I hope everyone can see my heart in this message. If you want to know your farmer better and be more connected to your food, please don’t hesitate to speak up.
There’s no doubt that simply producing food is easier than selling it directly to consumers. You can send your milk or beef off, and the middleman handles the processing, marketing, and sales. Grocery stores don’t care about quality the way a farmer does; most employees can’t tell you how the meat was raised, if medications were used, or what kind of life that animal had. If something goes wrong, most consumers don’t say a word—they just move on.
But when farmers choose to sell directly to consumers, we take on every role: caring for the animals, processing, bottling, packaging, marketing, and customer service. We bear the risk that our products might not sell. Because of this, we rely on customer feedback.
Please, don’t suffer in silence. Ghosting or staying quiet out of fear of hurting feelings doesn’t help anyone. Open communication helps us learn, grow, and make things right—so we can produce an even better product for you. After all, we are the experts in what we raise, and sometimes a conversation can clear up misunderstandings or lead to a better outcome for everyone.
At the end of the day, we respect your hard-earned dollars because we work just as hard to earn every single one. So if you support local farmers, support them with honesty too. It makes all the difference.
Your farmer (with love),
Sarah