When chickens can see daylight; when pigs root in Carolina clay; when lambs breathe fresh air, and when cows can swat at bees, it makes a difference—one you can taste.

Native Meats, a Woodruff-based meat-distribution company, made its debut this summer at farmers’ markets across the state, hawking everything from bacon to chicken breasts, one customer at a time. Now the small, eight-employee business is making a name for itself in the Grand Strand and beyond. Their bulk sausage—flavorful and not too fatty—will make you rethink ever going out for Saturday morning breakfast. And the ground lamb—difficult to find at many local grocers—got my household combing through Greek cookbooks. (Our favorite was a rice and lamb dish that tasted like moussaka but only took about ten minutes to whip up and another twenty to cook.)

The company collects its wares from twelve South Carolina farms. And the meat is available to Grand Strand households through a buying club, where local delivery is scheduled monthly to a convenient pickup location.
The common denominator—aside from being organically raised—is that all the animals are born and bred in South Carolina, where the meat is processed and exclusively sold.