DIY BBQ Guide: three meat delivery services for locavores who can’t fit a side of beef in their freezer

Being a locavore doesn’t come cheap. While buying in bulk can help, not everyone has a minivan and a deep-freeze big enough for a side of beef. The solution? Meat boxes, delivered monthly from the farm. The deal is similar to veggie programs: subscribers buy in for a few months and farmers divvy up the ethically raised animals among them. Deliveries bring expertly butchered cuts wrapped for the freezer. Here, three programs for keeping your ’cue stocked with virtuous steaks and burgers all summer long.
West Side Beef Co., westsidebeef.com.
One-fifteenth of a cow from Dingo Farms, a GMO-free farm near Bradford. Boxes include ground beef, steaks, sausages, lard and stock. $150 for approximately 20 lbs. Orders are on a cow-by-cow basis. Pickup only.
Stoddart Family Farm, 705-786-7705, stoddart.ca.
Naturally raised beef, lamb, pork and chicken from a farm in the Kawarthas. Boxes bring ground beef, steaks, sausages, chops, stew and roasts. $495 for 10 lbs. per month for six months.
Twin Creeks Organic Farm and Garden, 519-538-4704, twincreeksfarm.ca.
Grass-fed beef and lamb and naturally raised pork. Cuts include steaks, sausages, chops and stew. $335 for 6 to 7 lbs. per month for six months.
Has anyone used this? http://www.beefconnections.ca/
Or this? http://www.berettaorganics.com/
Yes, I heard of Beef Connections a few years ago specifically to find an organic producer. I have been buying beef from the one organic producer from Beef Connections and my family loves it. We have 2 little boys so ground beef is a big seller with them as well as the great flavour from the organic beef.
We’re finishing our first West Side Beef order just now, and I am VERY happy with the quality. We got a great mix:
1 round roast
1 short ribs
1 tenderloin
1 skirt steak
1 rib eye
1 top sirloin
1 striploin
1 clodhammer
7 sausages (100 g each)
stewing beef (400g)
4 ground beef (each about 400 g)
4 hamburger patties
one tub of tallow
two tubs of the best beef stock I have ever had in my life.