Oh No :: No More Bacon!

Just the other day our local news station had this article on their website ...

"Bacon, pork prices to increase next year"

There were a few quotes that stood out to me ...

The group said farmers worldwide are cutting their herds "at a significant rate" that could double pork prices in Europe in the second half of next year.

"If I were purchasing all my grain to feed my hogs, I'd probably be closing out right now," said David Struthers. 

"You will be able to eat BLTs next year. You just might be paying a little bit more for the bacon than what you did this year, but we will not run out," said Joe Kerns. 

"If we have another dry year things could get really ugly," said Struthers.

Wow ... there is so much to think about in this little article. First of all it has me scared ... the fear has been there deep down for awhile, but I've tried to not let it come to my mind. But, I'm with Mr. Struthers ... if we have another dry year things could get really ugly. As a beginning farmer who still hasn't established everything on the farm and as a hog farmer that must purchase feed I don't even want to begin to think about grain prices going any higher than they already are. I'm praying (really praying) for a wonderfully cold and very snowy winter followed by the muddiest spring the farm has seen!

The article goes on to talk about the shortage that is expected in Europe and the probably price increases that will be seen in the United States. Many hog produces are cutting the numbers in their herds (in fact I know a few hogs leaving the farm in my area as well) and once those cuts are felt there will likely be price increases.

But, for me the most telling quote was this one ...

The National Pig Association is calling on consumers to choose local products to help boost prices to help farmers.

I whole heartedly agree with that statement! I have one question though ... are they talking about purchasing from local farmers directly or purchasing for local grocery stores. The only reason I ask is because at a recent taste test there was a pork shoulder roast from the local small-chain grocery store. The person hosting the tasting talked to the meat department at the grocery and asked about where it came from ... the grocery store said it came from Tyson, but that it probably was an Iowa pig. The host then called Tyson directly and they said there was a chance that it came from Iowa, but it also could have come from Canada or Mexico.

My thoughts ... purchase directly from you farmer and then know for sure you are supporting your local farmer! In fact we haven't raised our prices yet (and hope not to), so you can reserve a hog for the spring at the same prices you could last fall.

Give & Take :: Nitrates, GMO, Local, Organic, Etc.

One of the greatest benefits of setting up at the Downtown Des Moines Farmers Market is that I have a chance to interact with customers. This interaction (as I mentioned in the previous post) allows me the opportunity to share our farm story and my passion for the way we raise our livestock and the meat we produce. But, it has also allowed me to see what is most important to customers when it comes to the way that we raise the food that we sell.

The big topics that always come up are animal welfare, nitrates in the bacon, GMO grains, locally raised (there are quite a few people who ask if I raise the livestock), organic certified, and plenty of other topics of debate. Sometimes the customers like the answers that I give and purchase ... sometimes they don't like the answers and they give it a try anyways ... and sometimes they don't like the answers and they decide not to buy at all. But, when it comes down to it for me it is really a game of give and take.

I say give and take because if I may one choice, such as deciding to use organic grains, then it will impact another aspect of the farm ... in that case the cost of the finished product for the consumer. With grain prices as high as they are now it is already difficult to figure out how everything to come together financially, but I can't image how it would be if I was only using organic grains. Recently I spoke with an organic hog farmer who was paying $18 a bushel for corn and nearly $30 for beans! Basically twice as much as I'm paying for locally raised (most likely GMO) grain.

If I was using organic grains my prices would have to be raised significantly and I would probably lose some customers because of that ... probably not many people would be interested in $7 or $8 ground pork. So, for the time being I'm sticking with my locally raised grains that aren't trucked around the midwest and support local businesses. Would I like to be able to use non-GMO grain ... YES!!! But, that will have to wait until I can source it in a way that makes sense ... or I can raise my own (that is a dream).

That is just one example of the give and take questions that are continually facing the farm. Financial sustainability means lots of questions like this and lots of conversations with customers. One thing I wouldn't mind changing is the nitrates because it seems to be a big concern for customers, but so far my processor doesn't feel comfortable with the other options.

