Hey guys, sorry I made this thread before exams and exams hit and I honestly totally forgot about this thread until my dad just reminded me that I was supposed to find him a butcher.

Anyway, they aren't going paleo. I don't even know what that is.
He read about butchers being around the same price as the big box stores and that they would have hormone and antibiotic free meats/poultry. So he wanted to see if that was a viable option since hormone and antibiotic free meats should be safer in the long run. It doesn't have to be 100% grass fed. I think he is more concerned about the hormones and antibiotics.

And thanks for the responses!!

Maybe try and find someone who raises cattle? I have a connection in Calgary and get 100% grass-fed, hormone free Alberta AAA (albeit un-inspected as I get it straight from the farm) beef. I purchase in quarter, half, or whole cow (usually end up splitting it with a few others).

Sorry if this is a stupid question or not, but is that legal? And how much does it usually cost?

No, not really. Animals should be slaughtered/butchered in inspected facilities.

Personally, I wouldn't worry. I have a number of friends and family members who purchase animals at livestock auctions, and proceed to slaughter/butcher them themselves at home. It's totally possible to purchase inspected meat straight from the farm too, though. The price hovers around $4.50/5.50/lb, depending on cut, and so on. Check the Craigslist Farm & Garden section (it's not as strange as it sounds).

Here's a few examples.
Inspected:
Free Range Beef
Local Farm Raised Pork & Beef
Grass fed beef
Beef, Goat, Pork
Uninspected:
Local Grass Fed Beef
Reserve Your Veal Tender Organic Beef NOW!!
Beef
Freezer Beef Naturally raised

Has anyone tried this to order quarter, half.

Any recommendation to reputable farms?

Quite honestly, seeking recommendations is a difficult way to approach this.

You see, these aren't commercial beef producers so they have small customer bases. These farms are simply small acreages allowing cattle to graze as a small additional income source, and to qualify for tax exemptions, and somewhat as a hobby. In Langley and Abbotsford the lands carrying capacity is around 1-1.5/acre, 2/acre in a pasture with great drainage and additional forage, so you'll rarely see someone raising above 10 cows. That should work out to an average of 20-30-40 customers, total. The odds an RS'er is a customer of any farm is pretty slim, I would think.

You're buying from the farmer, though, so you'll be able to meet the person raising the cow, see the pasture conditions, see the cows they're currently raising, and in my humble opinion, that goes well beyond any recommendation to a typical butcher shop, so you're coming out well ahead even if you don't have a recommendation to a specific farm.

The farm that I get my meat of has all their meat inspected. I choose not to get it inspected because:

a) This is not a commercial sale
b) There is not really any harm, the other half of the cow is inspected (as it is sold commercially), and there are no issues.

I get cheap AAA meat, and have zero issues about its sources. Medium rare burgers are delicious!

If I wanted to, I could pick the cow I consume. Doesn't help that they name each cow that gets processed....

Sorta reminds me of this: (can't find it in english)

For those who don't want to go directly to a farm (or CL or want to go to a store) try Blue Goose they are in NV Blue Goose Pure Foods

But do watch out.. Beef prices just hit historic highs. If you want to make bulk purchases might want to wait till fall.