Organic Beef, Pork and Poultry

For people who believe that organically produced food free from chemicals is essential to good health, The Meat Shop of Tacoma offers an assortment of high quality certified organic meat and poultry that combines good taste with good nutrition. Our organic beef are pastured year round and fed certified organic grain to make high quality meat without excessive fat.

A Note about BSE or Mad Cow Disease:

We wanted to address the issue of Mad Cow Disease and remind our customers of the guidelines for being in the organic food program.

In order to be certified organic all animals must be certified organic. This means our brood stock must also be certified organic, (our bulls and cows are certified organic.) All animals in the organic food program must be birthed organic. All feed fed to the animals must be certified organic, this includes; pasture, hay and grain. So, our land and everything the cattle are fed is certified organic.

Finally, in order to be certified organic animals cannot be fed any animal by products at anytime! This is the law in the organic food program and it is the only way to guard against mad cow disease. Mad Cow disease or BSE is caused by cattle, which are an herbivore, eating bone meal, blood meal or other animal by products.

The laws for being certified organic have been in place long before Mad Cow Disease or BSE was first detected in Great Britian, which alleviates the worry about the incubation period for BSE or Mad Cow Disease.

We have been proudly certified in the organic food program since it's inception and the rule of never feeding animal by products has been in place since the beginning of the program!

We appreciate any further questions or concerns through our email, phone calls, or you can request information about organic standards and law through the WSDA's organic link, or the USDA's organic link on our links page.

USDA Certified Organic

We are the oldest Certified Organic Meat Shop in the State of Washington, offering the largest complete selection of Certified Organic Beef, Pork, Poultry and Cheeses, Chemical Free Cured Meats, Naturally Grown Bison, & Lamb. Our farm and meat shop are certified organic according to NOP standards through Washington State Department of Agriculture. We have always been committed to sustainable agriculture as a way of life and have been proudly certified in the organic food program since its inception.

Our History

The Meat Shop of Tacoma is located on a nine-acre farm about ten miles south of Tacoma, Washington. Bob and Lee Markholt moved there as boys 50 years ago, and soon began feeding cattle organically. The brothers started to feed cattle commercially 45 years ago, expanding as Bob's sons joined the crew, into custom cutting, poultry raising and curing meats. Today, Lee and his daughter staff the Meat Shop.

Chemical Free Cured Meats

We have pioneered natural meat curing processes in the Puget Sound area. To learn more, visit our organic meat information page.

Custom Cutting and Wrapping

For those who raise their own meat, we cut, wrap and quick-freeze all meat and game to your exact specifications. We also do custom sausage-making and curing.

We double wrap your meat the old fashioned way, in plastic freezer film and unbleached brown butcher paper.

Custom chicken and turkey processing available by appointment.

Additional ways to purchase our products

Our products can also be purchased through the Olympia Food Co-Op, both East and West side stores, The Fishbowl Brewpub in Olympia and Your Health in Puyallup.

What our customers have to say about us

I like to buy your products - mainly beef liver, because I know it doesn't contain any antibiotics or other additives that are found in meats from the super markets.
G.C. Nichols

I have been shopping here for twenty years. I really believe that eating "organic" foods is more healthy. Lee's meat looks different, smells different and surely tastes different than average grocery store products! I love shopping at The Meat Shop.
Jan Brown

The best Rib Eyes I've ever had. Great food; chickens, liver, sausages, etc., etc.
Leslie - Edgewood, WA

The Meat Shop has literally saved our life. My husband and I are very allergic and could only eat organic food. Our health has improved by eating "pure" unadulterated Meat Shop products. Also, the meat TASTES so much better than supermarket meat. We see the animals are treated humanely, which makes us happy. We are loyal long-term customers.
Avis - Edgewood, WA

I have depended on The Meat Shop of Tacoma for about ten years now. The quality is superb, the service fast, knowledgeable and friendly. I can count on one hand the number of times I have purchased meat from anywhere other than the Meat Shop since I started shopping there, and have found there is no comparison. The meat from the caring company is simply fresher, healthier and tastes better, and I find it fulfilling to realize that the animals are treated humanely and lived their lives in a natural environment.
Steve Rush Tacoma, WA

Quality meat is well worth paying more for because it's meat and just meat -- free of steroids, antibiotics, hormones, genetically-modified foods, ground up members of the same species. I tend to think that those who pay less for meat in the long run pay a lot more for healthcare as a result of all the additives. I was a vegetarian for ten years, in part after learning how animals are so badly mistreated by commercial farmers/slaughterhouses. Having been a Meat Shop customer now for many years, I know now how well these animals are loved and treated. That means a lot to me, especially if there's any truth to "you are what you eat."
Linda Frank, Midland, WA

Please call, fax, or email us at info@meatshopoftacoma.com for a price list and brochure.