How about you ... what do you think of these debates and give and takes?

The Tech-Savy Locavore

I realize that probably not to many readers of this blog have an iPhone (although I would take one if anybody is donating them ... just think how much more blogging I could do then), but for a few days now I have noticed that the iPhone application Locavore 1.01 was the App Store pick of the week last week. If you don't follow the whole iPhone/App Store world this basically means that someone at Apple has picked out this little program to highlight at their App Store.

As far as I can tell the Locavore application works best with the iPhone at the moment because of it's GPS requirement, but it is a pretty cool little application and I think it says a lot about the mainstreaming of eating local. Of course you can use it with your iPod Touch, but it won't be able to tell your location and you will just have to search for things in your area.

What this little program can do (with the help of your iPhone) is let you know what things are in season near you, what is coming into season, where a local farmers market is, and even links to Epicurious receipes (it seems like there was a post about his over on the Epi-Log). If nothing else I think it gives some more publicity to the local food movement and I think that is a good thing.

Now, if only I could find a way to get an iPhone without going broke ;)

**Also, be sure to check out yesterdays comments for a great response from Jim Gerrish. I am so thankful that he has taken the time to share on the blog!**

Giving Local a New Meaning...

Even though I'm not writing for the Epi-Log I still love to check in and comment when there is something there that really piques my interest. Such a post popped up yesterday from James Oliver Curry. He wrote about a recent New York Times article that outlined a new emphasis by Hunt's and Lays Chips on the local ingredients they are using in some of their products. This quote from Mr. Curry's post sums up the idea:

"The New York Times today ran an article about how the folks behind Lay's potato chips (Frito-Lay is owned by PepsiCo) and Hunt's canned tomatoes (ConAgra) are placing the spotlight on the local people and communities involved in making their products (carefully worded not to say "locally grown"). Yes, some potato farmers in Florida supply the ingredients for the chips that are made in Florida. But does that count? Local to the manufacturing plant? Local to Floridians? Am I a locavore if I eat a Lay's potato chip in New York? That's stretching it."

This particular post hasn't drawn a ton of comments just yet, but I would be interested to hear what your thoughts on the subject are. On one hand I can understand the comment that says that it is good that they are at least building the local economy by using things from local farms and employing locals at their plants. But, there is also a strong point with the other side that says calling something like a potato chip local may be a bit of a stretch.

To me the big question is what is the motivation. Are these companies trying to jump on the "localvore" bandwagon just like large corporations jumped on the "organic" bandwagon recently, or are they just trying to highlight the fact that they have American employees?

More Followup From Monday's Post...

Okay, here is the second part of my thoughts on Monday's blog post. I think some good discussion has come out of this and it truly makes me thankful for all the help I receive from the readers of this blog. Today's part includes some of the things that popped into my head after reading through those great and well thought out comments and a couple of closing thoughts.

