D.C.'s Premier Community Sponsored Agriculture Club delivering fresh, local produce direct to your door every Thursday.
How Animal Shares Work
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When buying a share of an animal you actually own a percentage of a live animal. As a buyer you also agree to go along with Arganica’s pre-packaged plan of how and when to butcher, divide and manage delivery and storage of the animal. There are many reasons for participating in an Animal Share program such as better pricing, being in control of and defining your food quality. You are also supporting sustainable local agriculture. Very few systems are available to urban populations to access animal shares simply and efficiently. At Arganica we have aimed at making this a convenient option for those who would like to eat as if they had their own private farm in the country. For most urban customers it is inefficient to take delivery of and store large amounts of frozen meat. Arganica will store your share and deliver the cuts you choose from your inventory when you need them.
When figuring out what you are buying when buying a share of a cow or goat one starts with a share of a live animal and finishes with a share of cut wrapped and labeled meat. The details of exactly how you calculate the loss due to butchering is somewhat complicated and varies with each animal’s unique structure. We try to simplify it in the chart in the pdf.
When speaking of cows we start with either a small or large cow of 600 to 1200 lbs respectively. For either a goat or sheep a small or large would range 80 to 120 lbs respectively.
Based on variations in unique meat to waste ratios estimated between 38% and 45%
HOW TO ORDER :
For example, if you want to purchase 25 % of a particular sheep, goat or cow simply enter “25” on the weekly spreadsheet. You will be charged as a percentage of the estimated live weight per the pricing structure of your membership. If there is a different weight at the butchers we will issue a prorated credit or debit on the next weekly order after weights are taken at the FDA facility. For example if we estimated that a sheep would weigh 100 lb but it ended up weighing only 90 lbs then you would receive a credit of 10% of your share cost. If an animal is in excess of the scheduled weight Arganica will pay for and keep the excess to keep everyone’s math very simple. When Arganica gets over 50% of an animal ordered we will send it off to a FDA approved facility near our farm. We will keep everyone posted regarding delivery dates via email. Once we have received our meats from the butcher we will hold them in our freezers and post each member’s cuts and weights until requested by the customer for home delivery. There will be a list available of each member’s cuts and weights. Arganica will also offer an opportunity to self butcher with experienced farmers on a case by case basis if there is an interest.
Once again Thanks for supporting local foods and farmers through Arganica. We hope to continue to find unique ways to make good local food simple affordable and accessible.
