There could be several reasons why a new product is brought to market:
Buckeye Valley Beef Cooperative was founded on the need to change our local food community. Here is how:
The Old Way:
Our Way:
Do you see a trend here? We oversee the process through until the very end.
We can verify the quality of our product from start to finish.
Local Food Community:
Our new and improved food chain also helps bring back dollars to our local community. Everything from the butcher shops to the processors are small and local family-owned businesses who need people like you to keep them thriving.
Values:
Quality
Our competitors don’t have time to make sure each steer is finished. When we say finished, we mean that the steer has the correct amount of weight, according to their individual frame and genetics, to provide a superior amount of marbling for taste and texture. Think BMI. If I am 4’9” and weight 150 versus 5’6”, my body would look very different. It is more than being vain with cattle; it is about creating a pleasurable dining experience for our customers. We personally weigh and evaluate our steers before sending to the processor. At the processor, the meat is graded into the four standards most people are familiar with: Prime, Choice, Select, and Standard. If the meat doesn't make the cut, it doesn't get sold through the cooperative.
Sustainable Agriculture
We also practice sustainable agriculture.
Take this three-legged stool. Without one of the legs, the stool wouldn't stand.
Economy: Our cooperative provides another way for farmers to diversify their farms and maintain a secure living for their farm families.
Environment: Our corn is grown on our farms, fed to our cattle, and their manure is used to replenish the soil on our farms to grow more corn.
Community: We serve as a vehicle for our local farmers to provide their resources to our local grocery stores, customers, and butcher shops.
Heritage:
Many of our cooperative members were blessed with the opportunity to farm because our hard-working ancestors forged the way for us. Although, farming looks very different now than it did back then, we still find ways to adapt the modern practices with the knowledge passed down from our grandparents. We may use auto-steer tractors or drones to plant and monitor our corn-growing process, but we still grind our feed for our livestock right on our farms. We may have an automatic hay-wrapper that wraps our wet hay for us, but we still grow the hay right on our farms. Through our practices, we hope to instill our ancestor’s knowledge in our children, so their legacy lives on.