Good friends of ours in Cary IL hosted the first ever Riemer Family Farm "meat party". Yes I think it sounds funny too. Imagine a jewelry or Tupperware party, but the subject of discussion is the difference between a sirloin steak and a sirloin TIP steak.
It was very fun! We met some very nice folks and sold some beef to boot. Buying beef in bulk can be an intimidating idea for first time customers. We continue to hear people say "Oh...my parents used to buy beef by the quarter or side when I was growing up. It was so good." Some meat party goers also talked about how they never really thought about where their food came from until recently. It really is a novel thing for most suburban residents to know a farmer!
Raising beef without added hormones, antibiotics and steroids is not new at all. Farmers raised their animals on small diversified "natural" farms for centuries. It is only during the last few decades that the industrial model for farming has become the norm. It's the food "industry" that has changed and become, well, industrialized. The vast majority of food comes from what many would refer to as "factory farms." These are the sprawling, overcrowded, unclean and stinky places that inspire scary documentaries such as "Food Inc." and cartoons like "The Meatrix" or movies like "Fast Food Nation". There are many reasons for this change, but that is a topic for another time.
We enjoy raising our cattle and providing humane treatment for them. We love to meet new people and to educate folks about what we do and why we care so much about sustainable farming practices. We are both educators by training and extroverts by nature so selling beef directly and taking part in creative events like “meat parties” just seems like a good fit and a fun way to spend our time.
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