Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] good sites for direct marketers

market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Market Farming

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Brigette Leach" <avalonfarmshomegrown AT earthlink.net>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] good sites for direct marketers
  • Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 19:04:31 -0500

Hello to the list...
I must make a comment, just can't help myself.
 
Why is it that we find it necessary to criticize other products and practices in order to promote ours? I can sell my product based on it's freshness. I can sell based on the service that we go the extra mile to provide to our customers. I have learned that pointing a finger at what others are doing wrong is risky, and by my business standards, unfair. It just is not necessary to put down any particular type of farming in order to promote your own! Sell by what is "good" about your product. Frankly, having feed cattle for a number of years on a family farm, I take offense at some of the information on your website. The world has changed since 1989 (one bit of info cited)! 
 
Like each of you on this list, other farmers do the best they can with the information that they have at the time. I know (and am fond of) lilterally hundreds of farmers/growers/producers who practice everything from conventional agricuture to those who have been certified organic for years, and raise everything from cattle and hogs to crawfish and shrimp, spelts to ash trees, blueberries to asparagus. I don't know a single one of them who gets up in the morning and says "I think I'll go out and do something bad for the environment today!" Most of us are just tying to stay in business and leave a positive legacy for our children and grandchildren.
 
Some members on this list have a propensity to refer to industrial farming and factory farms. A sure way to get my attention! Once again, I ask, what is a family farm, an industrial farm, a factory farm? Until you can define these terms please stop using them. The 2002 Census of Agriculture reveals that almost 99 percent of US farms are owned by individuals, family partnerships or family held corporations. About 94 percent of US ag products are produced on farms that are owned by individuals, family partnerships and family held corportations. That leaves about 6 percent produced by non-farmliy corporations. So I could argue that, based on what some of you say and on these numbers, that family farms are bad. Lets do away with them.
 
Many of us have concerns over consolidation in the agricultural industry. (Yes, if you grow and sell food and food products you are a part of an industy.) At the same time we have concerns over consolidation in many industries...media, banking, energy, pharmecuiticals...start making your own list. Agriculture certainly isn't alone in the trend. How many of you can say that you haven't purchased anything from one of those big box stores? Don't get yourself caught having double standards when it comes to size!
 
To quote our newspaper editor, "Simply repeating information over and over doesn't make it fact." We will all be better served to focus on the positive aspects of our lives and our products.
 
Brigette Leach
Avalon Farms Premium Homegrown
Have you checked out our "Share of the Farm"? Contact us for more information. 269-746-4648
Support American farmers and burn the best soy candle...Mia Bella!
Love to burn candles? Hate the soot? Enter our weekly drawing to win a Mia Bella jar candle and a Bella Bar at http://getgoingcandles.scent-team.com
 
 
----- Original Message -----
From: Beth Spaugh
To: Market Farming
Sent: 1/12/2005 10:36:46 AM
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] good sites for direct marketers

Beautiful website. Wonderful relationship marketing. Hope you can keep the diary entries up to date, and love your involving readers in the economics. Superb job! And truly beautiful label/logo.Only change I'd suggest is moving the producer resources down to the bottom soon - even if you are building a group of producers that will market cooperatively. Having the section for producers gives the impression that your meat doesn't come just from your ranch.

At 07:47 PM 1/11/2005 -0700, you wrote:
Hello to the list.
 
I'm looking for good links on direct marketing to add to our producer's resources section of our web page.
 
We direct market grass fed beef.  We've had some good success (160 head in 2004 and on track for 200 in 2005).  We have received a bit of press and have started getting phone calls from people who are interested in what we do.  To help them, I put together an annotated list of sites from my favorites.  I'd like to add more.  Does anyone have some good sites they would like to recommended on direct marketing (not necessarily grass fed).  While links specific to marketing meat products are great, general direct marketing links are also useful.  You can access the list of links I already have at "producers resources" from the home page:
www.alderspring.com
 
Thanks!
Caryl Elzinga
Alderspring Ranch Grass Fed Beef
 
_______________________________________________
Market-farming mailing list
Market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/market-farming

Get the list FAQ at: http://www.marketfarming.net/mflistfaq.htm

Beth Spaugh
Rehoboth Homestead
66 Jabez Allen Road
Peru NY 12972




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page