Beef!

We bought a cow! Well, half a cow, from a local grass-fed organic cow farm.

I had been wanting to do this for a long time. We've known that corn fed cows, and grocery store beef just isn't too good. And two years ago we joined Fair Shares, a local CCSA (Community Supported Agriculture) where we get a food pick up from local organic farms. As soon as we tried the meat we got from our CSA we noticed a world of difference. But buying organic meat is even more expensive than the regular stuff... so I started looking into buying it in bulk.

Tower Grove Farmers Market is in the park right by our house, and one of our favorite destinations in the summer and early fall. It was actually the first outing Dexter had after he was born! While it's not nearly as large as places like Soulard Farmers Market, each and every vendor here is local, quality, organic and delicious. While, some of the larger farmers market vendors sell produce that's imported and you have to be careful.

I met a guy there through Missouri Grassfed Beef and we started looking into buying a cow from his farm. Early this fall we pulled the trigger with a couple friends and bought half a cow together. We got to choose the cuts we wanted and how the cow was processed for us. This Friday we got a delivery of 222 lbs of fresh local organic beef. YUM! This is what all that meat looked like spread out on our dining room table...

I'm excited we were able to do this for a variety of reasons. Check out the Missouri Grassfed Beef's website if you want to learn about why buying local meat is an amazing thing to do, nutritionally, environmentally and culturally. And a big bonus for buying bulk... it was only $3.20/pound. That's an amazing price for local organic ground beef, not to mention we got some beautiful roast cuts and amazing steaks too.

Last night we grilled up some burgers and they were DELISH. And better yet we'll be able to eat off this meat for the next year.

If you're interested in finding a local CSA, quality farmers market, or local farms you can buy from direct LOCAL HARVEST is an amazing resource. You can search by your zip code to see what's available in your area.