• "I feel that America in a whole has fallen into the trap that everything must be convenient and everything priced that way. I feel that is what has gotten us here, lets let govt control our foods, subsidize them, and keep everything on a level playing field. I feel that if uneducated consumers, would take the time to go and visit their local farm, maybe even work for a bit with them, that they would quickly see and be more than willing to pay the premium price for their premium foods." This quote comes from Kramer and I think he is totally right! The things he said about the government and how we got to where we are have been stated on this blog by myself and other commenters ten times over. But, how do we get Joe Blow to come to the farm and educate themselves? I think that may be one of the most serious questions a direct marketing farmer has to answer. It is easy to get the people to the farm that have already figured it out, but how do you get the guy who grew up on a conventional farm (and then left it) in the middle of an Iowa cornfield to come out to your farm and see why they should be willing to pay more? Of course like a total loser I'm not offering up any answers ... just posing the question, but I will say that it is a similar question to the one that I seek to answer everyday at my job (youth pastor).
• "...it gets frustrating when you hear that your premium cared for products should be priced closer to factory farmed products." Again from Kramer (not picking on him ... he just had a lot of good stuff to say). I hope that I didn't come across with that type of viewpoint, because I wholeheartedly agree you should receive what you deserve for your work. Also, I just wanted to throw out how I have been surprisingly encouraged by the responses I have had from within my own community and from readers (and the staff) of Epicurious. Of course it is frustrating, and I'm sure it happens in every line of work (sometimes it feels like I'm paying these contractors too much ... but then I realize how much better they are at their job than I would be), but this is where education comes in again. As you can tell education keeps popping up ... more on that later.
• "If your customers are drawn to your product because of the combination of quality, uniqueness, and a "decent" price (but not cheap), they will be more likely to pay more and less likely to seek a cheaper alternative (as long as the price doesn't become outlandish)." I love this summary from Rich because I think he nailed what I would like to say on the head. It has to be a combination of all of those things (and education) in order to remain sustainable in every sense of the word.

Now for a couple of last thoughts...

• If you read Joel Salatin (and a few others) you get the idea that if our agricultural system trended more towards what it was in the past (grass-based and local farms) that we would be better off. Is that true or will we always need large agri-businesses that ship their products all over the country? Is it true that we will need a system that is based on growing in one place and finishing in another and then processing in yet another? Just some questions...
• Also, the word "education" popped up a lot in my ramblings today (and that is really what they are) and in the comments yesterday. How do we go about educating people of the different choices that are out there? And I think more importantly how to handle their money. Because if these articles and blog posts are to be believed and people aren't buying organic/natural because they are running out of money then the problem is fundamentally that we are bad with money as a nation (yeah, yeah, I know ... no news flash there). Being a good steward of your money is something my wife and I are ultra-passionate about because if we weren't there is no way we would be building a house on 40 acres ... just wouldn't be possible with a youth pastors salary and a stay-at-home mom. It is possible with stewardship. Remember, you always have money for what you want to have money for ... now we just need to help people realize they need to spend money on healthy food.

**Just in case you were wondering I chose these pictures of people talking over the fence because I like that image of the conversation on the blog ... and in this picture I want to be the guy holding his pipe down from his mouth because I like his hat :)

A Followup to Yesterday's Post...

Yesterday's post birthed some pretty lengthy comments (which is awesome!) from some readers. The comments were so good and and well thought out that I decided to share some more of my thoughts from the article I referenced, the blog post I referenced, the comments from my post, and of course my own post. I think it is great that there is so much discussion on here from time to time because I often type these posts in a matter of minutes and then just move on, but the discussion really forces me to think about many issues. With that in my here are some of my thoughts in a bulleted list:

• “Consumers are going from national brands to private labels and from more expensive produce, and that would include organics, to lower-priced produce." That is what Brian Todd of The Food Institute has to say about consumer buying habits. I would say that it is a pretty vague comment, but he did also say that the data isn't in yet. Now, here is one thing I take from that quote ... if people are switching from higher priced organic/natural items to lower priced items that were conventionally grown/raised then they were never really buying products because of any great moral conviction (otherwise they would have found a way to continue). Maybe they were just buying those products because it was trendy and they could afford it at the time? I think this proves that maybe there needs to be more and more education for the consumers (just like Kramer mentioned in one of his comments).
• "My sister shopped at an urban farmers’ market the other day, one that supposedly caters to the low-income residents who live nearby. 'There was nothing there you could buy for $2, even greens or onions,' she said. 'The shoppers were almost all upscale people from downtown offices, not locals.'" This quote comes from the original blog post that I cited and of course is just anecdotal evidence, but it does sort of coincide with the point that I was trying to make in my post. That point being that there is a possibility to price ourselves out of the "local" market. Especially if education is not involved the sales/transactions.
• "I believe it is important that farmers are paid an adequate amount for their work and realize that a natural/organic product will involve more labor, but are the prices getting a little too gourmet? I believe one of the benefits of grassfed natural beef is that it shouldn't cost as much to finish (even though it takes a little longer). But, I'm beginning to wonder if that savings is passed on to the consumers in all cases." This quote of course comes from my own post yesterday and I just thought I would clarify a few things, because I don't always communicate things as well as I would like. People can charge whatever they feel that they need to charge ... I think that there is some economic principle that says that. But, we have to make sure that we charge a price that fits. There is no way that I believe we need to compete with the supermarket ... it wouldn't work. But, price is a factor no matter how great your product is. As far as the grassfed beef thing goes I think it is true to a point, but it sure is open to debate.

