The History of Meat Drops

There are only a couple days left to place your order for this month’s Meat Drop.

And every time we send that reminder, I can’t help but think about how this all began decades ago.

During the warmer months, we set up our stand at farmers markets week after week. We see you regularly. We talk recipes. We answer questions. We hand over bags across the table.

But when November rolls around and the outdoor markets end, we didn’t want that connection to end too.

We raise animals year-round.

People eat year-round.
Why wouldn’t we stay connected year-round too?

So, we started the Meat Drops.

We choose a Saturday and meet in the same parking lots where we stood all summer, sometimes a local church lot that lets us gather for an hour. A short winter window. Coolers and orders stack in the back of the truck.

In the very beginning, we collected mailing addresses and phone numbers during the farmers market season, and literally sat with our ear to the landline in the evening hours calling every single customer to ask, “Do you need anything this month?” If you did, then we’d jot it down, and total it up right on the same pad of paper.

Then, we started collecting email addresses. I would send out one monthly email, and customers would reply back with their order. I’d transfer each order from my inbox onto a pack sheet and handwrite an invoice for every family.

Eventually we graduated to the Google Form. We’d send it out the first of every month. You’d slowly work your way through every category, over 100 products listed, scrolling page by page, to build your order piece by piece.

Then the pandemic hit.

Demand exploded almost overnight. What once felt manageable quickly stretched the limits of our little Google Form system. It was overwhelming, in both the best and hardest ways. That season pushed us to invest in an online shopping cart, something we still use today.

Each stage made sense at the time.

Each system grew steadily with us.

All so we could keep the same goal; stay connected, show up in person, and hand you your food for the month.

We still reminisce about the old days. The friendly phone calls. The hours of handwritten invoices. The hundreds of email replies. The magnificent google form. It all feels both far away, and not that long ago.

How far we’ve come, yet how little has really changed.

We’re still raising animals the same way.

Still packing your orders by hand.
Still meeting you face to face in a parking lot in the middle of winter.

See you at The Meat Drop.

-Renee