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Newsletter 2017 0121

written by

Ben Simmons

posted on

January 20, 2017

Good News! While prices at retail continue to go up, here at Nature’s Gourmet Farm we will keep our prices for 2017 the same as 2016. While we have to make a profit to stay in business, our first objective is to work hard to make our product affordable to as many families as possible.

Speaking of price – did you know that buying a half Custom Processed beef or pork offers the best value for your food dollar? In fact, when compared to equivalent product at Whole Foods, our beef is less than HALF the price. And, we are locally raised – and meet you with your order.

Convenience – When I was growing up, having a stand-alone freezer was commonplace. During the garden season families worked to put up fresh vegetables and made usually one trip for local freezer beef and/or pork for the year. Meals were planned based on what was available in the freezer vs. a trip to the local grocer.

However, not so much today. Freezers are the exception. Meals are planned more by the day or week and shoppers drive to the grocer to purchase food for only a short period of time – typically returning weekly to do the same thing. Seems to me that having a freezer is a lot more convenient than having to make weekly trips & decisions on what to buy while standing in front of the meat counter (I wonder if impulse buying causes any waste or overspending in this process?).

Many families are stressed in time and finances. Would a freezer help?

Quality – Many folks find our farm because they are concerned about the impact of industrial ag & processed food quality. They know food production systems have changed drastically and are directly responsible for the increase in disease. In fact, NON-GMO Project Verified retail partners report that NON-GMO products are the fastest dollar growth trend in their stores. A 2014 survey found 80% seek out non-GMO products with 56% saying non-GMO was key to brand buying.

Here is a recent Google Review from Ann: Best beef ever !! We are a family of five so we go through a lot of meat ! My daughter ( Now 6 ) Has never liked beef , I really felt like she would be a vegetarian . I bought my first grass fed cow meat and well....She ate beef and cleaned her plate (WHAAATTT !!!! ) That should say a lot on its own . Well , so far , everything that I have tried has been so tender and so good, I don't think i could ever buy store bought beef again !

At Nature’s Gourmet Farm, we are committed to raising premium quality beef, pork, and chicken. Our animals are raised on diverse forage pastures and will never be fed any GMO products of any kind.

You can read more customer comments from our homepage.

Last week I announced we are taking deposits for Custom Process Pork that will be processed mid-March. I have updated what you can expect to receive based on actual results from recent animals. Select Pork Half - Custom Processed to review and place your order.

Also, it's that time again to get on the list to reserve your fresh broilers! We receive our first chicks Feb 24 and each 4 weeks thereafter through September.

Fresh Broilers will be available on the following Saturdays for pickup in Hattiesburg:

April 22

May 20

June 17

July 15

August 12

September 9

October 7

November 4

To reserve your broilers simply email me at sales@naturesgourmetfarm.com and let me know the quantity you want to reserve by date. There should be 125 or so available per date. Any leftovers will be sold through our website.

Recipes have been added to our website. Simply go to our homepage and click the tab near the top of the page. Many of the recipes came directly from our customers.

Thank you for supporting your local farmer.

More from the blog

Farm Improvements

Farm Improvements – Fresh water is a necessity for raising healthy animals on pasture. Until recently, we used an ICB tote on a small tralier that we would refill from our well. During the summer the frequency greatly increases in order to keep the chickens hydrated. So, I called my buddy at Southern Pipe and ordered pipe, fittings, etc. and then rented a trencher for May 16th to install 2,700 feet of 1.25 inch PVC pipe. Along the line we added 15 Plasson Quick Coupler Valves that we will hook to as we move the animals through our pastures.

My Advise How To Jump Start Small Farms In Mississippi

“Who controls the food supply controls the people; who controls the energy can control whole continents; who controls money can control the world.” — Henry Kissinger The fight to change food from addictive to nutritive will most likely be harder than the fight regarding tobacco (smoking) in public places that started back in the 1980’s. Note that my comments are NOT a condemnation of anybody who may use tobacco in any way as this can be a sensitive topic. However, it is personal to me as my Dad smoked at least 45 of his 75 years and died of lung cancer.

Small Farm Republic

Pasture Talk With Our Cows– Tuesday morning I was out checking on our cows and took the opportunity to record a short 2-minute story about the time I saved the life of one of the “pet” cows Number 608. Click to watch here. Small Farm Republic- is a book written by John Klar. A former attorney who contracted Lyme disease, John now farms in Vermont. I spent much of last weekend reading his book. He is very pro-small farms and presented a lot of evidence to support his position. On page 77 he makes a comparison to the number of farms and farmers during the Great Depression versus today. During the Great Depression the American population was 100 million. According to USDA charts