The "Gold" Standard
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?
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!