Good Meat® Collectives

The Good Meat® Project (GMP) trains Good Meat ambassadors, in communities around the country,  to develop, organize, and host hands-on classes in whole-animal butchery, charcuterie and cookery, and humane slaughter, themselves. We have come to call these programs "Meat Collectives," though many individuals and businesses have adopted our model without using the term. Our founder, Camas Davis, launched the first Meat Collective in Portland, Oregon in 2010, in order to build an educated consumer base that buys from Good Meat butcher shops and farmers. And she has open-sourced the model, through the GMP, in order to share it with other individuals and communities. 

What’s a Meat Collective?

A Meat Collective is a community meat school and resource that offers hands-on classes in whole-animal butchery, cookery, and charcuterie, as well as humane slaughter. A Meat Collective is a bit like community garden but for meat, or a butcher shop where the customers get to stand side by side with the butchers and meat producers. For each Meat Collective class, local Good Meat farmers sell whole animals to students who, in turn, learn from seasoned butchers and chefs how to transform a whole carcass into food. Students go home with a lot of good meat and increasingly rare knowledge and skills, and they are inspired to continue to support the Good Meat chefs, butchers, and farmers in their region with their pocketbooks.

The GMP incubates new Meat Collectives in communities across the nation—from the Central Texas Meat Collective in Austin, Texas, to the Chicago Meat Collective in Illinois—and acts as the clearinghouse for all existing Meat Collectives.

Each Meat Collective, while independently owned, shares the same goals as the very first Meat Collective, launched by GMP founder Camas Davis in 2010 in Portland, Oregon. All Meat Collectives build an educated consumer base that supports their regional Good Meat economy with their pocket book and they inspire dialogue and cooperation between consumers, producers, butchers, and chefs who are all passionate about Good Meat. 

We encourage all Meat Collectives to source animals from local Good Meat farmers who employ honorable stewardship of land, animals, and people, while recognizing that this may look different in different regions. Meat Collective classes answer a lot of questions and inspire even more. Above all, students learn the many ways Good Meat can reach their tables. Meat Collective classes are important stepping stones for any eater, seeder, or feeder on a mission to reconnect to their sources of nourishment. 

Interested in Launching a Local Meat Collective?

First thing’s first. Check out our collection of resources and tools that we've built to help you begin to think about how to offer hands-on meat education in your community.  You can access our startup guide and so many other helpful resources and tools here. 

As a sneak peek, our Mighty Meat Collective Startup Guide, an ebook written by Camas Davis, founder of the original Meat Collective in Portland, Oregon is a 95-page manifesto guides prospective Meat Collective leaders on how to:

• Navigate federal and state meat regulations
• Hire class instructors
• Find kitchen space
• Assess potential Meat Collective farmers
• Advertise and market classes
• Get media attention
• Build a brand
• Create a sustainable business model
• And much more

Ready to get started? 

Once you've thoroughly read through our startup guide and worked your way through other resources, we are here to provide ongoing advice, resources, and training for free. You can contact us at info@goodmeatproject.org with questions or to set up a time to talk with us.

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Existing Meat Collectives

Portland Meat Collective

Owner: Camas Davis
Location: Portland, Oregon
Founded: 2010, Closed 2021

Seattle Meat Collective

Owner: Brandi Henderson
Location: Seattle, Washington
Founded: 2014
Find Out More

Gainesville Meat Collective

Owner: Angela Minno
Location: Gainesville, Florida
Founded: 2014
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Central Texas Meat Collective

Owners: Julia Poplawsky & Leah Gibson
Location: Austin, Texas
Founded: 2016
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Eugene Meat Collective

Owner: Jonathan Tepperman
Location: Eugene, Oregon
Founded: 2016
Find Out More 

Montana Meat Collective

Owner: Alan Michaud
Location: Helena, Montana
Founded: 2017
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Northern Colorado Meat Collective

Owner: Erica Gagne Glaze
Location: Fort Collina, Colorado
Founded: 2017
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Chicago Meat Collective

Owner: McCullough Kelly-Willis
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Founded: 2018
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Lick Skillet Collective (Formerly Appalachian Meat Collective)

Founder: Alex Miller(Lick Skillet is a nonprofit)
Location: New Market, TN
Founded: 2019
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Denver Meat Collective

Founder: Danielle Davis
Denver, CO
Founded 2019
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The Honest Carnivore: A West Virginia Meat Collective

Founder: Elizabeth Riffle, Riffle Farms
Location: Terra Alta, WV
Founded: 2021
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Minneapolis Meat Collective

Founder: Cecka Parks
Minneapolis, MN
Founded 2022
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Utah Meat Collective

Founder: Tom Wheatley
Spanish Fork, UT
Founded 2022
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Other Businesses Offering Meat Collective-Style Classes

The following are businesses that have consulted with or trained under the Good Meat Project's Meat Collective program and offer hands-on Meat Collective style education, but do not use the "Meat Collective" name or brand.  

Hand Hewn Farm

Founders: Andy & Katie Lane, Doug & Molly Wharton, Kathy Neal
Location: Fresno, OH
Founded: 2014
Find Out More

Kettle Range Meat Company

Founder: Mark Bearce
Location: Elm Grove & Milwaukie, WI
Founded: 2015
Find Out More

Get Meaty

Founder: Samantha Garwin
Location: Greater Boston Area+ Online Education
Founded: 2021
Find Out More