Pastoral Plate

Pastoral Plate is a meat-buying club located in the Bay Area. Our goal is to supply the very best meats and to bring people together so that we can act collectively to influence the quality of our food, and work to improve the functioning of our local food economy.

We have tried to create standards that work for both the farmer and us.

1. When possible, we visit the farms and meet the farmers.
2. The feed and field are organic (or in the process of being certified, which is a long and very costly process)
3. Humanely raised
4. Free range or as close to it as possible
5. Finished on the farm, not in a food-lot
6. In getting the product to you, we will do our best to minimize the carbon footprint. We also establish and maintain the provenance, exactly like a rare antique. We feel we all deserve to know what we are eating.

In the Bay Area we have access to small, wonderful farms that produce foods of the highest quality. Why not build our own distribution chain, take an active part in the creation of our food, support the local farmer, and eat some of the best food on earth? Not only is this possible, but for us, it's also been a fulfilling alternative to the way we think about and contribute to how our food is produced.

Pastoral Plate is about taking an assertive stance when it comes to food.

It’s about...

1. Discovering that traditionally raised meats taste better and are healthier than industrially raised meats.
2. Realizing that this type of food is very accessible in the Bay Area.
3. Understanding that we can contribute directly to sustaining a holistic and balanced way of agriculture and life.
4. Realizing that these farms exist in the Bay Area and that farmers are willing to enter into a direct relationship with the consumer.
5. Learning to cook traditional cuts.
6. Forming a community that wants to have fun cooking and eating.
7. Consumers are the most potent force in the food supply chain – but only if we want to be. During the last 60 years, we relinquished our power to special interest groups under the assumption that someone else is protecting our welfare. Unfortunately, the modern food distribution chain serves large, special interests first and consumers last.