Emma Brown
Western New England University
Stacie Chappell
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Walden Local Meat Co. sets out to produce grass-fed meat at affordable (but equitable) prices. While more expensive than the meat you would buy at the grocery store, Walden does not charge a delivery fee to help bring their meats to you. "While we can't bring our meat everywhere, the program doesn't work if we don't help get you our meats. We deliver all throughout the Boston area, as well to many areas in Rhode Island and Connecticut." While their products might be more expensive, the overall health benefits to you as the consumer and the environmental benefits are worth it. In addition, their approach to free-range farming actually requires less cost from production. The benefits outweigh the cost.
None of their meats are contaminated with antibiotics, hormones, or pesticides.
The way Walden uses the land is incredibly interesting and really promotes a more ethical use of the environment. They use "unusable grasslands" (of which there are over 600 million acres in the U.S. alone), which create a very natural cycle of rain/water input to grow the grass, which the cows feed on and then fertilize themselves. This is not only serving their business by providing better meats, but it is also putting underutilized grass areas to use.
The innovation of Walden Local Meat Co. is to increase the accessibility and affordability of better/healthier/more ethical meat. Much in line with the law that was just passed on Question #3 in Massachusetts, Walden looks to produce meats from animals that live in just conditions, but also are high-quality, healthy meats for consumers to buy.
**Question #3 was an item on this year's ballot in Massachusetts that supported better treatment of animals by prohibiting the sale of animal products that were made in conditions where the animals cannot lie down or see sunlight. Walden is a good example of a farm that is treating their animals very well! When looking to start their business, Walden looked carefully for farmers that were doing it right. "Right in our backyard there were farmers right here doing everything right — feeding animals well and raising them well — outside in the natural sunshine — these were the farmers we wanted to work with and admired."
Sustainability is at the heart of the Walden mission. Cows are naturally able to break down grass to extract nutrients to grow as healthy cows, which then leads to healthy beef. Walden stresses the use of free nutrients, sun, water, and ultimately grass, when using unused/wasted grasslands, to then create an ongoing cycle of cows feeding from and fertilizing their own pastures.
This definitely also is true to responsible consumption and production because it makes the consumer feel good and the producer feel good too.
The inspiration for Walden came from the owners' own desire to eat better meat. They struggled to find meat that had not been raised in a factory or in contact with hormones/pesticides/steroids/etc. They wanted to create an opportunity for themselves and others to feel good about the meat they were eating. "All of the meat we produce comes from farms within 250 miles of our home base — it is important to us to create a network of local farmers."
They wanted to connect neighbors in their own backyards to each other — workers, farmers, butchers, etc. The goal was not to look further than their own community.
Walden is doing a lot right — while the meat is a bit more expensive, it is ultimately doing so much good that it is worth the price. In addition, the company is doing well — especially around the holidays — making a profit and doing good while doing so.
Education is another benefit of Walden. Just by browsing their website or chatting with their team, you learn a lot about how their system works — what is necessary for production and how to do it with the least cost to the environment.
Walden provides meat to their local community. The community aspect is really important and connects the "team" with the great team of their community.
Sustainability!
These benefits are HUGE; this needs to happen more. The social benefits are through community education and connection. Not only is Walden providing meat, but they are providing inspiration for change. They are showing their community that this is possible — and showing HOW! The team at Walden shares their ideas and are very open about how they have built their ethical framework.
The environmental impact is really tied to the use of "underutilized" land that would not be used for other things, and not damaging the environment with pesticides nor their cows with hormones. The process is entirely natural and therefore sustainable. The environmental ethics are what drove the company to start.
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Christina Johantgen, Marketing Director, Walden Local Meat Co.