WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR DOLLAR WHEN YOU BUY FROM A SMALL FARMER?

Have you ever stopped to think about where your grocery money actually goes?

Not just what you're buying, but who you're supporting, who benefits from that purchase, and how much of your money ever makes it back to the people producing your food.

Because every time we spend a dollar, we're participating in an economy.

The question is, whose economy are we helping to build?

The farmer doesn't get your grocery dollar

Most people understand that farmers grow food and grocery stores sell it.

But there's an entire system between those two things.

Food is harvested, graded, packaged, transported, stored, distributed and eventually placed on a shelf.

Every step costs money. Every business involved needs to earn enough to operate.

There's nothing inherently wrong with that.

The problem is what happens when the system becomes so centralized that farmers have very little influence over what they're paid, while consumers have very little influence over where their money goes.

We end up with farmers struggling to make a living and families struggling to afford groceries.

And somehow, the system connecting them keeps getting bigger.

How did we build a food economy where the people growing the food and the people buying it are both struggling?

That's a question worth asking.

What if we shortened the distance between the farmer and the customer?

This is something I've spent years working on through Small Scale Farms.

I didn't become a farmer because I wanted to build another grocery store.

I became involved in farming, and eventually food distribution, because I started recognizing how disconnected our food system had become.

We have farmers who know how to produce good food.

We have families who need that food.

But connecting the two isn't nearly as simple as it should be.

A farmer can raise animals, grow vegetables or produce eggs, but that doesn't mean they have the time, resources or infrastructure to market their products, manage hundreds of individual customers and deliver groceries across multiple communities.

And a family might want to support small farmers, but that doesn't mean they have the time or ability to drive from farm to farm collecting everything they need.

That's where distribution becomes important.

Not because we need another middleman taking money from farmers.

But because we need infrastructure that makes buying from small farmers practical for ordinary households.

What actually happens when you buy from Small Scale Farms?

Let's use our meat as an example.

We work with farmers like Bob and Leslie Comfort, who raise animals and produce the kind of meat we're proud to offer our customers.

They do the farming.

They carry the responsibility of raising the animals, feeding them, caring for them and getting them ready for processing.

Small Scale Farms purchases their products and makes them available alongside produce, dairy, eggs, bread and other grocery items.

We handle the retail side, customer orders and distribution.

That means a customer doesn't need to make separate trips to several farms to put together a week's worth of groceries.

And the farmer doesn't have to personally manage every individual order.

We're creating a connection between production and consumption.

Of course, we still have expenses.

Vehicles need fuel. Buildings need electricity. Staff need to be paid. Food needs to be handled and stored properly.

Distribution isn't free.

But here's the difference I want people to understand.

Our goal isn't simply to sell more groceries. It's to create more opportunities for small farmers to sell what they produce.

And every time another household chooses to purchase through this system, we're strengthening the demand that makes those opportunities possible.

A dollar can do more than buy food

Imagine what happens when more households begin purchasing their groceries through a distribution system committed to buying from smaller producers.

More customers create more consistent demand.

Consistent demand gives farmers greater confidence to plan production.

That can create opportunities to raise more animals, plant more crops, invest in equipment or expand operations.

Expansion can create employment.

And when those farmers spend money on supplies, services, processing and other necessities, some of that money continues circulating through other businesses.

Not every dollar stays in the community, and I wouldn't pretend that it does.

But the purchasing decisions we make can influence which businesses have the opportunity to grow.

We're not just choosing what food ends up on our tables. We're helping determine what kind of food system can exist tomorrow.

Why can't farmers just sell everything themselves?

I hear this question sometimes.

Why do we need a business like Small Scale Farms? Why not just buy directly from the farmer?

And my answer is simple.

Please do.

If you have a relationship with a farmer and can purchase directly from them, that's wonderful.

But direct farm sales alone aren't going to replace the convenience and accessibility people have come to expect from grocery shopping. 

Most households need more than one farm can reasonably produce as well. 

And most farmers would rather spend their time doing what they do best than become full-time marketers, retailers, delivery drivers and customer service representatives.

We need both.

We need direct relationships between farmers and consumers.

And we need distribution infrastructure that allows those farmers to reach customers they otherwise couldn't.

One doesn't have to replace the other.

A strong food system needs producers, processors, distributors, retailers and customers working together.

The important question is whether that infrastructure is serving the people who depend on it.

What happens when we stop supporting small farms?

This is the part I wish more people understood.

Farms don't disappear overnight.

They disappear when the numbers stop working.

When the cost of producing food continues climbing but the price farmers can reasonably receive doesn't keep up.

When equipment breaks and there's no money to replace it.

When another season of uncertainty makes continuing feel impossible.

And when a farmer finally decides they've had enough, we don't just lose a business.

We lose experience.

We lose knowledge.

We lose productive capacity.

We lose another person who knows how to feed people.

And rebuilding that capacity isn't as simple as deciding we want it back.

It takes land, equipment, money, skills and years of experience.

Every farm we lose makes it harder to build the food security we keep talking about.

What if we built the economy around the food system we actually want?

This is where I believe we have an enormous opportunity.

Imagine more small farms producing food because they know there are customers waiting.

Imagine shared infrastructure that helps those farms access processing, storage and distribution without having to build everything themselves.

Imagine schools, businesses, organizations and households purchasing through that same infrastructure.

And imagine using some of that economic activity to support food education, community initiatives and families struggling to afford groceries.

That's the direction we're working toward with Small Scale Farms, Red Maple Farm School and programs like Give to Grow.

Not separate projects competing for attention.

Different pieces of a food system that can support one another.

The more people participate, the more opportunity there is to strengthen the infrastructure connecting them.

And the more that infrastructure grows, the more farmers we may be able to support.

That's how I believe we begin building something that lasts.

You don't have to change everything to change something

I'm not suggesting everyone should stop shopping at grocery stores tomorrow.

That's not realistic.

And I'm certainly not suggesting families should spend money they don't have.

I know how difficult food affordability has become.

But I do think we underestimate the power of ordinary purchasing decisions when enough people begin making them intentionally.

Maybe it's purchasing your meat from a small farmer.

Maybe it's buying some of your produce through Small Scale Farms.

Maybe it's choosing a product made by someone in your community instead of automatically reaching for the familiar national brand.

Whatever it looks like, the important thing is understanding that our purchases have consequences beyond the products we take home.

And when we start connecting those decisions to the kind of economy we want to live in, shopping becomes something much more meaningful.

We spend money on food every single week.

The question isn't whether we're supporting a food system.

We already are.

The question is whether we're supporting the one we want to see survive.