Today I had a rather frustrating run in with another farmer at the University Farmer's Market. My policy is to never directly criticize another farm, because I know how difficult farming can be, and I think we should be supportive of each other rather than critical. I've seen flame wars get started on blogs, and I don't want to go there. So I will just talk about my experience in a vague way.
I was at the market to buy some produce and grains, but I couldn't help wandering about to check on prices of other meat producers. At the farm stand in question, I saw that the farmer wasn't busy, and asked the farmer about the slaughter facilities they use. I was curious to hear how they dealt with having to use a USDA Inspected facility (required to sell at a farmers market). Now, perhaps in retrospect, I shouldn't have tried to strike up a conversation at the market where I could be getting in the way of this person making sales (although to be fair, there were two people working the booth). After getting in a few questions, I mentioned that I was a pork producer getting started in my first year. After this, I was rudely told that the farmer didn't want to give any secrets away to their competition. I was caught off guard by this person's response, and basically had to turn around and quickly walk away to avoid saying anything nasty in return.
I thought I was entering into a collegial conversation, but ended up getting the opposite. Perhaps this person was having a bad day, or maybe I came across in an unintended way, but I hope this isn't the norm in the local farming community. I am the first to say that a farm needs to be run as a for-profit business to be successful, and maybe I'm naive to think we can all support each other as a community. I suppose only time will tell.
In the meantime, if you're a farmer or thinking about farming feel free to use this blog as a resource and to ask my opinion anytime you'd like. We're a long ways from meeting the demand for thoughtfully raised food in the Puget Sound Region.
I was at the market to buy some produce and grains, but I couldn't help wandering about to check on prices of other meat producers. At the farm stand in question, I saw that the farmer wasn't busy, and asked the farmer about the slaughter facilities they use. I was curious to hear how they dealt with having to use a USDA Inspected facility (required to sell at a farmers market). Now, perhaps in retrospect, I shouldn't have tried to strike up a conversation at the market where I could be getting in the way of this person making sales (although to be fair, there were two people working the booth). After getting in a few questions, I mentioned that I was a pork producer getting started in my first year. After this, I was rudely told that the farmer didn't want to give any secrets away to their competition. I was caught off guard by this person's response, and basically had to turn around and quickly walk away to avoid saying anything nasty in return.
I thought I was entering into a collegial conversation, but ended up getting the opposite. Perhaps this person was having a bad day, or maybe I came across in an unintended way, but I hope this isn't the norm in the local farming community. I am the first to say that a farm needs to be run as a for-profit business to be successful, and maybe I'm naive to think we can all support each other as a community. I suppose only time will tell.
In the meantime, if you're a farmer or thinking about farming feel free to use this blog as a resource and to ask my opinion anytime you'd like. We're a long ways from meeting the demand for thoughtfully raised food in the Puget Sound Region.
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