I finally got to read the whole study about the cost of eating health food. It just confirmed the quandary I'm facing. I find my self approaching the problem of food from three different, and sometimes irreconcilable perspectives. As a local food activist I'm working to promote buy local even if it costs more. As a producer I'm trying to produce great food and make enough profit that I am able to continue producing and expanding my business. As a wage earner near the bottom of the wage scale I'm looking for the best food I can get for the limited money I have. My $9.00 chicken sits right in the middle of this. It costs to much for people like me (most of my county) to buy. If I sell for less I don't make any money so what's the point of offering it as part of my food business. The easiest way to balance this all is to scale up. Tyson and co. can sell chickens for what they do because they pay a lot less for feed and processing than I do, and because when you sell millions of chickens you can afford a much smaller profit margin. I'm looking for creative ways to solve these problems while staying true to my vision.
I'd love to hear what you think. Maybe together we can plot a course forward.
We still have some openings for our summer and fall chicken CSA at our Local Harvest Store.
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