Jason Savard

Jason Savard is head butcher and shop manager at Walden Local Meats, a butcher shop and brand based in New England. Founder Charley Cummings knew for a while that all meat wasn’t Good Meat.

He had seen images of factory farms and degraded soil. What inspired him to start Walden were the positives: the joy of cooking well sourced meat and sharing it over good conversation. Walden knows how tough it can be for the average consumer to support local farms, which is why their mission is to make local work. They partner with small, industrious farmers across the Northeast, selling shares of beef, pork and chicken to home consumers, and utilizing the entire carcass. Along the way, Walden takes consumer education seriously. They know that for a regenerative meat supply chain to succeed, consumers need to feel connected to their farmers and also know what to do with the exciting range of cuts that will find their way into the kitchen.

How do you define your Good Meat® values?

I think it is important that we have a local and sustainable food system that gives back to the environment just as much as it takes from it. It’s also important to understand the huge role that eating meat from Good Meat® producers and butchers play in the health of our bodies and environments.

How did you become a Good Meat® butcher?

Becoming a butcher is like becoming good at anything. You do the job, all parts of the job, again and again and again. You have to find pleasure in the work too, and do it for the sake of doing a good job, not to achieve an end task, or to get out of the shop early.

What is one thing you wished more consumers knew about buying meat?

I wish they knew that it can be really easy to cook a great meal, as long as the meat is high quality. Good Meat has great flavor and character on its own. We don’t need to do too much to it.

What meat, or meat dish, do you eat most regularly and what do you eat for a special occasion?

I tend to eat more of the off/tougher cuts that are “closer to the ground” (or lower down on the animal). They have more flavor and aren’t as popular as “higher-end” steaks. My favorite cut is a Denver cut from the shoulder. That’s my go-to cut for a great meal.

What is one of your biggest challenges as a Good Meat® butcher?

I try to help people understand that there is no such thing as a “high-end” or “low-end” cut. Each cut has its own characteristic; toughness vs flavor. How you like to cook determines the best cut. If it’s from the same animal, no cut is better or worse, they are just different.