**After rereading what I had written I decided that if anyone was going to make it through the whole thing I need to shorten it up! So, I decided to break it up into two parts ... Today's part contains my thoughts from the article, the blog post, and my blog post. Tomorrows part has some of my thoughts after reading the awesome comments and a couple closing things ... Thanks for the great discussion and keep it coming! Oh, and I want to be the guy leaning against the fence in the picture :)

Economics Effecting Local Food Movement

I found an interesting blog post from the folks at www.Sustainablefarm.com titled, "Does the recession threaten the localvore movement?" The basis of the blog post is from an MSNBC article which tells about the slowdown in the organic and local foods movement because of the economic slow down. I should point out that they use the word recession, but since I don't participate in recessions (farms have recessions too ... I think they call them floods or droughts) I don't want to use that word. I do understand that things are getting difficult financially, but that just means we have to tighten our belts and be smart ... it doesn't mean we need to continually talk about how bad things are and feel sorry for ourselves. People who work hard, save, scrounge, and basically survive will always make it through!

But, the post did make me think and evaluate the entire local foods movement (there is that word again). The article said that the people who are still buy fresh organic foods at stores or markets are not always the locals per se, but rather the more wealthy who come out to get the food. Now it isn't a bad thing that the organic/local food market can cater to the upper class, but does it have to be like this.

I believe it is important that farmers are paid an adequate amount for their work and realize that a natural/organic product will involve more labor, but are the prices getting a little too gourmet? I believe one of the benefits of grassfed natural beef is that it shouldn't cost as much to finish (even though it takes a little longer). But, I'm beginning to wonder if that savings is passed on to the consumers in all cases.

On the flip side I know that if you are selling organic hogs there will have to be a higher price because they will have to be feed more expensive organic grain. I think our sustainable farmers need to reach a good middle ground. A fair compensation for their work, but also a price that their local consumers can afford. If we can't do that then I'm not sure if we are truly sustainable farmers...

Boomers, X'ers, and Millennials

Allan Nation posted a little snippet from a study on the eating habits of Baby Boomers (43-62), Generation X (32-42), and Millennials (16-32). He doesn't link to the study, but he does give a basic summary of the findings:

"Baby boomers believe in balanced meals, consumption of fruits and vegetables, and avoidance of fats; but Millennials are the largest users of natural and organic foods. Boomers are far more interested in limited trans fat consumption that the other two generations. Millennials eat more meals away from home than at home while Boomers tend to reserve dining out for special occasions. Only 40% of Gen Xers dine out more frequently that they eat at home."

It is funny because as soon as I read that quote this morning I clicked over to blogger to start writing this post. The first thing that popped into my mind was that we need to get the natural/local/organic food into more restaurants (both large and smaller local ones). After I had that thought I went back to read the rest of Mr. Nation's post and saw that he came to the same conclusion.

On the flip side, I think it also points out that we need to continue to educate. I have to admit that I have a passion for helping people be good stewards of their money, and eating at home more often than eating out is one of those stewardship issues. Of course restaurants don't want to hear that, but I think they will be fine because plenty of people will still eat out. When you combine the importance of eating local and supporting the local economy there are so many benefits.

Is anybody working on getting their food into local restaurants? I recently wrote about a place in North Carolina that is connected with a farm ... pretty cool thing.

