Wow, good for you for making those changes. I think gradual change is the best way to make anything a lifestyle habit. It is rewarding when one thing is accomplished, then you take it a step further and work on accomplishing that. Even if you never eliminate meat, you are doing great work because you have reduced it and are looking at more earth friendly options.
I have only been a vegetarian for 4-5 years and I got her my eliminating certain meats one at a time over that time period.

Stacy, I would love to know what local, sustainable meat sources you've found. I'd like to move toward more vegetarian fare, but I don't think our family will ever give up meat completely.

Hi Carol,

Right now I only use one local farm for my meat. (beef) They are only about 10 miles down the road from me. They are www.coonsagefarm.org. I recommend their website to anyone interested in learning about sustainable, ecological, and ethical farming. They also sell their meat and will ship anywhere.

I recommend going to local farmer's markets. Once there, ask the vendors that are selling meat lots of questions. Ask about antibiotics, hormones, feed, living situation of the animals (confinement or free range), processing (where or how they butcher). It's good to have an idea of how you feel about these different issues before you ask. And yet, sometimes, through talking with vendors you may even learn things you hadn't considered before. For example, I had never considered the processing to be an important question. But after talking with Coons Age Farm and hearing how they go about it, I realized this was an important issue to me, too. It is definitely something I consider now before I purchase meat.

Next, if you find a farmer you think is reputable at the market, ask if you can visit their farm. Seeing is believing, right? If they don't allow visitors is that a red flag for you?

Currently, I do not have a source for poultry or pork. However, the great thing with getting to know your local farmers is you can work together on these types of things. While Coons Age Farm does not sell pork as part of their business, they are going to raise a litter of pigs for their own meat and I've talked to them about the possibilty of being a part of that.

Since we do not have a local, sustainable source of poultry and pork right now, we do not eat it.

I understand about not being able to give up meat entirely. My one daughter and I have reduced the amount of meat we eat a lot, but we still do eat it. I also understand your hesitation to buy "organic" meat from Whole Foods. For me, the mass production of this type of meat gives me the willies.

I wish I could give you more resources, but do check out www.coonsagefarm.org. They are really an inspiring place! In the meantime, check out your local farmer's markets and ask lots of questions.

Our HMB coastside local organic grass fed beef can be found with Doniga http://designsbydoniga.com/
You will find a PDF link from her garden site to the beef info.
Other sources that I don't know so much about are with Planet Organics. Here is the link to a page that contains meat products. They do home delivery:
http://www.planetorganics.com/users/groceries_details.asp
Good luck!

Nan mentioned she'd be interested in getting more info about "meatless meals" No blog about it yet but but I can tell you that there are a few RECIPES under the RESOURCES section of the website. All of the recipes are either vegetarian or vegan and are noted which is which (with a definition of the differences). Although there are a TON of fabulous cookbooks (and magazines) with vegan/veg fare, the recipes listed on the site have been shared at a GreenMoms meeting so the people there got a chance to taste them. If you have others please submit them! Our goal is to have every resource on the site "GreenMom" tested by one of us, so if you've had something you like, send it in. http://www.greenmomscoastside.com/GreenMomsCoastside.com/Submissions.html

And although you can get excellent non-meat recipes without using meat substitutes, I'm personally a HUGE fan of all of QUORN brand products (the protein is a mycoprotein - mushroom base). You can get them at Whole Foods (frozen section) and a couple of items at Cunha's in downtown Half Moon Bay. I've tried many fake chicken/turkey products and many of them feel rubbery or just taste gross. The Quorn "chicken tenders" are very convenient since they are already cut up and their "turkey" roll is great with a veggie gravy for Thanksgiving and turkey sandwiches (and a heck of a lot easier than cooking a turkey :-> We like to baste it in olive oil and rosemary before cooking) Trader Joe's has a good fake beef strips substitute (but I don't care for their chicken version). We're working on getting a recommended books section up on the site so if you have a favorite Veg-based cookbook, send that suggestion to the link above and we'll check it out and likely post it.