Raising the steaks: the Seattle startup crowdfunding sustainable beef

Crowd Cow works directly with ranchers across the US, cutting out the middleman and giving farmers an alternative to selling calves to factory farms

If crowdsourcing makes you think of fundraising campaigns for smartwatches and wine coolers rather than sustainable food, you're not alone. But a new Seattle-based startup called Crowd Cow is hoping to change that.

Crowd Cow works like most crowdfunding campaigns. Every few days, the company hosts an "event" on its website featuring cows from one of the seven beef ranchers it works with on the west coast. There are photos and videos of the ranch itself, to give people a better understanding of the farmers and the cows on the ranch. Customers can then select cuts of beef they wish to buy from the ranch. Once enough beef has been purchased, the cow "tips" - and customers become "steakholders" in the cow. "Steakholders" then receive their beef (frozen in dry ice) in as little as a few days. If the cow doesn't tip, there is no charge. But most Crowd Cow cows tip within one or two days.