Just In Case You Missed It...

(A very quick post today ... the last day of Vacation Bible School ... but, at least this one is earlier in the morning)

On Tuesday (after reading the article I posted on Monday) I asked the question, "Are You Willing to Pay More?" over on the Epi-Log. I had a decent response, and the consensus was that people are willing to pay more to a point. Click on the the question above if you would like to read the posts and comments.

One thing that popped into my mind is this question ... Does local have to cost a lot more? Does grass-fed have to cost more? I think it needs to cost a little bit more, but I do not believe it needs to cost twice is much. If we really want to take local foods and pasture raised we need to be as competitive as possible. Then the quality product and the price will become a selling point.

The one reason people said they didn't buy local is when money wouldn't stretch far enough ... but, I think we can get around that...

Localvore ... is it a Good Thing?

(another late post ... but, there are only two more days of VBS!) I have to admit that I am a talk radio junky. Even as a high school student I would have talk radio on in the car as I drove around town, then when my friends would get in I would have to quick change it over to FM. Pretty much my radio flips between 1040 WHO and 1460 KXNO. I listen to Jim Rome, The Big Show (farm), Rush Limbaugh, Van and Bonnie (local), and Steve Deace (local) all depending on my mood at the moment. But, I like most talk radio ... except for Dr. Laura! I can't stand her voice for some reason...

Anyways that is a long introduction all to say that I heard Rush Limbaugh talking about "localvores" (or "locavores") on his show yesterday. This is not the first time I have heard him bad mouthing the movement, but this time I decided to write about it. If you have listend to Mr. Limbaugh for any amount of time you know what he is about (and I do agree with him quite often), but this time I think he is missing the boat on the "localvore" movement.

Basically he hates the idea because of it's ultra-liberal/enviromental wacko basis. While I do agree that much of the movement is founded on the idea of lowering food miles, cutting back on fuel use, curtailing the use of GMO's and pestacides, and so on I think there is a very strong open market/capitalist angle that should be talked about.

I must admit that the reason that I am such a big fan of the local foods idea isn't because of gas, oil, pestacides, factory farming, food problems, or anything like that. The reason I think it is such a good idea is because it just makes the most sense. I understand that you can't grow everything everywhere, but why not diversify your area the best you can and make the most of that. Here in Iowa would could provide a HUGE amount of our own food from the local communities and it would in turn open up more business opportunities for the people of the state. It just makes sense...

That is the line of reasoning I take when I have conversations with people about local foods, grass-fed beef, or anything else along those lines. Many of the people start talking about feed prices, gas prices, and other ecological reasons. But, I always turn it back to the idea that local, grass-fed, and small scale is the way the world was created. Cows have four stomachs for a reason ... a seven year crop rotation works great for a reason ... pigs have built in plows for a reason ... this stuff was created in a certain way for a reason!

I think being a "localvore" is a good thing. Sure there are plenty of energy reasons that it is, but just from an economic/capitalist/creation standpoint I think it makes the most sense for the animals, the consumers, and the farmers.

Your thoughts?

Late Post ... But, Interesting Article

Wow, this is one of the latest times I have posted (except when I just forget to put it up). It is Vacation Bible School week at the church and I have been crazy busy (especially after the weekend) getting things ready and trying to coordinate it all. Hopefully things will continue to slow down a little ... but, I doubt it. So, that is my sob story on why this is a such a late post. But, I did come across a really interesting article that I wanted to share.

According to the article, "New Research: Consumers Willing to Pay More for Locally Produced Food", the average grocery store consumer is willing to pay a little more for locally grown foods. And, at the Farmer's Market they are willing to pay almost twice as much as the would for the same food at the grocery store (I assume they are talking about the bigger Farmer's Markets, not the dinky ones like in my community). I find this news very encouraging and it also backs up what I have been experiencing and hearing.

