“Will you be lowering prices anytime soon?”
“Wow. You’re really taking advantage of this egg shortage.”
“You’re too expensive, why can I buy it for cheaper at the grocery store?”
These are just a few comments that have been made about our farm this month.
There’s a common misconception that local products should automatically be cheaper. And as much as we would love to have lower prices to make our products more affordable for all households, we simply can’t. Let me explain why.
When you purchase products from the grocery store, such as dairy or meat, those items were produced on a commercial, large-scale, farm that often receives subsidies from the government. In some cases they are provided feed directly, in others they are given supplementary funds to purchase grains for their animals. The most commonly subsidized grains in the U.S. for conventional and organic operations are corn and soy, which is why they are the most prevalent grains in our food chain.
Eggs are considered a loss leader in most grocery stores. This means that the grocery store sells the eggs at cost, and sometimes even below cost, with no or even negative profit. They do this in hopes that you will come in for eggs, but grab other things while you’re there in order to make up their lost margins.
We’ve been conditioned to believe that the sticker price is what it costs to produce, when in actuality the farmers that provide food in the grocery store receive fractions of the dollar you spend on their product by the time the store, the packer, and the broker all get their cut.
So why does this matter?
Grocery store prices are regulated by the USDA through what they deem as a “sustainable” price to pay for that commodity. It has created a false sense of the true cost of our food, something we need every day to live.
Did you know that conventional dairy farmers are paid the same amount now as they were in the 1970’s? Think about how much our cost of living has changed since then, much less the cost of grain and other inputs. It’s no wonder we’ve lost so many farms over the years.
Farms that produce products on a large scale to supply grocery stores all over the country can produce food much cheaper than small farms like ours due to the volume they sell, but they’re also not always in control of the price placed on their commodity. This means that our products will never be comparable in price because we are charging what they actually cost to us to produce, not a government regulated price.
For example, by the time we play for feed, water, supplements, and egg cartons we make less than $2 per dozen of eggs. That doesn’t account for labor to collect eggs, clean them, or carton them. It also doesn’t include the cost of our initial flock, power to run our incubator for new chicks, or cost to raise those chicks to laying age.
Our prices account for:
- The cost to feed and water the livestock producing your product.
- General labor to feed or milk livestock daily.
- The cost of processing the animal.
- Basic packaging costs.
- Power to run our milk machines and fridges/freezers.
However, they do not always include:
- Fencing and infrastructure costs.
- Labor to install new fence lines or maintain and fix existing lines.
- Updates and upgrades to existing structures, like our milkhouse and parlor.
- Time and resources spent bringing in new livestock from all over the country.
- The hours and days spent caring for sick or injured livestock, and any associated vet bills.
- Replacement breeding livestock to continue providing quality products.
- The extra hours of labor required to prepare animals for cold and inclement weather.
- Working 365 days a year with no sick or vacation days.
If we charged what it truly cost us in time and resources to get our products from the pasture to your plate, purchasing food directly from the farm wouldn’t be obtainable for anyone.
How you fuel your body is an investment. The food you consume is either the best medicine or the slowest poison. We have to shift our mindset to making nutrient dense food a priority in the budget instead of the category that gets the bare minimum for us to live.
But honestly, can we put a true pricetag on the peace of mind that comes with knowing your farmer?
Their ethics, practices, and methods all play into the nutrient density of the food you feed your family. And knowing that is priceless.
