Chicago Meat Collective

Our founder, McCullough Kelly-Willis, was first exposed to whole animal butchery and the concept of sustainable meat in 2013, while at Reed College in Portland, OR. She signed up for basic pig butchery with the Portland Meat Collective on a whim, and she was hooked.

In the summer of 2013 she moved from Portland to Chicago, and decided to find a way to continue learning about whole animal butchery, which led to a six month stage at The Butcher&Larder. After coming on full time in 2014, she continued honing her butchery skills and learning about the wide world of charcuterie.

When The Butcher&Larder joined Local Foods in 2015, she began working on the dry curing program, doing months of research and development and making some pretty delicious salami and whole muscle cures along the way.

McCullough now heads the Chicago Meat Collective in the hopes of continuing her own education and creating a wider community of conscious meat consumers here in Chicago.