There is now also craft beef

Not an unfamiliar phenomenon to us, except for the name: craft beef. Meat that is friendly to animals and consumers and, just like craft beer and craft lemonade, is produced on a small scale, locally and artisanally. Craft beef is actually slow beef produced farm-to-table, but in an age of craft anything, it sounds a lot fresher.

For years, we have had phenomena such as Koopeenkoe.nl, where you buy a live cow together with a group of people. You do have to be patient, because after your purchase, the four-legged animal continues to graze freely and happily in a farmer’s meadow, with the farmer who has known her since she was young. Until the time comes to have her slaughtered. The sustainable, consumer- and animal-friendly farm-to-table beef that comes from this cow after a long life of grazing is then divided among the ‘owners’.

Consumer-friendly? Absolutely, because it is tastier, fresher and healthier than mass-produced meat and is delivered directly to your table without intermediaries. The ultimate answer to the Kiloknaller.

Hand selected

In America, the phenomenon is now also gaining ground, according to the British newspaper The Independent. Meat eaters can jointly buy a cow from indie (independent), artisanal, small-scale farmers who are hand selected across the country by the owners of the American company Crowd Cow. This makes you, as a buyer, a co-owner of the most local cow possible. In the American style, it sounds like this: ‘A revolution in small farms and big tastes.’ And yes, in big America, that is an even bigger step than it is here.

Craft beef is farm-to-table slow beef

By buying craft beef through crowdfunding, you have an excuse to keep eating meat after all — very important to many Americans. Because you support the local craft farmer, and your meat is traceable and more sustainable than that of all those American specimens raised in mega-barns on corn, soy and/or grain. And that is especially convenient, because the latter can be brewed into craft beer. At the same time, this makes your meat more ethical. What’s more, it contains no antibiotics, hormones or other remedies from the medicine cabinet of the industrial cattle industry. On the other hand, it does contain plenty of omega-3, amino acids, iron and other minerals.

The next best thing to vegan meat, the craft beefers at Crowd Cow would say, fully aware that a catchy name and slogan account for half of the success. Dutch cow buyers: take advantage of it!