Food startup Blue Nest offers beef from cattle: Fixing climate-change problems

Some consumers are trying to avoid eating red meat. Others want to eat grass-fed meat. And still others want to know the exact farm from which their meat came.

But for some, those attributes don’t go far enough. A small-but-growing number of people now shop for grass-fed meat that is raised by ranchers whose farming practices actually make the land better than when they found it.

Blue Nest Beef, a direct-to-consumer meat-delivery startup, wants to be on the leading edge of providing products for these consumers who see cattle and bison as a solution to climate change, habitat loss and soil degradation rather than a cause of it.

All of this is happening at the same time plant-based meat alternatives are exploding among mainstream consumers, with well-known brands like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat getting their products in fast-food retailers from Burger King to Dunkin’. While plant-based products are gaining popularity for perceived health and environmental benefits, Blue Nest’s target audience sees things a bit differently.

The company launched earlier this month when it processed and shipped its first boxes from facilities in Minnesota. Still in its infancy, Blue Nest’s executives are spread out across the United States. A…