$9.00 chicken quandary

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.

"but I can get it for half that at Walmart..."

I was talking with a potential customer about our chickens today.  The topic of price came up.  Our chickens weigh in at 4.5 to 5 lbs.  They are raised on organic or non-gmo feed and pasture.  Most of the feed is produced within 100 miles of where we live.  We work every day to shrink that circle.  Average time from pasture to your freezer would be at most 5 days (mostly shorter, but some of our birds are held for people living farther away.)  The cost comes to $9.00 a bird.  What you get is a naturally raised, young (10 week old) chicken.  Nothing added.  YOU CAN'T BUY THAT AT WALMART.

I welcome comments.

Getting Bigger

The chicks and ducks are growing FAST!  They are already scruffy, awkward looking teenagers.  Soon they will be dinner!   The Spring CSA is sold out.  We still have some openings for the Summer and Fall CSA.  If you are in Ohio and interested, let me know.

Connie's First Blog Post

Hello!
This is my first blog post EVER!  I felt inspired to learn how to blog because this morning I made the best butter pecan fudge I have ever made. Smooth and creamy. I needed a fourth flavor for our fudge sampler and the lucky winner was butter pecan.

Here's the large box fudge sampler: Chocolate, Butter Pecan, Chili Chocolate and Peanut Butter

As the family tries to re-adjust with Alan working full-time, I thought that I would start to take on the farm business.  It's a lot of work but with help from friends and family I think that I can do it.  Here's my plan:  First, I am learning the fudge making process and monitoring the Local Harvest store site.  Next, I will take on full animal care but this needs some infrastructure development.  More on that later. Third, I have signed up to sell fudge and crafts at the St. Andrew's Christmas Bazaar in Columbus on November 9.  Come and visit us on Saturday and you can see (and buy) some fudge, hand-dyed silk scarves and handmade ornaments.
If you have any ideas for new fudge flavors please let me know.  Someone already suggested butterscotch.
Thank you so much to everyone who keeps us moving forward!
Sincerely,
Connie and the rest of the Roost

Garlic harvest 2013

We had a very good garlic harvest this year. The ground was wet late in the summer, and I was worried that the wrappers would rot, but that didn't happen.

 Now the garlic is all dried,

 trimmed,

  and cleaned.  Its ready for market.

If you are interested in getting some you can contact me here, or check it out at our Local Harvest store.

Local Harvest - A great resource

One of the things that is very difficult for small farm and for people looking for real, locally grown food is getting connected. Most small farms don't have the time or the money to advertise so if you don't know them, or happen to drive buy you might never find what is available in your community. You might make a connection at the farmers market, but many producers don't go to the market.

There is a great resource that can help both producers and consumers.



It's called Local Harvest. It is a site where small farms can list information about their farm. You can look up what farms are listed in your area. It also lists farmers markets, CSAs, restaurants, and co-ops.

They also have an online store where small farms list things they have for sale. Some of the things you can only get at the farm, but some things, like our Fudge, can be shipped.

We have been listed on Local Harvest for a while now. We get lots of visits and questions about our farm. Our Fudge is available through the online store. We also use it to find things that are not produced in our area or to find other producers near us that we didn't know of before.

As you are preparing your holiday meals and gifts you should check out Local Harvest. You will be amazed at the things you can get that are grown close to home.