My Favorite Regenerative Meat Farmers, Direct to Your Door -

I have been working on this blog post for almost six months, after a year since my last post. I forgot how long an actual article can take, especially one one regenerative meat farmers that deliver! If you follow me on social media, you’ll notice that motherhood really changed the focus of life for me, as it should for all parents. While I love to learn about it, I drink alcohol only sometimes, like on special occasions such as my afternoon with Bodegas Salentein. I am just not someone who can parent or be in charge of the innocent well while under the influence.

I’ve also re-structured our family diet and grocery habits. With skin and health issues in our family, it makes sense for myself and my children to maintain a generally gluten and dairy free diet. As foretold, my husband does not subscribe to our lifestyle choices, so when he brings cookies or pizza into the house, it is what it is. People call it the 80/20 lifestyle of “good” health decisions vs. “bad” health decisions, and I think that would be a fair assessment of our home. But the one thing that my husband and I do agree on is the bulk of the meat in our home is regenerative meat direct from regenerative farms.

Buying regenerative meat means that we are investing our money in food and farming practices that respect the nature of the land and animals that we thrive on more than the ability to pump out as much product as possible while greatly cutting costs. This is called regenerative farming. We do not buy meat from the grocery store because FDA food labeling is disingenuous, and instead, we trust the farmers or ranchers who send us weekly newsletters about growing and farm conditions. We are even lucky enough to speak and see our farmers face to face, and can even drop by their farms if we want. The transparency of this relationship is what keeps me completely invested in this style of sourcing our food.

Sourcing regenerative meat from sources with regenerative farming practices ensures investments in your own health as well. Pasture raised livestock that forage, such as cows raised for grass fed and grass finished beef, are shown to contribute to richer flavoring, biochemical bounty, and environmental sanctity. Supplementation can be expensive, and if you are like me, you may forget to take your vitamins more than you’d like to admit. The easiest way to ensure you get what you need for long lasting health, is to eat it through whole food sources.

What are the Benefits of Buying Regenerative Meat?

The main reason for purchasing and eating regeneratively raised meat is to maximize your health! I am at the age where some days, I can feel my age. 99% of the time, you can find me wearing exclusively Hokas, Vionic, or because anything else hurts my feet. Gone are the days of heels for fun! Eating regeneratively farmed meat maximizes the nutrient consumption that you get in each mouthful, while minimizing the not-so-good byproducts. That means higher heart healthy omega-3s, lower inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids, and no growth hormone affected meat. For my family, it means less concern about additional vitamin and mineral supplementation.

Meat sourced from regenerative farms are also better for the animals, as they are treated in a more humane way. This means open air grazing, with diverse, rotational pasture-derived bugs and grasses. The animals are allowed free access to the land, meaning none are stuck indoors with hundreds or thousands of other animals, forced to suppress their natural tendencies. Looking at how conventional farms operate, I completely understand why some people turn to vegetarianism or veganism.

Finally, you can rest assured that you are supporting the healthiest option for the planet when you decide to buy regenerative meat. Soil is healthier and more biodiverse thanks to the practice of rotational grazing and using biodynamic farming practices.

I am not a farmer. I’m still working on getting my own organic garden up and running in my back yard, which has been time consuming and harder than I expected. But, a great resource to listen to experts regarding regenerative farming practices and why you should invest in it can be found in the following podcasts:

Fighting for Food Freedom with Joel Salatin on Alex Clark’s The Spillover

5 Part Series on Our Food Supply on Boom Clap Podcast

Where Do you Source Regenerative Meats, Wild Caught Fish, and Organic Produce?

One of the biggest shifts with changing what you eat is adapting to getting your foods from places other than a grocery store. Our grocery store bills aren’t much in the summer because we get most of our food from our farmers’ market. Even at the end of the November, our farmers’ market moves indoors for a winter market. While this is somewhat of a rarity in a four season place like Northern Illinois, there are many places that offer direct to your home delivery no matter where you live. Here are a few that I’ve tried and enjoyed throughout the years.

