The majority of actions that individuals perform nowadays take less time, especially those that involve purchasing. Delivery services can help with that. There are several delivery businesses that give choices for anything from fine wine and cuisine to designer goods.
Using delivery services to buy organic meat is another great option. There are many different delivery options available; we’ll look at some of the most effective.
The Greatest Organic Meat Delivery Companies
1. Crowd Cow
Relatively new in the meat delivery market, Crowd Cow is one to keep an eye on. Their principle is sourcing grass-fed meats from organic butcher shops and small local producers and selling them to a national market.
They vet their suppliers, and you have a wide range of meat available to you. They not only sell beef products but they are also fully stocked. You can get fish and other produce delivered to your doorstep, and you can choose the farm you want your products to come from.
2. Porter Road
Porter Road specializes in hormone and antibiotic-free pasture-raised meat. They work with select local farms and do all the processing in their own facility. Their meat is hand-cut and quality inspected. They offer one-off selections and recurring subscriptions for every two, four, or eight weeks of delivery.
They deal with classic meat like beef, chicken, lamb, and heritage-breed pork. They have an outstanding selection to choose from and lots of meat combinations and cuts for any meal.
3. Farm Foods Market
This meat delivery service offers a wide selection of grass-fed, high-quality meat. They work with local, small, family-run farms, and you can choose to shop by a farm and know what practices they use to raise their animals. You get the opportunity to buy meat that is in accordance with your preference.
You have the option to look into the specifics, from grass-fed to hormone and antibiotic-free produce. They also offer more select and obscure cuts like beef liver, tongue, marrow bones and wild-caught seafood like salmon and halibut.
4. Silver Fern Farms
They are a farm cooperative that gives you 100% grass-fed beef and lamb. They are also antibiotics and hormone-free, and no feedlots. They offer pasture-raised venison, which results in better nutrition and better animal welfare than grain-fed meat. Their cuts are high-quality, and their beef is an upper choice/lower prime USDA grade.
5. ButcherBox
This delivery service offers humanely raised and hormone-free meat. You can choose from chicken, American wagyu, beef, and pork. With ButcherBox, you also get to choose your own box containing your choice of a mix of products, or you can choose from a box with premade varieties.
You can also get recipes and preparation tips. High-quality meat with this service is a guarantee as all products are grass-fed and the chicken is free-range organic feed. Their cuts are individually vacuum-packed and frozen, so you can choose what you want whenever you’re ready. They are also Eco-friendly as their packaging is recyclable and bio-degradable.
6. US Wellness Meats
In operation for more than two decades, this company provides high-quality grass-fed meat. Their animals are raised using rotational grazing methods and are hormone and antibiotic-free. The company also offers a wide range of other meat products including beef, lamb, and pork cuts. These include duck, poultry, healthy pet food, healthy snacks, and broths.
7. Vital Choice Wild Seafood
It offers a wide array of meat and is a specialized seafood provider. The company carries most varieties of fish, from the commonly found tuna and salmon to the rare mahi-mahi, sablefish, Chilean sea bass, cod, and more.
Vital also offers meat from wild-caught salmon to pasture-raised chicken and pork. They are also the main provider of prime, organic, grass-fed beef and bison. Their meat comes from humanely raised animals that are fed pure pasture. They also have a pouched seafood and canned meats section.
8. Wild Alaskan Company
This company mainly focuses on sustainable fresh-caught Alaskan seafood and fish products from sustainable fisheries. They have a direct delivery service that offers a variety of fish cuts that include seasonal selections. You can order the seafood directly once you find a particular cut that you like.
They provide a monthly subscription service with three plans: Salmon, Combo, and White Fish. The box contains wild and sustainable seafood that comes in individually wrapped portions for easy cooking.
9. Thrive Market
It is a membership-based market aimed at providing its users with healthy and sustainable products at affordable prices. Their shop offers more than just organic meat; you can also get access to a whole range of beauty products, wine, supplements, and foods.
You can get healthy antibiotic-free meat, and you can also build your own seafood and meat boxes to get more choice products. It is a great way to get organic meat and other products within your budget.
10. Fossil Farms
This company prides itself on being a specialist exotic meat provider. They provide high-quality, all-natural meats and farm-raised game. They have a carefully vetted network of independently owned ranches and farms and sell antibiotic, hormone, and steroid-free products.
You can get exotic meats, including alligator and yak meat. Their selection is more comprehensive than most local butchers and is worth checking out.
11. Organic Prairie
This is a farmer-owned delivery service offering chicken, turkey, pork chops, and grass-fed beef. All their meat is pesticide-free, antibiotic-free, and hormone-free. Established in 1996, it is more established and has more experience than most other delivery services.
They offer seasonal specials, like the New York Strip, sliced pepperoni, and summer sausage. Their animals are humane and pasture-raised, and their products meet the set USDA organic regulations.
12. Primal Pastures
This is the best online meat delivery service company to choose if you are concerned about animal welfare. Their animals are humanely raised, and the company pays special attention to the well-being of the animals and the environment. Primal Pastures are also Eco-friendly as they ship their products in recyclable containers. They sell pasture-raised meats such as beef, lamb, and specialty cuts.
