Gainesville Cow Pool

Cow Pool Gainesville is an informal cooperative purchasing group dedicated to sourcing local, free-range and grass-fed meat affordable for middle to low-income families. There are no fees to join Cow Pool Gainesville and there never will be. When an animal comes available that meets our standards for home life and price, any member who's interested buys a "share" in that animal. The "share" price covers the purchase of the live animal and the butchering fees. The coordinator of that particular pool picks up the meat at the butcher and divides the cuts into however many shares have sold for that animal. Then the coordinator pays the farmer and the butcher and drives the shares back to a central pick up spot. Then each share holder picks up their meat and pays for their share, which reimburses the coordinator for the money they have fronted. An example: an average cow butchers out to 350 pounds of meat. Each beef share is 25 pounds and an average of $5 per pound, which includes the cost of the animal and the cost of the butchering services. That makes the total cost $1750, or $125 per share. All cuts are the same price. Ground beef costs the same as steak because no one gets to choose what cuts they get in their share. Everyone's shares will be as evenly distributed as possible and each share has the same total weight. If you strongly prefer to choose what cuts of meat you buy, or only like to eat certain cuts of meat, this may not be the group for you. Cow Pool Gainesville works on the honor system. If you sign up for a share, you come and pick it up. Period.