Winter Wk 5: Chicken, Delicata, Sweet Potatoes and Spinach

Photo: meat chickens raised on pasture, moved daily to fresh grass

Good Afternoon,

This past week I spent a few days in Covington, KY at the ACRES Conference. It's a conference for regenerative agriculture and many progressive, small farmers. I am generally hesitant to go to conferences as the time and money could yield bigger results just doing some self study.

However, it's like a gym membership. If you don't pay for it and don't leave the house, it's hard to get results. At least for me. So John (my farm hand) and I went down there to see what we could learn.

First, I realized I should have gotten a degree in chemistry or biology. There was lots of technical talk about micronutrients and the soil biology and how it interacts with plants. The summary being that commercial agriculture looks at the macro picture - a few big nutrients (N/P/K) - that drives the base result - a product that looks like corn or beans, and yields high. The story of this conference was that we need to look at the micro picture - the trace minerals and biology in the soil - to see the macro picture - the health of our soils long term, the health of our planet, and the health of our people.

It's almost too much to think about to know where to start. But I did come home and find an article that got me all fired up.

Fake Meat. It seems it is the latest craze - Beyond Meat and Impossible. A few of us industry folks (pasture based meat guys) have been talking about it for a while. Of my peers, I'm about the only one that was thinking it was a fad that would pass over. Others pointed to the money - Bill Gates buying up farm land, investment, big corporations getting on board with it, etc.

My argument was just that - the money doesn't make sense. No one goes to McDonalds or Burger King to get healthier, or because they care for the planet (look at all the packaging alone). They go there because it's convenient and cheap. And I'm not sure that the strategy will attract a new market of consumers. But others have argued with me.

Then I came home to the article headline above. Beyond Meats down 83% - in stock value - and sales also down, not only for them but for the entire fake-meat industry.

If you read this newsletter, you already understand that fake meat is a highly processed food product. But few think about the consequences it has for our farming community. It is a food based on industrial farming practices that champion yield per acre, corn and soybeans, and GMOs, pesticides, and herbicides that help them get there.

It's not a food product as much as it is a financial tool to play a game so that the founders, their investors, and stakeholders in big ag can make a lot of money.

My basis has always been that:

businesses are created to solve a problem
and don't fix it if it ain't broke

Someone identified the wrong problem. Real meat isn't the problem, it's the way that factory farming has started raising real meat. As was repeated time and time again at the ACRES conference, animals play an important part in our ecosystem. Properly managed, the animals on the land are the best regenerative farming practice, stimulating new plant growth and leaving behind nutrient rich manure.

Just some food for thought, so to speak.

Sincerely,

Trevor

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Holiday Ham, Bundles, Eggnog

This week we are offering some items from Ohio City Provisions for delivery on your Fresh Fork truck. This includes smoked, holiday ham and Ohio wines/ciders.

These orders must go thru a separate order form due to the licensing of meat processing and wine sales.

The OCP order form is here: OCP Ham and Wine

A note: hams are cured, smoked, and vacuum sealed. They will remain fresh in your refrigerate easily until New Years. No need to freeze.

Say Cheese. I snapped this picture last week of Rebecca from Old Forge as she delivered cheese to OCP. It was too easy to stop her and ask her to "Say Cheese."

This week we have a variety of cost saving cheese bundles available that represent a variety of the farmstead cheeses that we enjoy. These are great for entertaining, as a gift or just because.

Each cheese is individually vacuum sealed and packaged in a convenient gift box.

Full details about each cheese and the bundle can be found in this previous email: Cheese Description Newsletter

Order Cheese Bundles Here

Eggnog. It's been a busy week making eggnog, and I can't make it fast enough.

Right now it's funny to think that our limiting factor is how fast the hens can lay eggs! Demand for eggs is strong this time of the year, and we have to balance keeping eggs on the shelf and cracking eggs to put into eggnog.

About our eggnog

Have you ever looked at the label on eggnog at the store? There is a lot in it, isn't there? Surprisingly, those store bought eggnogs tend to be light on the egg and cream, two critical ingredients.

We started making this product a few years back for ourselves, then started selling it. Every quart jar has 6 eggs, a cup of organic cane sugar, a pint of cream, and topped off with whole milk. That's it. No stabilizers or emulsifiers or other junk!

We make it the good old fashioned style. It's like cooking a custard. We temper the eggs into the warm milk as we bring it up to temperature to set the eggs and determine the consistency. We chill it quickly and put it in jars.

It is thick, yet pourable, and can be enjoyed as is or mixed with your favorite holiday cheer.

The eggnog will sell out, so we suggest pre-ordering online to guarantee availability.