Things to Consider When Choosing the Best Organic Meat Delivery Service
Many factors come into play when choosing organic meat delivery services. The following are some of them that will help you select a more efficient company:
Reviews and Ratings
Checking the reviews and ratings left by customers and professionals is the first step you should take for all delivery and subscription services. Don’t only look at the average ratings the provider has; also look for the reasons behind the ratings. Look for external ratings as they are less likely to be biased than internal ones.
Pay attention to the trends in the ratings too. Multiple complaints about the same issue can be a sign of poor service, and chances are you might have the same experience as well. You can look for complaints that haven’t been resolved yet at Better Business Bureau before making a choice.
Learn More about the Company
Before deciding on the company, try and find out as much about them as you can. One way you can do that is by looking through their website. Find their strong points there and learn about their operations.
Another way to learn is through investigating. Learn about their cancellation policies, how long they have been in business, and how they deal with personal and data security. You must read the fine print so as not to be blindsided. Check out their customer service, FAQs, and privacy policies too.
Find Information on the Meat
Don’t sign up for a company just because they claim to have organic meat. Dig deeper than that. Find out if the meat is USDA certified, not USDA Prime, as it is the only proof that the meat is entirely organic. You should also know where and how the animals were raised and where the meat is coming from. Look for the following labels on their cut that guarantee authenticity:
- Grass-fed vs. grain-fed: grass-fed animals are healthier because they most likely have enough room to roam, resulting in meat with higher Omega 3 levels and low unhealthy fats, ideal for the prime cut. Grain-fed animals are often kept in deplorable conditions, and the grain is only used to fatten them, which might cause them to be unhealthy, with more unhealthy fats.
- Pasture-Raised Meats: a cut with the pasture-raised label shows you that the animals had enough room to roam and graze, promoting the overall health and welfare of the animals and the overall nutrition you’ll get. It is also generally a more ethical and humane way of raising animals. It is important to note that most pasture-raised animals are commonly grass-fed or grass-finished, although it might not always be the case.
- Antibiotic-free: the best organic meat comes with an antibiotic-free certification. Some farmers use growth hormones to artificially increase the livestock size and their revenue by extension. There are no foolproof studies on the impact the hormones have on humans, but it is better to skip the hormones and antibiotics altogether if you want organic meats.
- Meat cut: this choice depends on the meat cut you want. The sirloin, rib eye, and strip loin are the most culinary approved with beef, while the leanest beef cut goes to the flank steak. With pork, the shoulder, ribs, rib and blade cuts, and the butt roasts are considered to be the best cuts.
- On receiving the package: inspect the meat upon delivery to confirm that it is genuinely organic. The meat shouldn’t have a greyish hue and should be firm, not wet. Smell and thoroughly look at it to ensure it doesn’t look or smell odd and contact the company immediately if it does.
Price
Right off the bat, organic meat costs more than regular meat. Adding delivery services drives the price even higher than conventional meat. Despite that, compare prices between different delivery services and find the one with suitable prices.
Customer Service
No matter how good the meat is, good customer service is also as important. Ensure that the delivery service you choose is easy to contact, with clear communication lines, such as phone lines, online forms, and email. Make sure you can directly speak to someone and there is an easy way to post your inquiries and complaints.
Benefits of Organic Meat
Organic meat has better nutritional benefits for your health compared to conventional meat. Some of these benefits are:
- Organic meat has nearly 50% more Omega 3’s, essential fats that prevent heart diseases and regulate blood pressure.
- Organic meat might taste fresher than other meats, although that largely depends on the person.
- When done correctly, organic meats are mostly free of pesticides and other chemicals digested from crops sprayed with pesticides.
With all the benefits of organic, some misconceptions also come. The most common one is that the meat means the animals were raised more humanely than the others. That is not necessarily true and doesn’t apply to some farmers. Some observe better practices and more humane treatments for the animals than others.
The overall impact of organic-raised animals is also a little complicated. Although it is more helpful for the environment due to less use of pesticides and other chemicals, organically raised animals to use more land than others. The higher land use can cause an increase in the nitrogen gases being released.
Despite these few drawbacks, the benefits of organic meat far outweigh the potential negatives, and science points to it as the better option.
Is Organic Meat Available at the Grocery Store?
You can find organic meat at supermarkets and some grocery stores. However, there are instances where supermarkets might have more limited options, or you might be living in a more isolated area where you don’t have access to stores that sell organic meat.
You can also find the meat in natural food stores, although their prices tend to be higher and they may not have the kind of meat you want. In such circumstances, delivery services are your best option.
They avail you of more options than you might find in grocery stores. They are also convenient as they save you time and give you access to the exact type of meat or fish you want. They do, however, cost more, and choosing a delivery service also means you have lesser control over when you get the meat.
On whether to buy from delivery companies or grocery stores the choice is entirely up to you. You can make a pros and cons list to help you determine whether or not delivery services are the better alternative for you.
Final Thoughts
The sale of organic meat has been on the rise recently and with good reason. It is an excellent option for those who want to be more health-conscious and environmentally friendly. Find good cuts of meat that come from humanely raised animals and are free from antibiotics and hormones.
Meat delivery services offer you a choice of fine meat from different regions. The meat passes quality inspection, and they deliver your order to your door. Ensure you choose a service that suits your meat needs and is within your budget. There are many options to choose from, so choose wisely.