Locally-farmed meat boxes helps consumers better connect with the food they eat

AgLocal delivers meat packages from customers' local farms, along with information that lets them know more about what they're eating.

Supermarkets are convenient for the consumer, but rely on a complicated supply chain and often sell food that has travelled for hundreds or thousands of miles before it lands on shoppers’ plates. We recently wrote about FreshRealm, which is using USPS to cut out the middleman and get food to consumers straight from the farm, and now a new enterprise called AgLocal is delivering meat packages from customers’ local farms, along with information that lets them know more about what they’re eating.

Although the San Francisco-based company initially positioned itself as a marketplace connecting regional farmers and restaurants, it’s now moved to a monthly subscription model aimed at consumers. Focusing on working with family farms that raise animals more naturally and sustainably than corporate ones, AgLocal curates its boxes depending on the stock available from local ranches. Members can choose from four different types of boxes — Family Style, Grill Master for BBQs, Fit and Lean which provides leaner cuts, and Farmer’s Choice which is unusual cuts and offal. A 6lb box costs USD 85, while a 12lb box is available for USD 150, and each delivery also includes recipes and information about the farms and their rearing processes. AgLocal boxes are delivered to the door and the service will send out its first shipments on 21 May.

The team behind the service hope that consumers will pay the premium for the high quality meat, and the knowledge that they’re helping local, independent farms, who receive a 60 percent cut of each sale. Are there other ways to incentivize consumers to support sustainable farming instead of bottom-line driven superstores?