Local Meat Delivery Services in 2020
Local Meat Delivery: Why Eat Local?
Vic Farmstead hanger steak, sliced on top of greens, tomatoes, and cilantro from Northern California farms.
I came across Victorian Farmstead Meat Company located in Sebastopol, California through research of Community Sourced Agriculture in the Northern California region.
Eating local meat has many benefits. In this article, we’ll review the meat supply chain during the pandemic and take a look at the views of Adam Parks, co-owner of Victorian Farmstead Meat Company.
The Meat Supply Chain During the Pandemic
On their website was a recent video interview with the co-owner of Vic Farm Meats, Adam Parks, and Adam Taggart of Peak Prosperity that discusses the current state of the meat supply chain in the US and around the globe, and why individuals are deciding to work with local butchers now more than ever.
Video: Is Our National Food Supply Chain Failing?
Video Notes
There are 50 meat plants in the US that provide 98% of the beef in our country.
At the start of the pandemic, our nation observed empty shelves in grocery stores. People overwhelmed the system and as a result, we saw a spike in demand. The supply chain has since corrected itself.
Right now, demand is stable, but as national meat plants shut down (more below), demand has the potential of overwhelming the supply.
Smithfield in South Dakota recently shut down and as a result, the US realized a shortage of 5% of the nation’s pork.
Tyson Foods closed its largest pork plant because it had too many workers who were sick and could not implement enough control.
We are seeing early signs of international food hoarding in countries around the world. People are re-shuffling from where they source their food so they can be less dependent on distanced food chains and more focused on domestic.
This will impact international imports of key food sources in the US.
Is buying locally a better strategy to protect us from certain outages?
Local food businesses have more control over their supply chain - it’s short and strong.
Victorian Farmstead partner with owners and ranchers that they know. The slaughterhouse harvests large animals one at a time.
An antidote about Wild Caught Local Salmon:
Did you know that a commercial fisherman can catch a wild King salmon off the coast of California, have it frozen, shipped to China, butchered and portioned, re-frozen, shipped back to the US, and sold to a grocery store who can STILL call this fish “Wild Caught Local Salmon”?
Know Where Your Food is From
Vic Farm Meats believes in these words: know where your food is from. And if you want to try Sebastopol, CA’s home grown and you live on the West Coast, here are your options:
Large Premium Meat Box, $100 with subscription. You can choose from weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. Make a 6-month commitment to receive another 10% off. Photo by Victorian Farmstead Meat Co.
Order online a la carte from their Web Store or save 15-25% with their Meat Box subscriptions, customization available.
Choose from delivery or pick up (at their Sebastopol butcher shop or visit their booth at weekly Farmer’s Markets in Northern California).
Home delivery in the greater Bay Area is $10.
Overnight shipping along the West Coast is $25 for 25 lbs.
If you live out of the area or are looking for ways to source local meat, the Eat Wild website lists farms and ranches of pastured products by state.
