Our approach to producing food
We honor the plants and animals who live and die on our farm. It is important to us that we do what is best for the land and the creatures that live on it. If we don't nurture those relationships, then we are raising food that will not only be less healthy but will affect the long-term viability of the farm.
We aren't really into sales gimmicks. It is important that we sell our food to people who appreciate it in the same way we do. Our approach isn't about the highest profit margin. Nor is it about competing with Walmart. We put our profits in relationships and community building. For this reason, it is important to know that our market relationship is good for both us and the community we serve.
We are not a grocery store with rows of food that have no story or background. The food we share has a story. And the people we serve also have their own stories. Situations change. Storms happen. Our goal is to cultivate a relationship with you that is sustainable for the both of us. For this reason, we aim to create sustainability (economic and relational) in a current economy and climate that is NOT sustainable. We are a small farm that cannot compete with the scaled industrial food complex. Our prices are high, but seasonally make every effort to maintain our own economic viability while also making the products more affordable by targeting ecological practices that help lower costs.
As a farm, we have to find ways to exist financially. That involves selling food for money in our current system. However, we remain committed to finding opportunities when the gift can sneak into our lives and the lives of our community. We cannot expect small farms to shoulder the burden of competing with a food system that creates a culture of cheap, processed food. However, cooperative models of food sovereignty where growers and communities work together can find an alternative. In the meantime, we look for ways to disrupt the economics of food that keeps healthy, medicinal food only for certain socioeconomic groups. Our farm products are not cheap. They have not been subsidized by the government, and they do not compete with the agro-industrial food complex that is global in scale. But we strive to find ecological and cooperative models that help reduce our operating costs to help with the accessibility of our farm products (and we are have a long way to go). There are good ideas out there for allowing gift economies to germinate in our current context. For now, we spread the seed in ways that we can sustainably manage. That involves offering bartering relationships and even exposing occasional gifts that build into relationships of communal reciprocity. If all of this sounds weird, it is because we left our village thinking centuries ago. If you would like to propose a bartering relationship with us or want to communicate a need or desire to connect beyond the cash register, please send us an email.