| Products | Our Story | Contact | Blog |
We subscribe wholly to Chefs Collaboratives' principles:
STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES
Food is fundamental to life, nourishing us in body and soul. The preparation of food strengthens our connection to nature. And the sharing of food immeasurably enriches our sense of community.
Good food begins with unpolluted air, land, and water, environmentally sustainable farming and fishing, and humane animal husbandry.
Food choices that emphasize delicious, locally grown, seasonally fresh, and whole or minimally processed ingredients are good for us, for local farming communities, and for the planet.
Cultural and biological diversity are essential for the health of the earth and its inhabitants. Preserving and revitalizing sustainable food, fishing and agricultural traditions strengthen that diversity.
By continually educating themselves about sustainable choices, chefs can serve as models to the culinary community and the general public through their purchases of seasonal, sustainable ingredients and their transformation of these ingredients into delicious food.
The greater culinary community can be a catalyst for positive change by creating a market for good food and helping preserve local farming and fishing communities.
Food is fundamental to life, nourishing us in body and soul. The preparation of food strengthens our connection to nature. And the sharing of food immeasurably enriches our sense of community.
Good food begins with unpolluted air, land, and water, environmentally sustainable farming and fishing, and humane animal husbandry.
Food choices that emphasize delicious, locally grown, seasonally fresh, and whole or minimally processed ingredients are good for us, for local farming communities, and for the planet.
Cultural and biological diversity are essential for the health of the earth and its inhabitants. Preserving and revitalizing sustainable food, fishing and agricultural traditions strengthen that diversity.
By continually educating themselves about sustainable choices, chefs can serve as models to the culinary community and the general public through their purchases of seasonal, sustainable ingredients and their transformation of these ingredients into delicious food.
The greater culinary community can be a catalyst for positive change by creating a market for good food and helping preserve local farming and fishing communities.
Vision and Principles
We believe in the our role as steward of the land. The land provides for us, feeds us, clothes, heals us, but only if we maintain it and protect it. Humans and animals have a pact, one of mutual dependence and care taking. We must honor our part, to love and respect the animal, treat it with dignity and in turn accept its sacrifice so that we too may be sustained.We believe that Sustainability is a three legged stool, we must have all three legs to survive. We must sustain the Land, the Local Economy, and ourselves. Everything is intertwined, without making good choices in our purchasing/production/pricing, the health of our land will expire, our local farmers who care will not be able to stay on their land, and we will not be able to continue.
Vows
We Vow: To not take more than we need and to not waste.
We are Chefs/Butchers, and as such our job is to feed our people. We will do so however, only in a way that is ethical. We do not support the needless waste of life only for choice cuts.WHAT THIS MEANS:
- NO BOX MEAT- when we commission an animal it comes in whole (or in primals). We break it down and we use every part.
- You will see things you don't see everyday from amazing pates and terrines, to stocks and sauces, to unusual cuts. Try them, you will like them, you will see.
- We will run out of things- There are only two tenderloins per cow, about six pounds each. That is only 24 filet steaks per week. But there is a lot of amazing meat on a cow, we will steer you to something equally delicious! Trust us!
- Some meats are seasonal. When you are truly dealing with local meat, some things are not available all the time. Sorry.
- Does this mean I don't want to know what is in the hot dogs? Hardly! We do use EVERY edible part, but that doesn't mean that mystery meat is hidden in the things you love. Labels are very clear what cuts go where. We are relying on the amazing authentic preparations from Europe to share our delight in the "odds and ends".
We VOW: to support and honor our local Farmers/Ranchers.
Too often in our current Chef focused culture the preparer is glorified and the producer forgotten. Our meats come from just a 300 mile radius and we are dedicated to insuring that local producers are successful. We also explain the farms and the farmers, and give you all of the information you need to make and informed sustainable decision.WHAT THIS MEANS:
You will have a full disclosure of all facts:- 300 miles
- Pastured
- All natural
- Name of Farmer
- Location
- Pictures
- Info on feed, rearing, conditions
- Distances to our shop as well as to slaughter
- Their story
- The products each farmer is associated with
- Links
WE VOW: To support our local economy and neighborhood with sustainable pricing.
$2.09/# for pork loin at a big box store is not a real price. The real price is the destruction of the land and country that we love. If we want to keep the farmers on the land and butchers in their shops, we have to pay more. Food, especially meat, isn't cheap to produce. However, food needs to be priced at a price that is sustainable for the community it feeds. These are not flush times for anyone. Many times local/all natural/boutique are code words for hideously expensive and unaffordable. Not here. We vow to keep costs as well prices as is sustainable for the farmers, the animals, you, and us (we have kids to feed too!)WHAT THIS MEANS:
- We are not competing with the grocery stores on price, ours costs more. But the price you pay will be fair for what you are getting. If you commit to us in our path of sustainability, we will commit to you in value.
WE VOW: We select only the tastiest meats available.
Every cut of meat will be the best you can get and you will love it. End of story.EXCEPTIONS: No philosophy is ever perfect and here are our exceptions. Call us hypocrites if you want, but we are striving for greatness and here are the reasons for our decisions:
BACON: Due to the wonderfully high demand for our bacon we are forced to buy local pork bellies by the box. Small Washington farmers can't keep up with our demand, nor can we effectively utilize all of the meat from the hogs that the bellies come from.
FOIE GRAS: We carry it. It isn't local, it is from Hudson Valley, NY. Why? Because we love it and believe in it. And we are giving the finger to those who don't. By focusing hate on foie gras producers and chefs who serve it, protestors have effectively given permission for the cruelty that takes place in the rest of the meat industry. Our products are cruelty free... and we say this with a strait face. Hudson Valley is humane and sane way to raise ducks. We have been there, and seen it with our own eyes. When someone opens a local foie gras farm, we will switch, but we will always carry foie gras. Protestors are welcome to come any time, but we recommend Fridays... nothing sells the foie like some idiot with a bullhorn spouting things they have read on the internet. Anytime there are protestors, we start sampling free foie and sauternes...bring it.