Out of the Land: Our Year Without Store-Bought Meat

My name is Mathieu Ouellet, and together with my wife, Grace, we’ve decided to take on a challenge that will change the way we eat, live, and connect with the land around us. As of this October, we are committing to a full year without buying meat or seafood from the grocery store.

Instead, all of the meat and seafood on our table will come from one of three places: small local farms, the wild through hunting and fishing, or the waters I work on every day as an oyster farm hand.

We’re not going into this with an empty freezer. Working on an oyster farm means I have access to fresh shellfish and occasionally some fish. I am from western Massachusetts, and my family raises pork and poultry there. Earlier this year, I was fortunate to help my uncle fill a moose tag in Maine.

But it won’t all be easy. Living on Cape Cod means fewer hunting opportunities close by. Whitetail deer are abundant just off-Cape, but have less habitat here and there are less areas to hunt them. Without a boat, waterfowl hunting, fishing, and shellfishing are more challenging though not impossible.

This blog will record our year: the triumphs and the setbacks, the meals we cook, the projects we take on, and lessons learned along the way. We’ll share recipes, stories from the field and farm, and reflections on what it means to step away from the convenience of the supermarket and back into the rhythms of the land.

We’re excited to begin this journey and grateful to have you along with us. Here’s to a year of living and eating — out of the land.