Prime cuts

It's not just a question of "Where's the beef?" These days, it's more, "Where does the beef come from?"

Butcher shops were once a dying breed, replaced by big supermarket chains. In the last few years, however, many remaining shops have enjoyed a boom in business, as interest in local meat has seen a resurgence.

Blochers Meat Market in Altoona, one of the area's remaining butcher shops, has experienced an upswing in sales in recent years.

"Over the last couple of years we've gradually seen an increase," Wayne Erickson, co-owner of Blochers said.

Most customers who frequent butcher shops like the freshness, he said. Take, for example, Kevin Lear of Altoona, who lives near Blochers.

Lear has been buying meat from the butcher shop for as long as he can remember.

"It's always the freshest meats. You get any cut you want and it's a little cheaper than the grocery store," Lear said.

Holland Brothers Meat Market in Newry has also seen an uptick in business. Owner Rick Holland attributes this mostly to people wanting to "buy local."

"Supporting local, family-owned business is one aspect," he said.

All the meat at Hollands comes from local farms, something Holland says customers appreciate.

Along with buying local, many people want to know their meat comes from clean, humane farms. Friends Farm in Williamsburg raises free-range cattle, chickens and pigs, along with organic produce. Business has never been better, owners Chris Wise and John Favinger say.

Wise and Favinger slaughter the animals, then send the meat to a butcher who cuts, shrink wraps and freezes the meat. The interest in meat from Friends Farm stems from customers wanting to buy local and also from people wanting to know how animals are treated.

"These animals have a good life. Then they go away. I don't want to eat meat from stressed out, sick animals. The pig can express its pigginess and the cow can be a cow and eat grass," said Wise, who was a vegetarian for more than a decade before she met her husband, Favinger. "When John and I got married, I said 'the only way I can eat meat is if we grow it ourselves.'

"I would never buy a burger at a grocery store. Ever. I would go to a local butcher first. There's no quality control at big corporations."

Sam Findley of Hollidaysburg is a regular at Friends Farm. He, his wife Brooke and 10-year-old daughter Cora try to buy all their food from local sources.

"It means we get to meet the animals we eat. That's a way of seeing animals are healthier," Findley said.

Buying local is also a learning lesson for Cora, he said, who became a vegetarian for at least two months after learning more about where her food was coming from. Findley said he just wants his daughter to understand the process.

"We've just started to have those difficult conversations about eating animals. In order to live, we eat things that were once alive," Findley said.

The Findleys also love supporting the local farmers, who care about the community.

"We're helping out a person with a livelihood, not some gigantic corporation," Findley said.

As pastor of Canoe Creek Brethren in Christ Church, Scott Elkins is all about buying from the local farmers, some of whom attend his church.

"I just think it's important to support local food and the local economy. Plus, I care about eating more healthy," Elkins said.

He first began buying some dairy products from a farm belonging to Dave Rice, a member of his church.

"It was really really good," Elkins said.

He then met Wise and Favinger and began buying meat and produce from Friends Farm.

"It's more than just where you get your food. It's really become a community of people," Elkins said.

Elkins, his wife Beth and children Grace, 15, Esther, 13, Hannah, 11 and Elijah, 8 try to buy most of their food locally and rarely shop at grocery stores.

"It's bad for the environment because they're trucking stuff from Venezuela. It makes no sense to me to buy an inferior product. Buying local is always fresher. It just tastes better. It's not processed in some giant mystery meat plant," Elkins said.

The one thing local butchers and farmers can guarantee is where their food came from. With that, there comes accountability.

"If somebody gets sick from burger at a local butcher shop, they're going to know where it was from. Those butchers focus on one animal at a time and quality is really important because of traceability," Wise said.