Restock Dates: Please see our Farm Blog where we post our weekly newsletter for the latest updates

The "Gold" Standard

written by

Ben Simmons

posted on

July 15, 2022

The "Gold" Standard! So, what are you talking about Farmer Ben?

First, a little background and then I will fill in the details.....

Nature's Gourmet Farm has been raising and selling meat chickens since 2013.

Beth & I thought meat chickens would be a great compliment to our beef offering and after reading Joel Salatin's book "Pastured Poultry Profits" decided the next step was to visit Polyface Farms in VA during their semi-annual gathering in 2012.

One of the many things I like and appreciate about Joel is he says what he does and does what he says. Meaning what we saw was the same as what we read in his books.

So, 2013 started our very humble beginnings. Since then, we have had almost annual upgrades to our brooders, chicken tractors, and facilities.

About 2016 we set up to be a feed distribution hub for Resaca Sun Feeds. Not only did buying bulk feed help our farm, but was the critical need for other farms to get started and be competitive. Today, we distribute feed to anywhere from 12 to 15 farms located within 125 miles from us. That's a win - win.

And we gladly help folks who express an interest in raising meat chickens by showing and discussing our processes, facilities, and etc. At least three farmers have built their own chicken plant and I've discussed our operations with a farmer in Maine earlier this year.

Okay - about the "Gold Standard". Just before our May 25th chicken processing date Andrew who has a farm near Raymond called and asked if he could come observe and work with us during our next processing. He explained that he currently raises vegetables in several greenhouses and wanted to add meat chickens. In fact, he had a batch on pasture that were five weeks old - So, he was anxious to get some experience processing before his needed processing.

Andrew told me he started asking around where could he learn about processing. One of the folks he asked was Jaclyn Rogers with Honestly Beef who told him that Nature's Gourmet Farm is "THE GOLD STANDARD" when it comes to chicken.

We certainly appreciate Jaclyn's kind words and the opportunity to meet Andrew and help him out.

Y'all know, our customers regularly tell us how tender and juicy - and great tasting our chicken is compared to store bought.

While our product may meet the gold standard in quality the price is a great value. One customer said her family from IN was paying $6.50 lb for a whole chicken vs. our price of $4.35. I recently saw where a farm in NY was selling whole chickens for $7.69 lb.

A little closer to home is White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, GA who sells their whole chicken for $7.90 lb. White Oak was one of the first farms east of the Mississippi River to have an on-farm processing plant for both poultry and red meat.

Locally, farms that I know are selling from $4.15 up to just over $6 per pound.

Are you serving your family our "Gold Standard" chicken?

Broilers-2022-0506.jpg

Chickens were born to scratch and peck, and that's exactly what they do on our farm. Our pasture-raised chickens freely roam our pastures, foraging for bugs and grubs in the soil. They are also offered a non-GMO supplement, which contains grains like corn, soy, barley, and wheat. They never receive antibiotics, artificial growth hormones or steroids. And, our chickens are processed in our on farm plant vs. being shipped off somewhere for processing.

Come check out our chicken. We offer whole chicken in 3, 4, 5, and 6 lb range, boneless breast, leg quarters, wings, liver, and feet.
Buy Nature's Gourmet Farm Chicken

Maybe you have been looking for premium ALL NATURAL GOODNESS of beef, pork, chicken, and eggs raised on pasture as God intended - without growth hormones, drugs, chemicals, and antibiotics - and raised humanely then you have come to the right farm. Our delivery schedule and product availability is listed below along with order buttons that will take you to our website where you can browse over 90 product choices and place your order from the convenience of your home. It's that simple!

More from the blog

Health vs. Economics is THE Battle

Health vs. Economics is THE Battle - or maybe health vs. priorities of the general public when you consider that in 2024 the Apple App Store generated $1.3 trillion in sales!!! Vicki, a repeat customer from the MS Gulf Coast, sent me a short 3 minute video from a Joe Rogan Podcast with RFK Jr. discussing pig farms in North Carolina and how the CAFO pig operations got started. NOTE that the big companies own the pigs – the farmers only own the debt and do the work (and take all the risk). Please watch the video here.

"Pasture Raised" Defined

The USDA has officially updated the definition of “pasture-raised” to require that animals spend the majority of their lives on rooted, vegetative pasture, distinguishing it from “free-range,” which only mandates outdoor access. This update became effective March 2025. Here at Nature’s Gourmet Farm that is how we raise our animals – whether it be cows, pigs, meat chickens, egg layers, or turkeys. Pasture raised is our management choice and reflects our stewardship ethos. Frankly, pasture raised is how God created them to be versus. in a Confined Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO). CAFOs represent man’s inhumane wisdom!!!

NGF Customer Speaks Out

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?"