Cut Once focuses on preserving the craft of whole-animal butchery by putting high quality, ethically raised, and sustainably processed meat on tables throughout the Chicagoland area. As we work to open a brick and mortar, we will be selling beef, pork, lamb, and poultry through Farmers Markets (Uptown and Lincoln Park every Weds and Sat), local deliveries, pop-up events, and custom cutting for chefs around the city.

We are looking to raise $20,000 to help secure needed equipment and initial inventory for our upcoming Farmers Market season, and to provide some stability and initial capital as we pursue a brick and mortar location. We want to provide a resource for those who care about how their meat is raised and processed, and to continue to support local farmers working hard to raise their animals the right way. Any donation helps!

What is Whole Animal Butchery?

Whole-animal butchery is the process of meticulously breaking down entire carcasses so as to use every last bit of an animal from head to tail. This involves both a refined technique (harvesting a wider range of muscles and cuts) and a more detailed approach (taking extra care to extract every last usable bit of product) than commercial processors. Commercial processing, though efficient, produces a concerning amount of waste, managing anywhere from a 55-65% usable yield. Whole-animal butchery garners much higher yields of 75-80%. Given the resources (feed, transportation, labor, etc) that go into raising animals for meat, it is imperative from both a sustainability and ethical perspective to use as much of each animal as possible.

The whole-animal approach also necessitates fabrication. Each animal yields a considerable amount more than the high end cuts. Bones, raw fats, and lesser known, tougher cuts are not popular at butcher counters. In order to ensure that every possible part of each animal goes to good use, whole-animal butchers must take the time to make stocks, render fats, make sausage, and turn otherwise unpopular cuts into desirable products. As such, whole-animal butchery is not just a method of breaking down animals, but a philosophy of how to properly utilize and honor our food.

Traceability

At Cut Once, we pride ourselves in having as clean, consolidated, and transparent a supply chain as we can. Commercially processed meat goes on an extensive journey to reach your table. Animals are frequently moved from farm to farm during their lives, but their journey truly begins once they have been slaughtered and processed. Cuts are typically vacuum sealed and ‘wet aged’ fresh, where they will travel often all around the country from processor to processor and distributor to distributor. The cuts you eat can, and often have been held in vacuum packaging for upwards of 2-3 months.

The meat you buy from Cut Once traveled just 2 times. Once from farm to slaughterhouse, and once from slaughterhouse to our butcher block. We make sure to sell, process, or deep freeze product within 1 week of it hitting our block. Not only are you eating meat that is as fresh as you can find, you are eating a highly traceable product that has had a much less environmentally damaging journey to your table.

Our Farms

La Pryor

* Ottowa, IL - 85 Miles outside the city

* La Pryor is a small family farm that truly embodies excellence in the production of pork and beef, from meticulous animal husbandry to land stewardship to ethical treatment of their stock. Their animals are truly pastured, and fed only grass and grains grown on site. Their feed is entirely GMO, antibiotic, and hormone free.

Kilgus Farmstead

* Fairbury, IL - 110 Miles outside the city

* Kilgus Farmstead, though primarily a dairy producer, offers an impressive range of meats. Their beef, pork, lamb, and goat is all open-air raised, and fed grass, corn, and grains all grown on-site with no GMOs, antibiotics, or hormones.

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