A Sustainable Meat CSA
Who We Are
Community Meat Co. is a collective of three farms in the Athens area. All focusing on raising the best quality naturally raised meats on the market.
Riverview Farms supplies your share with pasture raised pork. Grateful Pastures supplies certified organic pasture raised poultry. Five Arrow Farms supplies completely grass-fed & finished beef.
All farms are antibiotic and hormone free and are family owned and operated.
How We got Here
We became interested in farming while working at Farm 255 in downtown Athens. Over the years our level of involvement with growing food has gradually progressed. From the days of volunteering once a month to backyard layer hens, to a 9 month apprenticeship, and now our own little operation. Farming has evolved from hobby to lifestyle.
In our 9 months at We Farm outside of Bloomington, IN we learned a great deal about animal husbandry and managing a small scale livestock farm but we also learned about what it really takes to live the lifestyle... early mornings, long days, and short nights. But you can't forget the best food, beautiful springs, sunny summers, and a sense of accomplishment when you finish the day’s work.
This is the lifestyle we want to live but we have to start small. So thanks to y'all for being a part of our farming journey!
Community Meat Co.
We wanted to start this collective for a number of reasons. We wanted to be able to offer a full variety in the meat CSA but don't have the infrastructure to be producing our own pork and beef. This presented us with the opportunity to help out some other local farmers. With this model, we are taking whole animals and dividing them for your shares. This way the farmer only has to deal with one sale and does not need to put their energy into marketing, just producing the best quality food. And for us, it allows us to start small. Instead of taking out loans to build up a farm, we can start one year at a time. Building on each year until we reach our destination.
Our goals
Build a community around local food and local farms.
Supply fresh, local, nutritious food to our community.
Support local farmers by buying whole animals & using every part.
Offer consumers a new appreciation for where their food comes from.
Create energy & excitement around cooking and eating.
Meet Our Farm Partners
riverview FARMS
All of the pork in the shares is provided by Riverview Farms. Please click through to the website for more information if you're interested.
Riverview Farms sits on 100 acres in Ranger, GA. They produce heritage pork, grass-fed beef, produce and grains on their certified organic farm. Charlotte got her start farming 20 years ago. They have been producing pork, beef, and produce for their CSA, 2 farmers markets and 10 restaurants.
All hogs eat natural forages with supplemented certified organic grain grown on their farm, are antibiotic free.
Little Flock
All of the chicken in your shares is provided by Meg & Gus at Little Flock.
Little Flock is a small scale pastured poultry operation owned and managed by us, Meg & Gus Darnell. In 2013 we did a 9 month apprenticeship at WE Farm outside of Bloomington, Indiana where we learned about raising cattle, hogs, chickens, turkeys, & rabbits. Now back in Athens we raise about 1000 broiler chickens on pasture every year. We were able to purchase our first home/farm with 16 acres in 2017 and in 2021 are working toward expanding our operation to include rotationally grazed hogs. We are looking forward to continuing to grow over the next few years.
All of our chickens are raised on pasture and moved daily so they always have access to fresh grass, insects, worms, & grubs. The daily moves also allow us to control their impact on the pasture so they fertilize without having an over concentration of waste. Better for the birds and better for the pasture!
Their foraging is supplemented with a mixture of non-gmo certified, soy free grains, & minerals so that they have a balanced diet. The chickens are never given hormones or antibiotics and are humanely handled and cared for. We encourage any and all to come visit the farm as we are not certified by any third party agencies and rely on you, the consumer, to be our certifiers.
Five Arrow Farms
The Beef in the shares is supplied by Five Arrow Farms, a family owned farm located in Social Circle, GA.
The Walstad & Bennett families have owned the farm since 2014 and are proud to have places a large portion of the property into conservation this year.
Our cows are birthed on farm and raised by their mothers, once weened the cows are fed nothing but good healthy grass. We often refer to ourselves as grass farmers as opposed to beef farmers because so much of what we do relies on the quality of forage for our cows. We use a "management intensive grazing" system which means the cows are in smaller paddocks and moved daily to insure fresh grass without over impacting the pasture. We believe this to be the best management practice for the animals and the pasture itself.
All beef is grass fed and finished with no hormones or antibiotics.