Chico State Meat Lab

The meat lab at CSUChico is great! Very high quality at reasonable prices, and much of it is locally sourced from the college farm. Their sausages are top notch. One warning, you can’t depend on them always having what you want, so it is a good idea to check ahead by phone to see if they have your needs in the freezer. 898‑6028

Buying from the Chico State Meat Lab is a unique experience. First of all, it’s not like regular shopping. You are supporting the efforts of Chico State students throughout the year as they learn to raise and then butcher livestock. The lab has minimal hours (all day Thursdays and Fridays last I checked) and just one student to assist. You go into the Meats Lab and order at a little window, and they go get the meat out of the freezer. You should tell them the approximate size of the packages you would like, and they’ll try to find that. I like knowing the life that the cows/​pigs/​sheep had on the farm prior to being butchered– the Chico State Farm is a great place. Even the drive in to the Meat Lab is gorgeous. I wouldn’t say that the meat is much cheaper than at Safeway, but it is a good cause, and I feel far better about supporting that meat industry than of supporting a factory-​farming situation elsewhere. The meat must pass USDA inspections, but is probably far more reliable, as it is a small batch operation, not a mega farm.

My husband and I like the idea of buying local food as much as possible, so we decided to try out the Meat Lab at the Chico State Farm. We went in June, so school was out and I’m guessing that’s why there were only 2 people there working that we saw. Their prices were about the same as the store (we typically shop at Winco). The downside for us is that they are only open to the public on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 – 5, so unless you are a stay at home mom or something it can be hard to get out there. Plus, its not very conveniently located (which is understandable because you can’t have a farm in the city) but driving out there kind of negates the eco-​friendly buy local philosophy. Also, we went out in the morning hoping for some sausages to BBQ for lunch, and when he handed us our bag after we paid, we realized it was all frozen. (They go into what we thought was a refridgerator to fill your order). I am thinking though, that this is because it was summer, and maybe they have fresh meat during the year when students are there and classes are going on. We ended up getting a pork shoulder, 1 lb ground beef and their Italian seasoned sausages. The pork shoulder and ground beef were pretty similarly priced to the grocery store and tasted ok, the sausages were a good deal, and they tasted fantastic. There are many flavors to choose from and I know we will be going out to get more of these if nothing else. Overall it was good, we will go back, just not as often as we originally planned.