Patchwork Family Farms
February, 2002
Following the tragic events of September 11, Patchwork Famly Farms drove more than 1,100 miles to Manhattan in a truck hauling 6,000 pounds of pork to New York City to feed low income families who lost their jobs in and around the World Trade Center as a result of the Trade Tower attacks. "I grew up on a farm in Missouri and we don't know any other way except to be generous to others," said Mark Allison (Missouri Teamster and brother of Roger Allison of the the Missouri Rural Crisis Center). "Everybody pitches in during times of trouble and if your neighbor needs help, you go over and do what you can." - Teamster, Jan/Feb, 2002
Patchwork Family Farms is a cooperative effort that puts power back into
the farmers' hands. In 1992, three independent farm families came
together to create Patchwork Family Farms, supported through the
Missouri Rural Crisis Center (MRCC) as an economic development project.
These families raised their hogs the traditional way - in the sunshine
and fresh air and without growth hormones, synthetic growth promoters,
and the continuous use of antibiotics.
The project became a vision in 1989 when it became apparent that the small independent farmers needed alternative ways of becoming economically independent. Rhonda Perry of the Missouri Rural Crisis Center, an advocacy group that offers alternatives to corporate farming, and her husband, Roger Allison, have helped to develop the program and are also one of 15 families who produce hogs for Patchwork. The largest operation in the program has 100 sows and all 15 families raise their hogs outside - they can have farrowing houses, but not full confinement.
Two primary goals of the group are to keep the product affordable and to make small farms viable. "There's a lot of politics between what consumers say they want and what is on the shelf, " says Perry, "the meat industry is cutthroat, and you aren't going to come in as one farmer and win over the meat manager." To make it work, they have to build lasting relationships and work together to educate and inform consumers.
The early challenge of managing the expense of butchering, packaging and storing the meat was resolved through a partnership with another family-owned business that was also struggling. The partnership reflects the cooperative and sustainable spirit of Patchwork. Patchwork's initial marketing was simply loading up 2,000 pounds of meat in an icebox and driving to Kansas City churches. Today, they have made strides in developing value-added products and locating new markets.
Meet Ovid Lyon...
Ovid Lyon has been a Central Missouri hog farmer all of his life. Along with his wife Mary Jo, children, and grandkids, the Lyon family has sustained their Howard County farm by participating in Patchwork Family Farms. "Patchwork supports independent family farmers; we just couldn't continue to raise hogs without this project," Lyon states. In 1990's, 75% of Missouri's hog farmers went out of business. Now, the rise of huge factory farm operations in Missouri and elsewhere continually put economic pressure on independent family farmers. "Patchwork gives my family a way to produce hogs in the same way we alway have, out in the open with plenty of sunshine, and we get a fair price for our hogs" Lyon states.
Mary Jo Lyon, Ovid's wife, shares many of the same values as Patchwork customers: "It's a shame the way some hogs are raised today. They're crammed into factories, they pollute the water and air, and they're given who knows how many drugs. That's why I'm proud to be part of Patchwork, where our customers know they're getting family farm pork raised the way it should be."
"It makes a healthier animal, and that is why we do it. And our customers appreciate the quality," states Lindsay Howerton of Patchwork Family Farms. Patchwork hog farmers market their own products and receive no less than 43 cents per pound or 15 percent above market price for every animal they sell as opposed to a dismal 8 cents per pound due to packers raising their own hogs and controlling the market.
To differentiate their pork products from corporate livestock, Patchwork farmers promote their sustainable growing standards: no continuous feeding of antibiotics, the prohibition of growth promoters, and the hogs must be raised outside in the open, receiving adequate amounts of fresh air and sunshine. These days, Patchwork farmers don't have to settle for bottom dollar; they have been successful in carving out a new market niche.
Raising healthy hogs and receiving a fair price for their efforts are the two primary reasons Patchwork came into being, and today the project has gained national attention for its ability to increase the economic viability of independent family hog farmers, many of whom derive their income exclusively from their products. According to Roger Allison, Patchwork producer and co-director of Missouri Rural Crisis Center, "It gives farmers hope. You've got to have hope and see the vision that if we work together, we can truly make a difference."
If you would like more information about Patchwork and their full line of pork products call Lindsay Howerton at (573) 449-1336.
The success of Patchwork Family Farms would not have been possible
without the support of Missouri Rural Crisis Center (MRCC), a partner
with the Rural Coalition in the "Campaign for Just Food and Farm
Policy."
MRCC is a progressive, statewide, membership organization that works to empower farmers and other rural people. MRCC's mission is to preserve family farms, promote stewardship of the land and environmental integrity and strive for economic and social justice by building unity and mutual understanding among diverse groups, both rural and urban.