McDonald’s and Sustainable Agricuture – Food for Thought

The vibe around the farm right now is “growing wild”. In just a few short weeks the speed of transformation from brown seeds to green grass and flowers all over the farm is nothing short of miraculous.  With the recent hot weather coupled with abundant rain we now will have a sufficient hay crop to get the cows through next winter.  Yes we are already thinking about cold weather as agriculture is the most vicious supply chain known to man.  In most cases from beginning to end, the supply chain takes at least a year to complete and in the case of beef its nearly three years from conception to consumption.  Three years to get that great hamburger we offer!

I thought about this long cycle of nature the other day when I heard that McDonald’s was only going to purchase sustainable beef by the year 2016.  While I applaud them for this statement they are in their own words, not sure what that means and maybe not sure what they are up against.

What is sustainable?  It means a little something different to everyone and is hard for people to agree on.  Does it mean carbon neutral? All natural? Animal friendly? And how do you actually gain traction on such an undertaking on a global scale taking into account different climates, different cultures, and different tastes?  No doubt a monumental undertaking.

In the meanwhile this focus can only help the food system.  While I am not a frequent customer of McDonald’s, having large food industry participants talk about sustainability of our food supply chain can only help us all.  Efforts like these will make us all better in the long run as more consumers (like you) begin to understand where their food comes from, know the people that raised it, and that the animals and environment it was raised in were treated with care and respect.

Do you want those assurances right now?  Do you want sustainable? Well we can give it to you.  You don’t have to wait until 2016 to buy a McDonald’s hamburger or chicken sandwich.  Just as we always have, since my Grandma started raising chickens and cows in the 30’s and 40’s, we have all natural beef, pork, poultry, and eggs available right here at the farm.  And you don’t have to take someone else’s word for it.  You can drive right out here to the farm and see for yourself.  We’d love to get some of our great tasting, safe, wholesome food on your family’s kitchen table.  What better gift could you give them as a parent?

That reminds me, have you seen the new meat packages we have on the website?  To make it easier for people to try our products we put together a few very small packages with some great pricing.  Check em out right here if you haven’t found them on the web yet.  They are absolutely delicious!

Now for me it’s back out to our newly found hot and humid weather.  Routine chores of checking livestock water, and making sure all of the fences are up and in good condition in this hot weather feels like doing a cardio workout in a sauna!