I love Eric

Today’s post is not for vegans. My animal-loving friends, your hearts are in the right place, surely, but we’re unapologetic omnivores here. We love animals… for dinner.

I am not without ethical scruples, however. I would much rather eat a chicken that's seen a little bit of life, been around the barnyard a time or two; a cow that’s spent some time in a grassy field and been spared the horrors of the feedlot and slaughterhouse; a lamb that's enjoyed quality time with mom. So my strategy is to go with local, sustainable producers. I sleep easier, and we certainly don’t regret the difference in flavor.

Apparently the law makes it difficult for beef ranchers to sell individual cuts by the pound to the consumer. Instead, you need to place an order with the rancher for a whole, half, or quarter animal. A few years ago I got my hands on a 5-foot freezer that a co-worker was giving away. This made it possible to really buy in bulk.

The way it works is you call the rancher (if I'm buying beef, that’s Larry Martin in Central Point) and tell him what you want to order (quarter, whole, or half beef). He’ll give you a rough idea when the meat will be available; this depends on whether the animals are ready, the kill dates, some time for aging, and processing (cutting, wrapping, and freezing). He’ll give you a per pound price and an approximate weight so you’ll know about how much it’s going to cost. If you're buying a half or quarter, he will have to arrange for the other parties who are going to buy the rest of the animal before he can proceed. He’ll also quiz you about what cuts you want: how thick to make the steaks, what percentage of fat to put in the hamburger, how much you want as stew meat versus hamburger, and so on.

The first time I bought beef I got a quarter, to see how it went. We used it all within a few months, so this year I went with a half beef, yielding about 200 lbs. After the animal goes to the processor (Larry Martin uses Jerry’s Custom Meats in Central Point) he will call with the price, which depends on the final weight. For my half beef this year I sent Larry a check for $880. A week or so later when I picked the meat up at Jerry’s I wrote a second check for $250 for the processing. The price works out to about $5.65 per pound. It may sound expensive, but I’ll tell you that included in the deal was a gigantic 18 pound rib roast. We cut that roast beast in half for a family feast on Christmas and then had a second one for guests on New Year’s Eve, easily $200 in prime rib if I’d bought it at a retail meat counter.

In addition to the Martin Ranch beef, I have purchased lambs each of the last two years from Tim Franklin of Yale Creek Ranch in Jacksonville. Lambs are small and yield about 30 lbs of meat after processing. For our current lamb I paid a $100 deposit, then $180 more to Tim when the meat was ready. Price of processing was included, so there was no additional payment when I picked the meat up at Jerry's. That works out to $9.30 a pound, close to the retail meat counter rate but so much tastier.

It's kind of cool to know that all the meat you're serving is from the same animal. It's a sort of personal relationship that might even inspire you to give the critter a name. Ours is Eric (as in... Eric the half a beef. OK, I guess we're are not as repectful as we might be).


Breaking news... as I was googling for a web address for my pork source, Bickle Family Farm, I discovered this - which apparently came out January 18 but vanished into the recycling bin before I had a chance to see it. Check out the article for a rundown on the health benefits of natural meats, as well as contact information for local producers, including all those I've mentioned in this post.


If you want to argue with me about the meat-eating thing, I highly recommend Jonathan Safran Foer's book. It will give you plenty of ammunition. But remember, I've got 200 pounds of frozen meat. With a small trebuchet - or some homemade sauce Bernaise - I am prepared to defend my position.