I was listening to a podcast this past week and the guest made the following statement: “sell what you fix”. His message was that he sells wellness, not vitamins. This got me to thinking. What do we fix? I’d like to ask that question of you, dear reader. I’d like to think we’re fixing wellness. Your wellness, the animal’s wellness, the lands wellness. This train of thought leads me to a deeper question that I think is related - why do we do what we do? Because the answer is complex and has evolved over the years, the question requires a look back through the 15 years we’ve been raising livestock to the start of our homesteading journey.
Before we began farming, we lived in your typical suburban community and were struggling to find meaning and direction in the narrow confines of that lifestyle. We weren't sure what we wanted, but we knew we wanted out. Initially my desire to move out of the suburbs was for my children. I was disenchanted with the affluent suburban lifestyle. Our kids couldn’t just be kids. There was no place for them to explore and learn and grow. Everything was managed – dance, gymnastics, baseball, soccer. They couldn’t just go outside and play without parental supervision (not without the neighbors looking askance at you). They were missing out on a lot of personal development because their lives were being micromanaged. Additionally, there was a palpable need to “keep up with the Jones’”. Being the frugal and practical type, I struggled with trying to give my children what they wanted while also trying to protect them from consumeristic programing. That led us to moving out into “the country”.
Not only am I frugal and practical, I’m also independent. The idea of tackling a challenge and accomplishing it on my own brings me great satisfaction. That's why I decided to venture into farming - what better way to teach my children practical skills and a strong work ethic than by starting a homestead?
This decision has led to a multitude of experiences, both good and bad, which have shaped our family's story. While I may not have been the perfect parent, I am immensely proud of my adult children and believe that their upbringing in the country has played a significant role in their development as individuals.
Homesteading was a great way for me to express my creative side. As an avid learner, it was full of new horizons to conquer. Though I didn’t grow up in a farming environment, my parents were products of the Great Depression. As a result, I had a healthy appreciation for being able to produce my own food.
We began our homesteading journey with a modest garden, a flock of chickens, and a handful of rabbits. As we gained confidence in our abilities, we ventured further and introduced sheep, pigs, ducks, geese, and even a few steers to our homestead. In addition to the satisfaction of knowing where my food came from, I was blown away by the flavor.
This brings us to the initial reason why we do what we do – the food tastes so much better! Grocery store food is just so disappointing. If you’re going to spend all that time creating a meal, you should start with the best ingredients. But this begs the question – why does our food taste better? I believe the answer lies in what the animal eats. Animals raised on pasture eat a wide variety of forbs, legumes, seeds, and grasses. This variety adds depth of flavor that you just can’t get from factory food. What we experience as depth of flavor is a manifestation of nutrition. Food that is nutrient dense is appealing to our taste buds – our bodies rejoice when we supply them with wholesome foods. Thus, another reason we do what we do – our food is healthier. As a society, we are overfed and under nourished. We consume copious amounts of food in an attempt to satisfy our nutritional needs, but the food is void of nutrition. We crave more because our diet is lacking what our body needs to operate at its optimal level.
This is just the genesis of what got us into raising livestock and selling direct to consumer. As mentioned above, there are 15 years of learning that shapes our philosophy and fuels our passion. Tune in next week as we explore society, community, and the environment.
