Do you care where your food comes from?
No, really. Do you actually care, enough to ask hard questions and learn the answer - even if you don’t like what it may be?
There’s one question that we tend to field a lot around here. Why, would you farm like that? It costs more than the grocery store, why bother? You’d have so much more free time. Yes, we could - but, when you walk down the aisles of your grocery store - do you know the people who made the foodstuffs you sling into your cart? Do those people care about your health and well being as much as you do? Do you care about your own health and well being?
Questions. There are so many questions. But, ask and get to know a local farmer and they might just actually have answers.
I can’t speak for anyone else, but I can speak for us, here at On Point Farm, so here’s what we have to say…
Your health matters to us. You matter to us.
From the seeds that we plant in the ground, to the feed we feed our animals, to the water we give them, we pay attention to every aspect. When we have to source feed for our animals who need some grain in their diets, we ask questions of those farmers and get to know them. What are their practices - do they align with ours? We keep our eye on the big picture and know that whatever product leaves our farm, we want it to build health. Building health of our customers means building health in our community and it’s what we’re about.
Take our eggs for example. Our chickens range freely from mid-morning until sundown. They have access to a balanced diet in their coop - but, whether they choose to eat that or go outside and play chef as they dig for insects, nibble flowers or grasses is up to them. Our eggs are not all the exact same size, shape or color in shell. The yolks from eggs collected on any given day can vary from a sunshine-y yellow to a deep red-orange but it’s because they have the freedom to choose. We choose to feed a soy and corn free feed in the coop because it makes a difference in the health of the eggs. We’d prefer less omega-6 fats in our eggs [corn oil] and soy, along with the protein it provides, brings a lot of anti-nutrients and estrogen mimicry - not great for thyroid health especially. Those are things that we find we can, and prefer to, do without. What else can I tell you about our eggs? If you weigh one of ours, and one from the store [even another organic, soy free] we often find that our eggs weigh more. Nutrients can be weighty, and this is one way to measure. Tummy troubles is another intriguing one. I personally could only ever eat about two eggs at a sitting, with our eggs, I can eat four for breakfast - no problem. And, this isn’t unique to me, we’ve had guests for breakfast who tell us the same thing - and then we send them home with some to test the theory and they have the same feedback - no tummy troubles. At my last cruise through the grocery store - I couldn’t find eggs that were from chickens raised with all of our practices - it wasn’t an option on the shelf.
We aren’t certified organic, and we likely won’t ever be. Why? Because we don’t really need the label. We don’t intend to sell wholesale to grocery stores, we’d prefer to get to know our customers - face to face. Our practices encompass all of what the organic standards require, but we go beyond that. We’re restoring nutrients to our soil holistically. We’re raising the nutrient density bar on the food we produce, naturally - by encouraging the plants and animals to work together, with us. We don’t have a great (or any) social media presence, we aren’t witty at branding and marketing - but we are thoughtful, deep-thinking farmers. We think about how our food grows - what pieces go into that, and what shortcuts mean for health. We often question how things in our food system considered commonplace aren’t actually helpful to anyone, really. The result? Food that can’t be found in a grocery store. It would be too slow on a large scale. Too labor inefficient. Not cost effective for a wholesale price. This is why we get to know you. You who cares about what your food contains [or doesn’t]. You who wants to eat bacon that comes from a pig who loved life on pasture and ate way more milk than they ever saw grain. You who has sworn off eggs because of how you feel - but never questioned, until now, that animals and the products they make, are what they eat. Our farm is built around human scale and we raise only the animals our land will allow. This allows us to feed our pigs fresh milk that they love. This allows us to let our chickens roam and we experience the variety that flows from that. The same hands that planted seeds in the garden also milked the cow that fed the pigs and harvested ingredients and made the soups or breads or other foods that might grace your table. From start to finish, we see everything through here and we can only invite you to taste the difference with us.
We have some exciting additions for the fall season - make sure you’re on our newsletter list if you want to be notified when they launch.
So, do you know, like really know, what’s in the food you’re eating? If we are what we eat - isn’t it a worthwhile question to ask?
Kate
