A few months back, The New York Times reported about a new practice called “cow-sharing” — in which a group of green types got together to essentially “sponsor” a cow and share its raw milk.
The practice was scrapped after a clutch of adherants became ill from the unpasteurized milk.
But now “cow-sharing” is getting a second life — sadly in death.
The new trend is being called “cow-pooling” — and it invovles a group of meat-eaters who pool their resources together to buy an entire cow (or side of cow) directly from farmers at low, low prices.
By combining their cash, the cow-poolers” can afford grass-fed, high-quality meat at far from Whole Foods prices, while simultaneously supporting local farmers. Indeed, beef this way runs $3 – $5 per pound from the farm instead of upwards of $25 per pound in the supermarket. The only catch: You gotta buy hundreds of pounds of meat at a time — hence the pooling action.
Cow-pooling is traditionally done among friends, though the site Eat Wild helps match strangers looking or potential area poolers.