Girl Meets Cow

Last night, we got a cow. Ok, part of a cow. It all happened so fast, and somehow I went from getting a random text message a few weeks ago to driving home with part of Betsy (that’s what we named her) in the back of my car.

I’ve been interested in buying part of a cow for a while. We actually don’t buy red meat very often because it’s hard to find local meat that isn’t extremely expensive. Buying a whole cow makes local, free-range beef much more affordable, but we’ve never had the freezer space to tackle one on our own. Mr. Jones and I had talked about splitting one with someone, but just hadn’t done the legwork to make it happen.

Cut to my friend Brenna sending me a text message at the beginning of the month asking if we wanted to go in on one. I was a little gun-shy at first, but we talked it over and decided to give it a shot. It meant a bigger up-front investment from our grocery budget (although not as much as you might think), but it also meant cutting our subsequent weekly food budget quite a bit. The cost per pound is incredibly low, and as long as you have a decent freezer (or at least, a friend/relative with a decent freezer), you’ll be set on your meat-buying for a good long time.

We didn’t know when exactly we were picking up “Betsy” (that’s the name she ended up with), but I figured we’d get the freezer space ready a few days ahead of time. Instead, due to some random events, I got another text on Monday telling me, “The cow is here!” I headed over to pick up my portion, which was 60 pounds of meat. I don’t know quite what I expected, but we ended up with a nice mix of cuts (sirloin, rib steak, ground beef, t-bone and more). They were each individually wrapped and neatly labelled, thanks to the local family butcher shop.

The cow came from a family who raises about 6 at a time, then sells them. They’re a mix of grass and grain fed, and only fed antibiotics for the last few weeks before being butchered (as required by state law). I love that we didn’t have to take care of that end of it, and that the butcher who did it was part of a small family shop that’s been around for a long, long time.

I was a little nervous about how well all of the meat would fit, but between a shelf in Caleb’s grandma’s freezer and some re-shuffling in ours, it all went in quite well. Overall, it was an amazingly smooth experience, even with the last-minute meat arrival. While it may seem overwhelming to purchase a quarter (or even an eighth) of a cow, if you can, give it a shot! You’ll save a good bit on meat in the long run, have the knowledge that it was raised in a healthy way, and enjoy the delicious taste that comes from real, fresh food. If you’re interested, my advice would be to contact your local Slow Food or WAPF chapter; or just start asking around!

Now, we just have to find a grill…