My dear friend Allysun commented, “I wonder how we could do something similar and still have meat?” so I wanted to give her and others who are wondering the same thing some ideas.
Even though we do not eat much meat (I only eat seafood, Dan eats seafood and the occasional burger or BLT, Munchkie is being raised pescadarian like me, while Zoe is the omnivore in the family) and even more rarely cook it at home, I have been hearing about how other meat eating families do it. The first step always seems to be acquiring a chest freezer– something we are considering getting even though we don’t foresee ever having half a cow in it. However, it would be very nice if Dan suddenly took up fishing and we could fill a freezer with tuna, crab, salmon and other local river fishes. And even though we don’t eat meat, I want to get connected to hunters since I’d love to have some soup bones to make a nice stock from. But I digress (kinda).
So here are some places to get meat without ever setting foot in a grocery store:
- Go hunting and fishing.
- Get hooked up with neighbors or friends who hunt and buy a whole or half animal from them.
- Buy directly from local ranchers who raise organic beef, pork, lamb and poultry. Search Eat Wild to find a producer in your area.
- Find or start a co-op with other families interested in splitting a whole animal with you, and buy straight from a butcher who has connections to local ranchers. Buying a whole animal is much cheaper, and you can keep it in a chest freezes it for many months.
- If you raise your own hens for eggs you can use them as stewing chickens when it’s time to retire them.
- Raise your own rabbits for meat in your backyard.
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I have had the same wonder run through my head. We eat chicken breast in some form with nearly every meal.
So, essentially, you buy locally instead of growing your own. A caveat of a sort. I understand… and pretty much do that now because the local stuff tastes SO AMAZING!
I’ve been stopping to read this book at my favorite co-op (while Annabelle plays in their kid section) written by someone who studied the diets of the Amish and Mennonites. I read a little each time I go. I’ve learned ways (that are so obvious but I never recognized them before) to use ALL of the food I buy, particularly the meat products and how I think about protein.
My goal, from that book, has been to have a low-meat diet, instead of a no-meat diet. And realizing that one single egg IS enough protein for a meal!
Now, I save ALL the juices and bones and skin and fat and innards from any meat I cook. I put it all in a big bag in the freezer. When it’s full I make an awesome stock with it all. That stock becomes the base for several soups. It works for me.
Also, I have been freezing apple chunks prior to their spoiling (peel and cut first) that can be used in soup or applesauce. I’ve juiced oranges right before they die and freeze the juice in ice cubes. Pretty much anything that can be salvaged, does, and used later. Bread, vegetables, any meat, etc, I’m doing it so well that it is positively affecting our food budget!!