Local Agriculture

While reading the Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan I came to realize how inexpensive our food really is and how underpaid farmers are. I’m sure no one ever wants to spend more or spend unreasonably for the food they get because the Walmart culture has lowered the bar and raised the expectation of consumers that it all should be nearly free. Too bad the Walmart mind-set hasn’t swept through the insurance industry.

Pollan spent some time on a farm that was an omni-culture farm that has several lines of agriculture going on at once as opposed to a mono-culture farm that just raises or grows one product. When Pollan saw the expense and work that was involved in the egg producing portion of the farm he proclaimed that the price of $1.00 and egg sounded reasonable to him.

I am in the egg business, but I’m not big enough to do it as more than a hobby. I’ve had people sample the eggs we produce and one would like to buy 15 dozen a week and another could use 50 dozen. Right now We are getting 10 to 11 dozen a week. The problem with going commercial rather than hobby is that we would need to get many more chickens, build a larger facility and become licensed, which has even more complications and expenses. We would have to weigh, candle and rate each egg. We would need a processing facility with hot and cold running water; not the kitchen. We would need a building that can be maintained at 45F degrees . The added expense would probably never see a break even point in my life time.

Right now we are selling eggs for around 33 cents each and at this point we are breaking even on the feed, but we have a long way to go to pay for the Super Max. Our customers know the quality. It is very obvious when one sees the color of the yolks and how firmly the eggs stand in the pan. Sure you can get those white eggs from the supermarket for about 10 cents each, but this is truly a case where you get what you pay for. Please support local agriculture.