Philadelphia CowShare: Local, Sustainable Meat

Where’s the beef?!  A new meat-share system (Philadelphia CowShare) popped up in my inbox from DailyCandy this morning:

There’s Farm CSA shares, Car Shares like Zipcar and many other “shares” to hit Philly.  For those who want to improve their carbon footprint from eating meat but can’t cut the habit completely, Philadelphia CowShare seems like a greener, more organic alternative. According to their website, they partner with farms near Philadelphia in Lancaster, Chester, Delaware, and Mercer counties.

Philadelphia CowShare’s Pledge

Philadelphia CowShare personally visits each farm and talk to the farmers – to make sure your meat is from a natural environment – and that cows are grass-fed, free of growth hormones and antibiotics.  While farms need to follow sustainable, organic farming practices, they do not require the USDA organic certification.  And the best part?  The cows life is free compared to factory farms: They live outside 24 hr/day when the grass is green – and either in open barns year around with access to shelter OR an open air barn (i.e. not an enclosed structure) during the snowy season.

How Does Philadelphia CowShare Work?

Shares can range from 1/8 share to a whole cow.  The 1/8 share gets you 40-50 LBs of beef total for $410 pounds – and it’s easily freezable.  The whole cow would be 160-180 lbs for $2,624. You can sign up and find out more on Philadelphia CowShare’s Order Page.

I’ve 98% switched to a vegetarian diet (I forgo the pescetarian label) so I personally wouldn’t opt in for a $400 meat share.  However, animals are so often crammed into farm ‘factories’, this is a better alternative to share among family or to splurge if you have bigger party plans.

Readers, would you consider Philly CowShare as a greener alternative? Has anyone tried this organization?

Posted by Julie

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Julie Hancher is Editor-in-Chief of Green Philly, sharing her expertise of all things sustainable in the city of brotherly love. She enjoys long walks in the park with local beer and greening her travels, cooking & cat, Sir Floofus Drake. View all posts by Julie Hancher