Folks who attended the Buying Local Meat program held in Piscataquis County recently learned how to save money and get a quality product while buying meat directly from local farmers from Donna Coffin, University of Maine Extension Educator.<\/p>\n
This was part of the YOU CAN series to help you sustain your family even in these tough times! The Piscataquis Valley Adult Education Cooperative and the University of Maine Cooperative Extension put together this series of workshops to give you the skills to get started in self-sufficiency.<\/p>\n
Buying meat directly from local farmers is a way to support the local agriculture community, but it can be confusing. This program showed how the different words used to describe how animals are raised and how meat is sold from local farms \u2013 natural, grass-fed, organic, dry-aged, pasture raised, free range, humane and prime.\u00a0 Also, how much meat to expect when you buy a side or quarter, where you can purchase directly from farmers and how to care for the meat until it is used was also discussed.<\/p>\n
Donna Coffin is the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Educator in Piscataquis County for over 30 years. Her area of expertise includes sustainable agriculture and home horticulture. She received her Master of Science degree from the University of Maine in Animal Science in the area of animal nutrition.<\/p>\n