. al will be happy to provide you with it. If you want quality meat from a quality source, get out your wallet.

 

[Boyd]

$$$$ is right. A rabbit carcass dressed is going between 7-8$/lb in my area.

 

[Wolfwoman]

Try looking for local trappers, you can feed them critters such as beaver, bobcat and quite a few others. Most trappers just toss the carcasses.

 

[RachelFromTheBlackLagoon]

Quote:
You want local, humanely and as organically raised as possible, yes? You won't get that going straight to a butcher. Not for sure. Just coming from a small flock or herd locally doesn't even guarantee any more humane or natural an existence than a factory farm. You needn't look any further than this board for evidence of that -- people dosing their birds with chemical medicines and wormers because they might have worms, on other livestock boards you can find people raising a hog or two but trying to mimic a factory setting with concrete flooring, medicated feed, wormers, injections, etc.

Your best bet is really going to be to go to Local Harvest and start calling small farmers in your area directly and see who might be able to work with you. You could also frequent some local farmers' markets and speak with the sellers there as well. Just be prepared to pay for what you want and I'm sure you'll find someone willing to work with you. Don't go into it wanting something for next to nothing. Raising livestock in the way you're wanting them to be raised requires work, knowledge and financial investment in the process. The farmers who stay in business realize this and charge accordingly. The ones that don't go out of business or end up cutting corners at the animals' expense because they can' t cover costs.

All I'm saying is that if you want what you want then be prepared to pay for what you want. The organ meats you want will need to be separated from the rest of the offal, chilled and packaged, the meat cuts could be sold for human consumption so it makes no sense for a farmer to discount the price just because you want them for an animal -- he has a whole other market out there willing to pay for the meat.


I think if you want to feed raw that's great, I'm not trying to discourage you from doing so. I just keep seeing you say you want meat from this specific ideal, which is a market with a limited supply as it is, but that you want it cheap. Those two things do not reconcile. If you want cheap meat Tyson et. al will be happy to provide you with it. If you want quality meat from a quality source, get out your wallet.

I'm not saying I expect meat for nothing just because my dogs are going to eat it. What I meant was bone and organ and scrap... things like that which I figured are probably tossed anyway. I just didn't take in account that there would be extra labor involved in separating all of that. I'm not a farmer or a butcher....heck, I don't even eat the stuff, myself. Sorry if I offended you.

For now I found a local bulk supplier. I had to make some sacrifices on what I originally wanted, but since I'm not doing any favors to my pets by feeding them kibble, I'm gonna go with this source for now and keep looking. I also have a couple friends who hunt and said they'd help me out during hunting season.

Thanks for all the input and suggestions, everyone!

 

[RachelFromTheBlackLagoon]

Also, I emailed about 15 farms on LocalHarvest. No luck so far. We'll see what happens.