Although the researcher found that people are more willing to buy local food he wouldn't go as far as saying that people should only eat local food. I would say that most people would agree with that assessment, but I do know of some that believe we should go local as much as we can ... even if it means not having some foods available at certain times.

Since this is just going to be a quick post I'm not going to take the time to throw out all of my thoughts, but I do have a ton. In fact, I think this would be a good thing to bring up on the Epi-Log ... to see what other consumers think. If you have a chance to read the article I would love to hear your thoughts! So, read the article and leave a comment...

More Fallout From the Beef Recall

Today I ran a cross a little more fallout from the Hallmark/Westland beef recall. When clearing the articles from my RSS news reader I came across this article, "School Districts That Got Recalled Beef Are Listed". As has been reported in various articles most of the meat that was recalled had already been consumed, but for good measure the USDA just released the schools that had received the recalled beef. As I scrolled through the list (you can take the time if you like) I saw a lot of school districts in Iowa listed. And, I thought ... "boy I am glad my mom, the teacher, takes a sack lunch to school!" Okay, that isn't exactly what I thought, but it did cross my mind.

Running across that list of schools who received the recalled beef really didn't mean much to me until I came across this article, "Food Program Brings Together Schools, Farmers," from a couple of days ago. Basically it tells about the "Farm to School Program" that helps connect local farmers with school districts in their area. Some farmers have formed co-ops to be able to supply the food that is needed while others have just expanded their operation or changed some of their focus.

I think this is a really cool program that probably deserves more publicity and even more adoption throughout the country. In fact it seems like a win - win. The farmers are able to sell their products locally so they don't have to deal with trucking or huge market swings and the students are able to eat fresh food instead of pre-packaged, pre-made, yuck! Of course it would take a change in the way school districts prepare their food, the article points this out also. This alone will probably keep many schools from jumping on board, but I think once people see it working in other places they may be more willing to try.

One thing did bother me though. According to the "Farm to School" website the State of Iowa only has 3 districts and 6 schools involved. I know that the Universities are involved and I was able to read about one school district on the website that is part of the program ... but, in the state of IOWA ... in the CORN BELT ... that is all we can come up with? I don't know where the disconnect is or why this isn't taking off in the state, but I plan on looking into it.

What better way to support our students and our farmers than by connecting them together. There is no reason for all of those districts listed on the USDA site to be buying beef from Hallmark/Westland (I know ... money is the issue) when Iowa can produce all the beef our school kids need. Of course there are many, many, many reasons that more schools aren't participating, and I know what many of the reasons are. But, that doesn't make it right.

Just something to think about on a Friday...

Eating Local ... What is Local ... Why Even Try?

Writing over at the epi-log is kind of a new experience for me, and hopefully it will be a chance to discuss and promote local eating. For my first post (if you haven't read it yet click here) I wanted to give an brief introduction of some of the reasoning behind or desire to farm. Knowing where our food comes from is important to us and supporting our community is equally important. It was a brief post and not very detailed, but it did spark a couple of interesting comments that you should check out at the bottom.

I think the poster brought up some points that many people would agree with. What is the definition of "local"? Why shouldn't we enjoy the benefits of living in an affluent society and purchase food at lower prices? Isn't one of the benefits of the global trade that we can eat fruits in Iowa in the middle of the winter? And, how about one of the commenters last points ... buy purchasing overseas products we are actually supporting farmers who are poorer than the farmers in the United States.

As I mentioned these seem like valid points to most consumers in the United States, maybe even more so to people who love to dine at a higher level than I do. But, I think it just shows why we (farmers) must produce food that is better than anything out there so that the eating speaks for itself. We must be educated, informed, ready to answer questions, and engage intelligently and winsomely in debate.

What do you think of those points that were brought up? How can we as farmers educate the consumers on those specific areas? Thanks to "The Beginning Farmer" reader mellifera I have a feeling that purchasing food products that originate overseas may not help the farmers as much as we would like to think. So, what else do you think? What do we need to do to educate our friends and neighbors?