Pasture Posts #135
Here’s the weekly roundup from Watson Farms and your direct connection to your farmer. Enjoy the latest edition of Pasture Posts!
Where does your beef come from?
Last week we talked about how some of the national meat retailers use clever-speak to mislead consumers into thinking they are purchasing 100% grass-fed beef when in fact they aren’t. There is another alarming trend in the grass-fed beef arena and that is that a vast majority of the grass-fed beef consumed in the U.S. is actually grown somewhere else.
The statistic from the Stone Barns Center is that American farmers and ranchers only provide about 20-25% of America’s grass-fed beef. What this means is that most of the grass-fed beef that is found in grocery stores now is sourced from overseas. This includes the more expensive high end grocers as well. Butcher Box openly admits that the majority of their beef comes from Australia.
The potential problems of sourcing from abroad like this are numerous, but one simple question for these grocers that exposes many of the downfalls is: “Can the consumer visit the farms?”
I think we would find the answer to this question to be “no” for many of these companies. That then begs the question: “Why not?” They might then hide behind an answer having to do with biosecurity or some other nonsense much like the confinement livestock industry hides behind, which in fact tells us a lot about their operation – most likely that they might be doing everything that their label or website claims.
It becomes all the easier to hide these shortcuts that many of these companies likely take by moving production to an entirely different continent.
On the other hand, imagine if trust could be restored in our food system and food dollars could actually go toward rejuvenating rural American communities simply by consumers asking their grocer if they allow visitors on the farms they source from. This kind of transparency is what consumers deserve and it would indeed open the eyes of many consumers who would force the industry to improve their practices.
Thankfully, customers like you have already made a point to be some of the most informed food shoppers out their simply by reading this newsletter from a local farm. Encourage your friends and neighbors to do the same!
We host several tour opportunities on our farm each year and one of those is coming soon. We’ll be having our annual Fall Farm Day on Oct. 28 starting at 10am. More information will be coming soon!
Product Spotlight
We just got 4 more pallets of beef back from the processor on Friday so now is a great time to stock up! Two cuts that we have a lot of are Ground Beef and London Broil.
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London Broil$35.72 -
Ground Beef$10.99
Here’s some bundles that include these cuts as well!
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Ground Beef – 20 LB Bundle$208.80 -
Winter Bundle$159.00 -
Beef Family Bundle$299.00
And, of course, we don’t want to forget about our growing list of UPS Customers! Here’s some UPS Eligible Bundles:
Produce Boxes Available!
Our partnership with Wild Hope Farm continues this fall as they are working hard to provide you with superior organic produce that can be delivered to your door right along with anything else that we deliver on our van. (Not available for UPS Shipping at this time.) In order to provide you with the freshest produce possible, we have implemented the deadlines below.
Produce Box Order Deadlines:
CHARLESTON and COLUMBIA HOME DELIVERY – SUNDAYS at 9pm
GSP HOME DELIVERY AND FARM PICK UP – TUESDAYS at 9pm
LOCAL HOME DELIVERY- THURSDAYS at 9pm
Head over to the product page to order now.
Order Deadlines and Store Hours
Here’s a friendly reminder to get your orders in by the deadline. We have changed our workflow some to help reduce errors, so we have to begin the process of staging orders for the next day’s delivery very soon after the deadlines below. Help us serve you better by ensuring your order is placed in time!
Charleston Area: 12 noon Mondays
UPS Orders: 12 noon Mondays
Columbia Area: 12 noon on Tuesdays
GSP: 12 noon on Wednesdays
Charlotte/Fort Mill/Rock Hill Areas: 12 noon on Fridays
Farm Pickup: Please wait until you receive an email stating that your order is ready to be picked up (usually 1 business day from when you place your order). Farm pickup is done during store hours:
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: 10am to 6pm
Saturday: 10am to 2pm
Closed Sunday and Wednesday
Tell a Friend!
It’s now easier than ever to Give $15 and Get $15 through our Referral Program. We don’t spend a lot of money of advertising, but rather we focus on producing products that people love and are willing to tell others about. So we depend on word of mouth to find new customers and ultimately to heal more land.
So in an effort to streamline this process we have made it easier to tell others (via email, Facebook, or Twitter) about Watson Farms. And it’s all automated on the backend, so you don’t have to rely on us to issue the store credits manually. Just head over to our Referrals Page and start sharing!
Did you know that we have a webpage that displays all the reviews we have received?
Check it out!
Check out this ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review:
“I have severe food allergies and have to be very selective on what I eat. Gave Watson Farms grass fed Gourmet Ground Beef and Grass fed Rib eye and Strip Steaks a try. Fabulous will be placing a larger order soon.”
We would greatly appreciate it if you would be kind enough to leave us a review. It helps first-time customers purchase with confidence.
Thanks again for being partners in this endeavor of local, pasture-raised proteins that has truly transformed our farm. We look forward to continuing this transition while serving you long into the future.
Sincerely,
The Watsons
Pasture Posts is written by Matt Watson.
