Food & Soap Home Delivery During the Pandemic
Hi everyone,
I have been very hesitant to say anything about the recent food shortages. My reluctance comes from the fact that, frankly, this whole crisis is probably going to benefit our farm. People are going to jump at the chance to join local meat and garden CSA's because these programs guarantee abundant local food on a routine schedule, at a fixed price, regardless of what's going on in the rest of the world. This presents a unique moral conundrum – it’s obviously not right to profit from panic or loss – but, here’s the thing, we all need to eat. And it appears this problem is only getting worse.
I’m reminded of a family food story I frequently heard growing up (please stick with me here for a second). My Great Papa Lacagnina owned a successful macaroni business in downtown Rochester during the Great Depression. His family (including his son, my Papa), thrived during this time because they offered local, readily available, cost-effective, and delicious food. I always picture the same scene like an old black-and-white photograph: a family of Rochesterians are comforted knowing their next dinner is a belly full of delicious pasta waiting for them right down the block.
In this case, it wouldn’t have benefited anyone in my Great Papa's neighborhood if he stopped marketing his business. In fact, the absence of his business would have made things harder for his community. There are some parallels between then and now.
On that note, I’ve had enough people urge me to finally say something. I agree it probably hurts more to not say something at this point. People need to know we have food and soap. So, here’s what we’re doing to help with the recent shortages...
Key Takeaways
We have plenty of whole, frozen chicken available (order limit set to qty 5).
We are ordering more chicks ahead of schedule. These will hopefully be ready in 9-10 weeks so if we end up with a waiting list, I’d definitely suggest signing up.
We have homemade, all-purpose soap bars. You can use them in the shower, at the sink, or for doing dishes.
We’re going to slightly modify the ingredients to include more olive oil. This ingredient makes soap more moisturizing (without sacrificing its antibacterial properties). Note, the FDA prohibits me from calling my soap “moisturizing” and “antibacterial” because this makes the product a “drug” – even though these are two inherent qualities of literally any half-decent soap. In my opinion, we’re at a point where scientific fact far exceeds the importance of ludicrous, small-business-limiting regulations. So, is our soap antibacterial and moisturizing? I never said a word...
We’ll deliver right to your door within a 20-mile radius of Rochester for $15. Simply leave a cooler outside your front door and we’ll fill it with food from your order. You don’t have to expose yourself to any crowds (or stinky farmers) to get your food.
We’re going to start making weekly home deliveries every Sunday (starting tomorrow!) until things return to a sense of normalcy.
We’re giving anyone over age 60 a 10% discount on individual purchases of chicken, soap, and eggs. (Contact us before placing an order on our website and we’ll send you a coupon code. Note, this discount does not apply to CSA and half-pig orders).
Everything, including shipping charges, can be conveniently paid for on the website’s eCommerce store using any major credit card or Apple Pay. Order online and select “Home Delivery” at checkout.
We are now offering two Garden CSA's: a full-year share and a summer share. This has been discussed a bit on our social media platforms (see here). Let us know if you'd like to sign up and we'll send you the details via email.
PS: Where I Really Want to Take this Farm...
On a related note, we received our license to start making and selling artisanal bread and spice blends. These aren’t yet on the website but let me know if you need anything. We have some beautiful sourdough starters and an awesome black seasoning blend ready to go (thanks to my dad's amazing recipe). I’m also thinking about making and "giving away" the following samples/gifts: bone broth, turkey sausage, homemade pasta, cheese, sauerkraut, pickles, etc. made in our home kitchen. And maybe we have a suggested donation or tip amount but of course it would NOT be associated in any way with these samples/gifts. You see what I’m getting at here?
(This model was used very successfully by new craft breweries whose farm-brewery license had passed, but were still waiting on the more stringent on-premise alcohol serving licensing. They would give away free samples of beer at the brewery and people could "optionally" leave a "donation" or "tip").
I am not one to go rogue but I feel very strongly (for a bunch of reasons) that the government should loosen regulations on homemade food production, especially during national emergencies. It opens the door for more food and commerce to flow through local economies. And it allows people who are skilled, safe home cooks to provide the goods communities need but can’t get.
Here’s a couple examples of the absurd laws preventing me from providing more food to the community. I can legally make pies at home and sell them, but it’s illegal to can and sell bone broth from our pasture-raised chickens and turkeys. Broth boils for like 8 hours, and then you boil it (under pressure) again when you can it – it doesn’t get much safer than that. Another example is I can cut up a turkey into individual pieces and sell it, but I can’t put it through a grinder to make sausage patties. If you keep cutting turkey by hand it eventually turns into sausage anyways. It’s pure silliness.
And like we’re saying, people need to eat. Let’s forgo these absurdities and let small, transparent family farms do what they do best, especially in times of need. I would love to hear whether or not there's interest for the aforementioned food products…
Before the manure hit the fan I was already really starting to consider shifting the farm towards offering a full-year, full-diet CSA model. With the manure sufficiently in the fan now, I am even more excited about this idea. Let me know your thoughts! If it’s overwhelmingly positive then I’ll think about the best way to proceed.
Whew, I got a little feisty on this one! As always, we thank you for standing up for pasture-raised foods and hope we continue to earn your support as we move ahead. If you have any questions, concerns, or ideas on how we could improve the farm please don't hesitate to call, email, or text us anytime.
Your farmers,
Kevin and Kate
The Pasture Stand