Where’s the beef? And pork, and lamb, and chicken…

This weekend is the “official” opening of summer barbecue season and it’s high time I did a post on where you can find locally-raised, locally-butchered good meat. This is a quickie post, meaning I just want to get it up in time for Memorial Day Weekend. I’ll add more details in the future (ain’t the internet great?). Please let me know if I’ve missed any of your favorite places or if I’ve gotten any details wrong. Click on the links to go to their Web sites for more information.

Retail stores

Included on this list are stores that come recommended, by us or by others. That said, this is not a “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval” or anything. Some sell organic, antibiotic-free, hormone-free, pastured and local meats. Some don’t. I put everything out there. You make the choice! But these places do have a following. I’ve also noted, when I know for sure, if they sell fresh vs. frozen. I haven’t mentioned supermarkets for obvious reasons although I will say that Wegmans (Warrington) can be a good source for organic and antibiotic-free, hormone-free meats.

From Lower to Upper Bucks and then some…

• Gerome’s Sausage (Levittown). Homemade sausage (over 20 varieties), NO additives, preservatives or fillers. Fresh.
• Aaron’s Country Meats (Newtown Farmers Market). Beef, pork, sausage. Fresh.
• Zook’s BBQ Barn (Newtown Farmers Market) Poultry raised “all natural.” Fresh.
• Ely’s Pork Products (Newtown). Beef, pork, poultry, lamb and veal all raised on their farm. Also make sausage and excellent artisanal cheese. Fresh.
• Birchwood Farms (Upper Makefield/Newtown). Raw organic dairy store selling own grass-only-fed beef, pork, veal, pastured eggs, bison, and lamb. Frozen.
• Tanner Bros. (Ivyland). Own Angus beef, raised on the farm. Frozen.
• Illig’s (address says Chalfont but it’s more like Warrington). Full service butcher. Mostly fresh, some frozen.
• None Such Farm Market (Buckingham). Their beef is raised on their farm across the street, and fed grain grown on the farm. No hormones. Good chicken and pork too. Full service butcher shop. Mostly fresh, some frozen.
• Maximuck’s (Doylestown). Own beef, raised on the farm. Frozen. No hormones.
• Haring Brothers (Danboro). One of our favorites. Full service butcher shop. Fresh and frozen. “Whenever possible, we buy our fresh meat and vegetables from local farmers, including agricultural students at Delaware Valley College.”
• Bolton’s Farm Market (Silverdale). Own turkey, chicken, beef, all grown “naturally and additive free.” Fresh.
• Blooming Glen Pork & Catering (Blooming Glen). Pork products, including smoked meats. Full service butcher shop. Big Bob’s BBQ stand on Saturdays. Fresh.
• Baringer Bros. (Richlandtown). Full service butcher shop. “Home raised, grain fed” meat. Fresh and home smoked meats.
• Saylor’s (Hellertown). Butcher and italian market with fresh meats and smoked products.
• Maresca’s (Sergentsville, NJ). An old-time butcher shop indeed. Fresh meats, cheeses, bread and italian specialty products. Fresh.

Producers

These are farmers raising livestock in Bucks County for sale. You can buy directly from them at local farmers’ markets, online or by phone order. Where a Web site was not available, I link to the Penn State Cooperative Extension list of Bucks County farms and markets.

From Lower to Upper Bucks and then some…

• Ivy Acres Farm (Ivyland). Lamb. Order by phone.
• Ewe Can Do It (Newtown). Lamb, sheep and wool products.
• Thorpe Farm (Newtown). Own raised bison. Own farm market.
• Sunnyslope Farm (New Hope). Free range organic chickens, turkey and grass-fed beef, organic eggs. Phone: 215.598.7838, or email: sunnyslopepa@aol.com.
• The Happy Farm (Kintersville). Pastured poultry (chickens, ducks, turkey, geese), lamb and free-range eggs. Find them at the Wrightstown and Doylestown Farmers’ Markets.
• Purely Farm’s Pastured Meats (Pipersville). Pastured chicken, turkey, pork and lamb (in season). Reach Marc and Joanna at 215.317.0889 or email at purelyfarm@verizon.net, or at the Stockton or Wrightstown Farmers’ Markets.
• Tohickon Meadows Farm (Ottsville). Freezer beef, feeder cattle, lambs, Call for more info: 215.795.2385
• Tussock Sedge Farm (Blooming Glen). Pastured, grass-fed and grass-finished beef. Order online.
• Meadow Brook Farms (Springtown). Free-range, vegetarian-fed and grass-finished Black Angus beef. Raised without antibiotics or added hormones. Available frozen at their farm store, Tabora Farm Market and Rick’s Eggs.
• Homestead Hog Farm (Sellersville). Beef and pork, chicken (all natural), brown eggs.
• Hendricks Farm & Dairy (Telford). A grass-fed, natural raw milk dairy producing fine farmstead cheeses, grass-fed beef, lamb and rose veal, and cured meats.
• Hillside Farms (Telford). American bison. Sold from own farm store.
• Windy Spring Farm (Quakertown). Beef by the half for freezer. Phone: 215.536.8624
• Backyard Bison (Coopersburg). American Plains buffalo raised “on pasture as much as possible” without use of hormones, steroids, or antibiotics, USDA inspected. Sold from own farm store.
• Naturally @ Holben Valley Farm (New Tripoli) Although this producer of grass-fed and pasture-raised Black Angus beef is not in Bucks, they come to the Wrightstown Farmers’ Market each week. No antibiotics or growth hormones. Frozen.

Look for Bucks County Taste on Facebook and Twitter!