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Old Ways

written by

Ben Simmons

posted on

October 6, 2019

Ben-&-Beth.jpg

At Nature's Gourmet Farm you can trust our products to be:
* True Pasture Raised
* 100% Non-GMO
* Free of chemicals & drugs
* Ethically Raised

Hello from Ben. This week we had a new customer call to schedule an appointment to visit and buy beef and pork for their freezer. They are originally from the mountains of North Carolina and she was telling me that when she was growing up that October was typically the month her family would purchase their meat before winter set in and that she is going back to the "Old Way" of her family.

Much of what we do on our farm is based on nature's proven ways. No tillage of the soil so we grow organic matter and soil biology, diverse forage pastures to feed animals above and below the soil surface, and animal rotation so parasite cycles are broken.

Many of you are aware that the Seven Sons Farm in IN developed GrazeCart that powers our farms online store. This past Spring they released an Internet Marketing Course for farmers who are interested. Beth & I started the course, but had to put it on hold while building the poultry plant. Now that is completed we picked it back up. The course is very helpful and frankly I believe most direct market farms that fail will do so because of lack of marketing and investing in their business.

We are actively putting a list of projects together and setting priorities. One of the things that has been very clear is we cannot do it all by ourselves. Fortunately, our oldest son has expressed interest and we hope to utilize him in a greater capacity very soon. Another high priority is taking out the confusion when buying custom half beef & pork - the order process for buying club pickup locations does not work with custom order dates. Additionally, beginning with January 2020 we will no longer use an Excel reservation file for ordering chickens. With the new processing plant we are no longer restricted with how many chickens we can do in a year - YEAH!

We have a pretty long list that should take us through the next 5 years or so. Some of the items already mentioned are relatively simple and require little capital. Others will be implemented over time and require extensive investment. Our objective is be more than a farm that raises premium grassfed beef, pastured pork, chicken, and eggs. We want to effectively market our farm to be your convenient "go to" source that meet the needs of your family. We understand families have a lot on their plates today and should not have to worry about the quality of the food for their families.

Beth & I thank you for supporting local (integrity) regenerative food sources to create a food system that nourishes healthy families, that is better for the animals welfare, that is better for regenerating the land and that builds healthy communities. That is the only way to make a positive impact with your food dollars.

Customer Feedback –

"Thank you Ben and Beth, for all the hard work you do to bring what Mother Nature intended for us to have in food. Words can’t express how grateful we are to finally, after 50 years of eating unhealthy, flavorless factory farm food; to having the opportunity to consume clean, healthy, tasteful, affordable beef, pork, and poultry. It’s the best we’ve ever had! Thank you for all you do". Jennifer B


More from the blog

Taste Test

Greetings Ben and Beth, I'm really looking forward to my next order pick up. I'm trying to improve my cholesterol numbers, thus eating more chicken, and ran out of your chicken products. I ended up buying some industrially produced chicken, and man was that a mistake! It smelled terrible raw, also while it was being sauteed, and also later when I reheated it to put into an otherwise healthy salad. I have enough of this subpar stuff to last until I pick my order, but I don't think I can ever buy this CAFO stuff again.

Beef Update & A New Product

Beef Update – Typically this time of year folks are hesitant to buy bulk beef for their freezer due to hurricane risk. That is why we have delayed our next custom half & whole beef processing until September. If you are interested, our next harvest will be September 2nd with pickup on September 22nd. If you want to be included then please email me your name, email, and cell number to be added to our wait list - and be the first folks contacted and guaranteed to receive an order. Beef prices continue to increase and hit a new All-Time high this week fueled by strong demand and limited supply. For example, based on what a 700 pound steer sold for at the Hattiesburg Stockyard Monday, I could make more than feeding him till he weighs 1100 pounds and sell as packaged beef - but our mission is to provide nutrient-dense, clean food to our customers. Effective immediately custom beef half and whole prices will increase $0.50 to $6.25 per pound based on the hanging weight. Retail cuts will increase for September deliveries as well.

Real Health Is NOT A Pill. It's A Practice!

Two Great Must Read Articles – Typically I don't make a big deal about articles we have read, but these two are so good that I felt they needed to be shared. The first is by Joel Salatin titled "Food Think" that is part of his The Lunatic Farmer blog. You can read the full article at this link. The second article is one Beth forwarded to me from the Health Viewpoints section of Epoch Times titled "Americans Spend Trillions on Health Care but Remain Unwell - Here's Why" Dr. Yang, FAPA, a board certified psychiatrist, begins by stating the difference between treating disease and building true health lies in a proactive and preventative lifestyle. Note - Beth and I would agree with other folks who commented that his article is spot on and very important for folks to read and understand. You can read at this link.