The Aftermath of the Pandemic
Last year was our first official year “in business.” It was the year we forked over time and money for increased infrastructure, quality stock, a website with a real domain name, opened an LLC, obtained proper business insurance, spent hours upon hours researching rules and regulations, and all of the hundreds of other small details that no one initially thinks about when starting a small business. It was a learning curve and it continues to be a learning curve. That being said, we incidentally launched Red Pine Pastures at an opportune time- the year of the pandemic.
Remember seeing the Wal-Mart shelves completely barren? Grocery stores having empty coolers that were usually brimming with milk and eggs? People fighting over toilet paper? Meat processing plants closing down, some for good? For the first time in a long time, I believe people actually gave a second thought as to where their food came from. It could be the threatened instability of meat and produce that drove some families to stock their shelves and freezers. Perhaps, especially when fear of virus transmission was at an all time high, farm fresh had more of a locality appeal versus products shipped from across the country. Another theory I have is the slower paced life many people experienced led them on a path to care about the “details” of their food. Maybe, some folks just had more downtime to spend on the internet, where they inadvertently became aware of small family farms that offered quality goods. I’m not really sure, to be honest.
There is no doubt about it though that the year of the pandemic was seemingly pivotal in the way people viewed food… for a little while. It seemed that how we viewed our food and viewed our farmers was changing… if but only for a moment. How quickly we forget though, and how quickly we run back to our old habits. Last year, we could barely keep eggs in stock- our family only consumed the dirty and broken eggs to provide the best to our customers, and we were happy to do it! Now, the sheer amount of “Wal-Mart has cheaper chubs of beef”, “Costco has cheap packs of chicken” and “Aldi sells eggs for $0.79” I see on a daily basis aimed at farms similar to our own is quite disheartening.
The fact of the matter is that we live in a world where people care more about the house they live in and the car they drive than the food they put into their bodies, because chicken is chicken, right? We live in a world where we find satisfaction out of carrying around an expensive purse but look for the best bargain on pork chops. It’s cool to drive a new speed boat but I’ll be damned if I’m going to spend more than $3/lb on hamburger. It’s no big deal to drop a couple hundred dollars on a new hair style (plus tip!) but a $20 homegrown chicken is out of the question. Now, I’m not telling you how to spend your money but it’s something to think about.
All of this to say, we’re still here. We’re still getting up early and going to bed late day in and day out, giving it everything we have to produce the very best that we can. So many folks yearned for “getting back to normal” after the pandemic but at what cost? In the words of the wise Wendell Berry, “you can best serve civilization by being against what usually passes for it.” My take on this quote? You best serve yourself (and others) by going against the grain, asking the hard questions, supporting those who are actually trying to make a difference, and voting with your food dollar not just during a pandemic, but at all times… including now.