Jake's In the News

We’ve had some good news and bad news published locally this month.

Let’s start with the bad news; our on-farm store was broken into during the middle of the night a couple weeks ago. This is surprisingly a first for our farmstand.  It was alarming and unsettling, knowing people with a plan came in the dark of night to rob the store. The local news outlet heard of multiple farm stands being hit the same night as ours, and interviewed us to create awareness for the issue in hopes to catch the people responsible. Full Article Link: WSBT news article

We were thankful for the local support that brewed from the press. And have responded to the theft with more surveillance and a different cash/box option.

We take a lot of pride in our little Meat Shed.  It’s been servicing the local community for over 25 years now, and the honor system makes it even more special.  You trust us to raise your food; we trust you to serve yourself in the farmstand.

That same week a local writer reached out to us for an interview, and graciously worked quickly to completion after hearing about the robbery.  It was really thoughtful to put a high-priority on our story.  Full Blog link: Dowagiac Homes For Sale Blog

The list of questions asked for this blog were very intuitive. And helped me sit with our story again, going back to the beginning.  After answering the questions, I thought it might be interesting for you to read some of the raw-cut interview.  Here are the first five questions. I’ll share the remaining questions periodically; my lengthy answers are a bit much for one newsletter.

1. How did Jake’s Country Meats start, and what made you focus on selling directly to customers?
   1. My Dad thought of selling meat directly to customers during the commercial hog market plummet of 1998.  At that time, more and more farms were focusing their efforts to meet the demand of the market which emphasized quantity over quality. All hog carcasses needed to look the same, and cut the same to improve efficiencies in the production and process of hog farming.  The “get big or go home” mentality ramped up in the farming industry, and he knew it would be much harder for the farm to sustain without some sort of change. My parents recognized a difference in the pigs we produced, while knowing we couldn’t keep selling our pigs to the open commercial market at a loss.  We had to be innovative. 
   2. The idea to feed our community was way ahead of our time, yet not new.  Much of what we do today is similar to how his parents and grandparents farmed, and what sourcing food used to look like.  Thankfully, my parents are resilient and not afraid to try new things, even if they fail.  This curated a desire for the next generation to dream dreams, and create opportunities on the same farm.  We are now in our 7^th generation of farmers, and the meat business is a really significant part of our story. 
2. What’s something about your farm or the way you raise your animals that people don’t always realize?
   1. People don’t always realize the challenges that come along with farming. Most times people envision every farm as a homesteader’s dream with grassy hills and cute animals. Our way of life does have dreamy moments that we truly cherish; however, we also experience some of the lowest of lows.  Farming can be unpredictable, with different variables outside of your own control, making it a unique profession, one of which the entire world relies on for nourishing food daily.      
3. What makes your pork and beef different from what people buy at a grocery store?
   1. Our growing practices are different.  We raise our animals with quality in mind, and treat them as part of a whole system.  We strive to be a farm where the animals, people, and land work together in synergy. Our animals live outside, have the ability to forage, and access pasture and sunlight. Our cattle and lamb eat grass from start to finish, no grains.  Our pigs and poultry are fed a non-gmo supplement that we grow and grind on-site at the farm.  The entire process of raising the animal to processing the meat is done within a small radius, which directly influences the quality of meat we produce.  
4. How do your farming practices impact the taste and quality of the meat?
1. Our animals are healthy energetic animals, living in their natural habitat, and given the ability to act naturally.  When you raise animals on soil, under the sun within nature, the flavor and nutrient content is richer. We strive for our animals to only have one bad day.  And even on that day, we transport in small groups, aim to eliminate stress, and respect and honor the animal, while partnering with the best processing facilities in the region.
5. Your website mentions heritage breeds, how do they compare to commercial breeds in flavor and texture?
   1. We utilize heritage breeds for our pigs, a Duroc and Berkshire cross. These breeds are both known for their flavor.  Our meats’ texture is firm, not mushy or soft.  It tastes like real, authentic, nourishing meat. Heritage breeds also carry a heavier fat cover, which adds to the flavor profile but also aids in the ability to withstand outdoor living. 
   2. Most people do not realize that we have been preserving the genetics of our pigs raised on this land for around 50years.  Every year we raise replacement gilts which are female piglets from the litters that we then raise into breeding sows. This is one of the reasons why our pork has its own flavor.