Thankful for Local Food Supporters; Today & Everyday

Thanksgiving is a busy time for us and pasture-raised turkey farmers like us all across the country. While most conventionally raised birds are butchered well in advance and kept frozen until Turkey Day, most pasture-based operations raise their turkeys well into November to bring you the freshest bird possible. Here at Gunthorp Farms, we are butchering around 2,100 turkeys this week in addition to all of our normal pork, chicken, & duck wholesale orders, which is how the week before Thanksgiving received the nickname Hell Week. This is also in addition to the turkeys that we sent out frozen to various wholesale customers over the last month.

​To those who are reading this who are purchasing a pasture-raised turkey from a local farmer, whether that is us or another farmer like us, please know that we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You have no idea how exciting it is to us to know that around 50,000 people will be eating one of our turkeys this year, if our math for around 10 people per turkey is correct. 50,000 people is 0.015% of people in the United States. A fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent. Not even a drop in the bucket really. BUT those 50,000 people (or at least the ~5,000 people who purchased the turkey to serve to their families) made a conscious decision to be a part of rebuilding the local and regional food system, even if they only made that decision for 1 day out of the year.

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I am beyond thankful this holiday season for all of the support that we have received. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that we would make it to this point. If I could ask you to do 1 thing for me if you’ve stuck with me this far, I urge you to look up the farm where you purchased your turkey from. Know that they could not continue farming the land if it were not for support from individuals like you. Follow their pages, like their photos, tag them in your Thanksgiving posts. But more importantly, if you can, try not to let this feeling of thankfulness for your local food economy pass you by once November 29th hits. Include your local farmer in your Christmas meal traditions, make a New Years resolution for 2020 to purchase from local farmers just a few more times a year than you did in 2019, purchase a freezer bundle to keep stocked up on pasture-raised meats, maybe even join a CSA in the spring time that will bring you local food through the summer. Together we all can breathe life into our local communities, just by incorporating local into your lifestyle when you can.

Thank you again and happy early Thanksgiving from Gunthorp Farms.