Our Meat CSA is one of the best ways you can support Leland Street Country Club
Picking up some meat from the Trading Post is great - joining our CSA really helps Farmer Nancy plan for the season.
Do you know all the ways you help the farm and the farmer, simply by signing up for our Leland Street Country Club CSA?
Leland Street Farms raises unique Kunekune pork which is quite different from conventional pork production.
Conventionally raised pork, even under the most humane and dignified practices, takes about six months to reach butcher weight, which is approximately 240-260 lbs., yielding 180-200 lbs. of meat. To reach those weights on that time-line, including those that fall under the “pastured, heritage, and humanely-raised” labels, pigs predominately rely on self-feeders allowing them 24/7 access to grain from the time they are weaned at eight weeks, until they are harvested. Yes, people will sell you “pastured pork.” Yes, they may throw it spent yeast, whey and dairy, and other food scraps. However, (and this is from experience), those are supplements that help mostly with marketing, and are not their primary source of food.
Because Leland Street Farms is clearly in an urban setting, conventional pork breeds were not an option. I had to be very selective with which breed of pig I chose to raise on a small footprint, in a rural-residential area, shared with other animals as part of a balanced bio-diversification.
I chose the New Zealand Kunekune. Unlike any other breed, the Kunekune is docile, hearty, gentle on infrastructure, and are not only excellent grazers, but thrive best with only occasional access to grain.
In fact, if the Kunekune is fed the conventional way (and I know this because I tried it!), they turn into enormous unhealthy blobs of blubber. Instead, 90% of what is fed to Leland Street Farms Kunekune pork is up-cycled food scraps thanks to Andy’s Produce, Ceres Kitchen, Apple Blossom School, Sally Tomatoes, and our devoted neighbors. Have you ever noticed that considering the number of pigs I have, they don’t remotely smell like any other, large or small, pig operations? It’s because they’re not eating grain 24/7!
Consequently, Kunekune pigs take twice as long, 12-14 months, to reach butcher weight, which is only about 100-120 lbs., yielding 70-100 lbs. of meat. Therefore, it takes twice as long and three times the labor to raise half the amount of meat as conventional “pasture-raised, heritage, humanely-raised” pigs!
Yet for every child that has had the thrill of seeing newborn piglets take their first breath, every dog-walker who chooses Leland St. as their path so they might say hello to Jethrow and Dotti, every “foodie” who has savored the gastric distinction of the Kunekune pork as it passes their refined pallet, and for every city planner who has said “You can’t raise pigs in town!”…it’s worth it!
Leland Street Farms raises unique Kunekune pork which is quite different from conventional pork production.
Conventionally raised pork, even under the most humane and dignified practices, takes about six months to reach butcher weight, which is approximately 240-260 lbs., yielding 180-200 lbs. of meat. To reach those weights on that time-line, including those that fall under the “pastured, heritage, and humanely-raised” labels, pigs predominately rely on self-feeders allowing them 24/7 access to grain from the time they are weaned at eight weeks, until they are harvested. Yes, people will sell you “pastured pork.” Yes, they may throw it spent yeast, whey and dairy, and other food scraps. However, (and this is from experience), those are supplements that help mostly with marketing, and are not their primary source of food.
Because Leland Street Farms is clearly in an urban setting, conventional pork breeds were not an option. I had to be very selective with which breed of pig I chose to raise on a small footprint, in a rural-residential area, shared with other animals as part of a balanced bio-diversification.
I chose the New Zealand Kunekune. Unlike any other breed, the Kunekune is docile, hearty, gentle on infrastructure, and are not only excellent grazers, but thrive best with only occasional access to grain.
In fact, if the Kunekune is fed the conventional way (and I know this because I tried it!), they turn into enormous unhealthy blobs of blubber. Instead, 90% of what is fed to Leland Street Farms Kunekune pork is up-cycled food scraps thanks to Andy’s Produce, Ceres Kitchen, Apple Blossom School, Sally Tomatoes, and our devoted neighbors. Have you ever noticed that considering the number of pigs I have, they don’t remotely smell like any other, large or small, pig operations? It’s because they’re not eating grain 24/7!
Consequently, Kunekune pigs take twice as long, 12-14 months, to reach butcher weight, which is only about 100-120 lbs., yielding 70-100 lbs. of meat. Therefore, it takes twice as long and three times the labor to raise half the amount of meat as conventional “pasture-raised, heritage, humanely-raised” pigs!
Yet for every child that has had the thrill of seeing newborn piglets take their first breath, every dog-walker who chooses Leland St. as their path so they might say hello to Jethrow and Dotti, every “foodie” who has savored the gastric distinction of the Kunekune pork as it passes their refined pallet, and for every city planner who has said “You can’t raise pigs in town!”…it’s worth it!
- By committing in advance to 10 pounds of meat per month over a period of four months, and paying that cost up front, you are helping to share the cost burden of what it takes to raise these animals for a year before they are ready to harvest.
- You are contributing to the increasing slaughter and processing fees that, pound-for-pound, are exponentially more expensive to produce than conventional pork.
- Furthermore, by participating in a consistent flow of bulk inventory, you are allowing me to better organize, track, and maintain a cyclical balance of inventory that is imperative to the production process. In short- you make this farming thing SO MUCH easier!
