The Bovine Bugle

Processing the chickens and a friendly chat

We had a nice visit with the folks who process our chickens at their poultry processing plant, Dave and Judy. After dropping off the chickens earlier in the day, we returned to the plant to pick up the frozen birds. We loaded the 60 packaged and chilled birds in boxes of 10 into the back of the truck. We also picked up 30 turkey chicks to bring home to raise. With the truck loaded, Karen, Judy, Dave, and I had a nice visit for about an hour. Dave and Judy have kids about the age of two of our boys, and both our farms produce maple syrup, Christmas trees, and compost, so we always have a lot to visit about. While we chatted away, Justin and Noah had fun playing with the cats hanging around the lawn.

One thing we talked about is how hard it is to get people and restaurants to buy locally grown, locally produced food. Most often the biggest issue stopping people from buying our products is the price. Why pay more for our product when they can buy it cheaper from a big supplier? People don't seem to appreciate buying their food from a farm where the animals are raised in a good environment, where they are processed locally, and where the money goes directly to the farmer and not to all the middlemen along the conventional food distribution highway. Dave had a great quote from a friend of his, "Farmers are the only people who pay retail for everything they use to produce their product, and then sell their product at a wholesale price".

--Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont
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Visit our other blogs and join the discussion:
On enviromental issues: The Dairy Planet
Get junk food out of schools: Creating Healthy Kids
Daily life and challenges at Stonyfield Farm: The Daily Scoop
Learn stress-busting, fitness and advocacy tips: Strong Women Daily News