EcoFriendly Foods

EcoFriendly Foods operates a very small USDA-inspected slaughter and processing plant at 3397 Stoneyfork Road in Moneta, Bedford County, Virginia, under establishment numbers M21938 and P21938. The federal record lists meat slaughter, meat processing, poultry slaughter, and poultry processing, with cattle, hogs, sheep and lamb, and poultry reported as species slaughtered under inspection. The grant of inspection on file is dated July 26, 1996, and the plant falls in FSIS slaughter volume category 3.0. The establishment also reports custom-exempt slaughter, in which animals owned by the customer are processed and returned in packages marked Not for Sale, and reports retail-exempt sales.

The company website describes EcoFriendly Foods as managing a network of sustainable family farms and operating a multi-species, USDA-inspected, Certified Humane processing facility in Moneta that delivers wholesale to restaurants and direct to consumers. The site states that all processing is handled in-house rather than through outside processors, and frames that decision as a response to the shortage of small-scale processing capacity for family farms. Dates given on the site vary: the home page carries "Since 1994," while the story page says the first multi-species USDA-inspected processing facility opened in 2003. The federal grant of inspection date on file is 1996. Contact numbers also differ, with FSIS listing (540) 297-9582 and the website listing 540-525-0352.

Products are sold direct to consumers at farmers markets in Arlington, Virginia and Washington, DC, and the site references beef and pork price sheets along with pig-based catering for weddings, office parties, and barbecues. The website also mentions retail availability of EcoFriendly Foods products at Patches of Earth and a partnership with FoodToken for food chain traceability. Details beyond what is stated above, including custom booking practices, fees, and cut and wrap options, are not on file.

The federal record lists EcoFriendly Foods as a very small establishment performing slaughter and processing of cattle, hogs, sheep and lamb, and poultry under federal inspection, and it reports custom-exempt slaughter in which the customer's own animals are returned in packages marked Not for Sale. The website states that processing inquiries should be emailed to processing@ecofriendly.com with a completed order form. The website also emphasizes that the plant handles processing for its own network of family farms in-house. Scheduling lead times, minimums, kill days, hanging fees, and cut and wrap charges are not stated in the sources, and the sources do not indicate whether outside custom work is being accepted as listed.

EcoFriendly Foods reports custom-exempt slaughter to FSIS, which means it can process an animal a customer already owns (a whole, half, or share bought before slaughter) and return it in packages marked Not for Sale. Most small farms have one or two plants they book with, and the plant's calendar decides the delivery date.

The website states that the operation delivers wholesale to restaurants and direct to consumers, and it references beef and pork price sheets that buyers can request. Products are sold in person at the Arlington Farmers Market in Arlington, Virginia on Saturdays and the DuPont Farmers Market in Washington, DC on Sundays, and the site notes that EcoFriendly Foods products are also carried at Patches of Earth. The site invites visitors with a "Come Visit Us" link pointing to those market locations. Online ordering, shipping, retail store hours at the Moneta plant, and half or quarter animal bundles are not described in the sources.

If you are buying a half or quarter animal, the plant is where the animal is processed; the farm sells you the animal. Read how to buy a half cow for the sequence and the math.