So, you’ve decided to buy some local meat in quantity. How do you find a good farmer? How do you know whether or not their food is any good without having any federal government inspection? Whether or not you’ve found a good deal?
The first time we bought cow in quantity, we heard about it from a friend and bought the meat from our friend’s uncle. We took her word for it that the meat was good and it was! This time around, I heard about Grass Fed Foods on the local Weston Price yahoo group when I searched the archives for “grass fed beef.”
So, you’ve found some farmers and their cows sound wonderful. You compare the prices and choose one that you can afford. How do you know the farmer is on the level? You can always visit the farm and talk to other customers, but what if that’s not an option?
Well, the first thing to remember is that a small local farmer is not like a giant corporation. Local farmers depend heavily on word of mouth advertising and depend on having excellent product in order to stay in business. They don’t have a large profit margin and they don’t have a very large customer base either. If a local farmer has poor quality goods, people will hear about it and that farmer will likely go out of business.
The thing to ask yourself is also, what would a local farmer gain by being untrustworthy or by misrepresenting his/her goods? The answer is: Nothing. A farmer would gain nothing by misrepresentation or by ripping someone off. A local farmer’s very livelihood depends upon having a quality product at a reasonable price.
This is one type of business transaction that it is reasonable to enter in based on faith. It is certainly still a wise decision to visit the farm personally if you have the chance or to find a neutral third party who has visited the farm, but if you don’t have that chance you can still be reasonably sure that you’ll be getting a quality product. We have never yet been disappointed when buying sight-unseen from a local farmer. It’s just a matter of trust with no USDA inspection necessary 🙂
~B.
How to Eat a Side of Beef 
Thanks for this post Barefootbetsy. Trust is a missing element in so many of our transactions these days. I like that we can visit the farms when purchasing locally – not to reassure myself but to somehow feel more connected to the community.
I think a personal recommendation goes a long way!
And, we just got a side of beef yesterday. HOLY COW the meat! LOL I’m excited to dive into it.
Yay for a side of beef! Hey, if you ever feel like doing a guest post just let me know 🙂 This blog is about the beef (what to do with so much of it, how to afford it, how to cook it, etc) and eating responsibly – not about Phred and myself!
~B.
That’s would be fun! When I make something impressive I will surely share! 🙂