Vintage Mea dows

Vintage Meadows is a family owned farm based out of Indiana that offers regenerative, grass-fed meat, organic produce, and raw dairy. It is a membership based farm and I appreciate that they offer organic grains, fermented products, and some greenhouse grown produce all year long.

99 Counties

99 Counties represents regenerative farmers across the 99 Counties of Iowa. They offer poultry, pork, and beef year round with very diverse cuts including primal beef and organ meats. I’ve had a chance to be a member of this organization for a few years, from when it was a single family farm that brought a truck to our area every two weeks until now, when it is delivered straight to my door. They also offer meat sticks, raw pet foods, and tallows. Through the link above or here, for a limited time, you can get a $50 credit toward any purchases on the site through

Rustic Road Farm

Technically, Rustic Road Farm is not a regenerative meat delivery service, but I’m including it nonetheless. Rustic Road Farm is based in Elburn, IL and distributes regenerative meat, organic produce, and prepared foods of both at several Chicagoland farmers’ markets. Check it out at La Grange Farmers’ Market on Thursdays, Wheaton French Market on Saturdays, and Geneva French Market on Sundays.

A Hidden Architecture Gem: The Mushroom Houses of Charlevoix

Sitka Seafood Market

In 2019, I worked with Sitka Salmon Shares on a campaign to highlight their wild-caught fish delivery service from Alaska with operations based in Illinois. Having that subscription really helped us get through the “Pandemic” as we had monthly fish deliveries without visiting the grocery store. I still only source our saltwater fish and seafood from Sitka Salmon, five years on. While my affiliate codes are no longer valid, they’ve expanded their offerings so I would consider buying a non-subscription offering to try out their responsibly sourced fish.

Just Meats

Just Meats is having supply issues at the moment as of November 2024. I’d hold off ordering through them for now. Just Meats has been a lifesaver for a working mom like me. While I want to make most of our meals from scratch, there are some days that just doesn’t happen. When there are activities after school, or we find ourselves out of the house for most of the day on a Saturday, there just isn’t any time. I love having a quick option that isn’t take out, and that allows me to provide my family regenerative, grass fed meat without all of the prep work. Just Meats offers a variety of cooked and seasoned beef, pork, and chicken that need only be reheated on the stove to get a delicious meal. Some of our favorites are the Hawaiian Teriyaki Beef, the Chimichurri Steak, and the Buffalo Chicken Breast. You can use my Just Meats discount code “JAIME29376” to save $15 off your first box.

Nourish Cooperative

Nourish Co-op is a unique Michigan based farm that offers some of the most unique food products of all the sites I’ve listed. They’ve got grass-fed, pasture raised beef, lamb, and yak, and low PUFA pork products. But, what I most source from Nourish Co-Op is raw dairy cheese. They offer raw A2 cow, sheep, and goat cheeses. While they used to offer more raw dairy options, there was, in my opinion, an outrageous federal raid on the farm in mid 2024, resulting in the destruction of $90,000 worth of dairy products. This has resulted in some supply issues, and membership to the co-op is currently paused until spring of 2025. If you are looking for a raw cheese supplier in the midwest, I would recommend joining their waitlist to be notified of openings.

Jake’s Country Meats

Jake’s is a newer farm that I discovered when they started coming to my farmers’ market this year. I couldn’t be more pleased; their roasts have been favorites of my family as we found the beef more tender and flavorful than some of our other sources. Apparently, it’s the Jersey cattle! And, let me tell you about their pork! The bacon and cottage bacon can’t stay in stock at our house. They are a Cassopolis, Michigan based operation with partner farms in the area so they offer other locally aligned dairy and even fish. I’ve not found a better place to buy butter either!

Whether you make a whole meal from scratch or heat up some prepared foods, it is important that you know where your food comes from. For us Midwesterners, these farms and food delivery sources are great options. What is the best option in your area?