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When we awoke yesterday morning the cows were in the driveway and yard, grazing on our garden and orchard.
This is not where they should be. Rose and I sighed, pulled on our coats and boots, grabbed our coffee mugs and began to herd them back to their paddock, a good half mile up the valley. It was a rather pleasant walk, and as we strolled through the mountain mist and dewy grass I took a moment to reflect and meditate on our life. I reflected on the joys and struggles, the triumphs and trials, and the many lessons learned. Farming is a humbling and taxing activity, but it is rich with rewards and life truth. It is easy to get upset and frustrated when the animals escape. But over the years we have learned to take this signal as a gift. We have a saying on the farm; "When the pigs escape, they are telling you something." Usually it is a faulty water valve, or they have run out of feed or hay or they are ready for a fresh paddock. Regardless, they are exposing a weakness in the system. This past weekend I experienced a disturbing interaction with an individual which reminded me of the importance of reminding YOU, our customers, of the reason we exist as a farm. In other words, what is our mission statement and purpose? It looks something like this;
We work tirelessly and relentlessly to provide to you, our customers, and ourselves, the highest quality, safest, and purest foods and animal products we are capable of producing. We strive to ensure that what is put into our bodies is safe, clean and pure. We do not, have not, and never will compromise, contaminate, pasteurize or adulterate our animals, products, ourselves or our customers with any drug, antibiotic, pesticide, herbicide, vaccine, dewormer, steroid, growth hormone, genetically modified organism (gmo), fungicide, insecticide, additive, preservative or any other manipulated chemical or pharmaceutical agent. The product we provide to ourselves and our customers is pure, pristine and healthy. That is our promise to you. We are uncompromising. We will go to the grave with these standards. Our beliefs, values and ethics are not for sale at any price. You can count on this.
If these truths have not been evidenced by our actions, words and products over the past two decades, I apologize. As upsetting as it was, perhaps the distressing encounter I experienced this past weekend was a pig escaping. It served as a potent reminder to myself of how important these values are to us in our quest to serve you, our dear customers, to the best of our abilities and to the highest standards and quality available.
I am eager to see each of you in the Magic Meat Truck this weekend.
Xoxo.
George
**We will be arriving at UD at about 10:00. We will be doing a Vashon popup this evening, 17:30-18:30. We will be at Ballard from 9am-2pm tomorrow.
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