We bought our first goods through Conway Locally Grown today. It’s an online farmer’s market that sells meats, eggs & dairy, vegetables (when in season), herbs, canned goods, crafts, etc. All of the goods are produced within 150 miles. But more than that, most of the farmers use organic farming methods, which, for animal production, means the animals are treated humanely, allowed the freedom to roam and graze and eat what they were made to eat, and raised without steroids and growth hormones.

Here’s what Ratchford Farms, we got our beef from, says about themselves:

“…our animals drink spring water, roam stress-free on our farm, eat grass and are not subjected to the typical steroids, antibiotics and hormones typical of beef bought in the grocery store. Our Native American Indian heritage tells us that we are to treat God’s animals with respect, and we take that very seriously. We don’t brand these cattle. We don’t shock them into going where we want them to. We do things the hard way, yes. We are grateful for them and the nutrition that they provide.”

And Falling Sky Farm, where our chicken came from, writes:

“Our chickens are raised the way chickens should be! Unlike most broiler chickens, they have access to fresh air, green grass and sun light. The are raised in floorless pens that are moved to fresh grass daily. Their diet consists of grass, bugs, and a mineral-rich, hormone- and antibiotic-free custom-mixed ration. We grind all of our own feed so we know exactly what goes into the ration. The chickens are processed on the farm to ensure a clean and low stress environment.”

Is it expensive? Yes. But, think about it. Should that chicken at the grocery store really cost just 3-5 dollars? From the time it is hatched to the time it is in plastic in the meat cooler—the cost of feeding, housing, processing, packaging, transporting, plus wages for the labor involved in each of the above steps—shouldn’t it cost more than that? It’s not that organic, naturally-raised meat is too expensive, it’s that factory-farmed meat is too cheap. For meat to be produced the way it should be, it would cost more, and people would have to eat less of it. And that’s not a bad thing.

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