|
NGF Customer Speaks Out - First, a little background. Stephen & his wife Mary Katherine have been customers of our farm for 5 years. They, along with their 3 boys, have visited our farm. We have shared many conversations about farming and how Mississippi is truly a "food desert" (on a grand scale when only 2% of the food grown in MS is actually raised in MS). I know their passion for eating healthy and supporting small farms. They know my passion to increase small farms that serve their communities nutritious food.
One day at our Madison pickup Stephen and I were talking and he asked, "What can I do to help grow the number of small farms?" He said, "I have some political contacts as well as media contacts. And, I had rather put money into helping grow small farms vs. the stock market."
One thing led to another and Stephen was responsible for connecting our farm with MaryJo Perry who heads the MPVR PAC. MaryJo will be changing the PAC focus from just vaccines to MAHA. Out of this came the Small Farmer Network (still working to get this organized). A group of us met in Flowood mid May and then again with Commissioner Gipson June 2nd here at my farm.
Stephen, as a consumer and advocate for small farms had many good points to make with the Commissioner that I asked him to share his thoughts in this newsletter. Here is what Stephen shared from his heart:
What an honor to write a column for Ben's newsletter. My wife and I began our journey into regenerative agriculture after reading The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan. In the book, Pollan profiled a farmer named Joel Salatin. Yes, that Joel Salatin! Back in 2007 when the book came out, we lived in Virginia and realized Joel’s farm was only 45 minutes away. We grabbed a cooler and took off. We bought direct from Joel for many years. We later had kids and have been shopping for locally raised, healthy food for our family ever since. We are now "all in" purchasing from Ben every month and getting raw milk from a local herdshare here in Mississippi. That's another tale, but I recommend The Untold Story of Milk by Ron Schmid, if you want to know why we drink raw milk!
While not as demanding as being a farmer, being a consumer committed to regenerative agriculture is not easy. Finding producers, driving to farms, meet ups, and farmers markets can be tedious. Not to mention reading all those labels when you do shop at the grocery store! When your friends buy their meat from Kroger and think you are weird for drinking raw milk or having a suburban garden, that doesn't help either (although it does make for interesting conversations!). Once you grow accustomed to healthy food, you don't feel the same when you eat "grocery store meat" or drink regular pasteurized milk (yuck!). As your habits and tastes change, you come to understand how much we have lost. You see, the food we eat when we shop at Nature's Gourmet or drink raw milk is what our ancestors ate and drank until very recently. There was no "raw milk" or "pasture raised meat." The natural ways to raise food were the only ways to raise food.
What we are doing now by shopping and eating this way is reclaiming our rightful heritage. If we don't do it, who will? If we don't support these farmers, who will? Uncle Sam? No way. Your screen addicted neighbors? Not happening. I think Wendell Berry said "you can't separate culture from agriculture." Everywhere we look, things are broken. Churches ignore the Bible. Politicians don’t know who they work for. Doctors are trained about disease, not health. No one remembers how an immune system works. Peace comes through violence. Was Orwell right about everything? The list is endless and we can feel hopeless, but all is not lost.
Every family can opt out of the culture, or stated in a better way, rebuild the culture we lost! We can pray and attend faithful churches. We can homeschool. We can donate to good causes, including straight to our friends and neighbors, not through an intermediary. We can plant gardens and we can spend our money where it counts. How many friends tell you that local, healthy food is "too expensive" yet they drive a new SUV or go to Disney every year? How many families take countless drugs and vitamins, while eating garbage food? I know kids who eat Skittles as a snack while playing video games and then take ADHD meds! As Joel Salatin would say, "folks, this ain't normal." Being sick is expensive. How much is our health worth?
Above all, what kind of a world are we building for our children? Do we want their food to come from a giant factory whose only concern is the next quarter's stock price or from a local farm that employs local people on local land in dignified work at a good wage? Yes, we have to sacrifice, but would any of us be here if our ancestors had not sacrificed for us? We owe it to our descendants to leave them a humane and healthy world and we can build that world through the choices we make every day. I would rather my money go to Petal and Terry, Mississippi, instead of New York, London, or Beijing.
If all of the above is "preaching to the choir" to you, I join hands with you as a fellow traveler, advocate, and friend. If you have not taken this journey yet, start today. Share Ben's website or find another local farm and make a new friend. Plant a garden in your backyard. Get busy. We can do this and it works better if we do it together!
** Product Availability Update **
NOTE: Restocks are made about 6 PM on the dates indicated below!
Chicken - Restocked June 11th. Next Restock will be June 25th
Turkey - Hatchery is now taking orders. Have poults scheduled for July 9th and August 6th. Additionally, Thanksgiving whole turkeys are on order for late October delivery.
Eggs - Restock each Tuesday prior to your delivery date. Note that we are stocking Corner Market Hattiesburg & Petal locations. After speaking with the buyer this week he will lower our price to $6.49 per dozen
Beef - Next Restock will be June 22nd.
Pork – Restocked fresh items June 11th. Cured items will be about 12 days out.
Lamb - Restocked March 27th, just in time for Easter. Next Restock will be September 2025.
|
