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On the farm Producer opts for direct-to-consumer sales By Elyse DeBruyn Citizen staff Dave Lewington, a full-time hog and sheep farmer in Brussels, is involving his farming business with a direct-to-consumer plan so consumers know exactly where their meat is coming from and how it is raised before being slaughtered. He said direct-to-consumer is 99 per cent direct marketing to consumers of different products. "I am selling chicken, lamb and pork that are raised in a certain way to people and they can ask animal welfare issues that I will be able to answer them," said Lewington. He said he is involvement in directly selling to consumers began "partly in response to the poor farm prices." He explained that the farm gate prices, whiCh is the price of the 41 product the farmer gets when he or she ships the product as wholesale, are going down. "Consumers gets it for a good price and knows where it came from. It makes the farmer more money and the consumer saves and _eats a healthy product." Lewington said although he does some selling directly to consumers, he is "still very small on the direct- to-consumer end of things," and said he is planning on moving more into the direct marketing of thi ngs.. He started selling to consumers with a few neighbdurs and family then he started sending newsletters out to people who were buying his products. He said the newsletters vary with each season and would keep his customers informed about the product they are eating. "It describes the way I raise my chickens in the pasture without any antibiotics and chemicals," he said. He explained that his chickens are outside in the fresh pasture every day which makes a difference on how tender the meat is with less fat. "There is a big difference on the meat quality. I have had comments of less fat on the chickens." He said he also pastures his pigs and they don't get any antibiotics either. He said some animal welfare questions people might ask about pigs are if they are raised over a liquid manure pit, are they able to root around and play outside and where did they come from? "An animal welfare concern might be if a pig is on a truck for five hours before being processed or butchered. This affects the meat possibly making it tougher because the animal was stressed before being slaughtered." Then he said if a pig was only making a 20-minute trip on the truck, the pig would be less stressed and the meat would be more tender. "It's hard to buy good sausage in the grocery store. It almost always tastes better when buying directly from the producer," he said. He said organic products, should be certified with no antibiotics in them. There can't be any genetically-engineered crops that go into feed for livestock, but there isn't a national set of rules for organic products. For example, he said if Round-up Ready is used on soybeans, it can't be classified as certified. He said people are starting to get more involved with environmental issues as well as animal welfare. He explained how pork is sold to consumers through bigger industries. "First the producer (industrial food production company) sells to a packer, then the packer kills the pig and sends it to a processor. The packer adds up a percentage profit and the processor does the same thing, then sells to a wholesaler who sells to a distributor. Finally the distributor sells to a retailer." said Lewington. He said during a meeting he attended regarding direct-to- consumer sales, a retailer told him that she adds 30 per cent to the product, making herself more money. Lewington's process of selling directly to consumers has a few less steps. He takes the pig to be butchered and processed. He is charged for their work. "Then I" sell the pig to a comumer, by passing a bunch of steps. The consumer ends up saving money,"'said Lewington. He said the bigger industries are trying to get as many pounds of meat as they can, so they can produce smaller amounts of the product, then sell it to consumers. He said smaller businesses pay more attention to their job by being "more consistent and working harder than other places." Lewington said there are many benefits for selling directly to the consumer. "People can talk to their local MP if they don't like pig barns in the area, they can go to local pig producers and ask how the pigs are raised and they are able to shop locally." Other benefits include healthier meat, environmental due to less transportation, better tasting, more variety and better for the economy. He explained that a grocery store's line of products are all the same, but if the consumer buys locally, he or she will get what they specifically ask for. For example the type of sausage, how many sausages and exactly where it came from. Continued on A-13 Buying direct from the producer often means consumers have the opportunity to tour the farm operation and see how the animals are raised. These sow and her babes enjoy the great outdoors. (Photo submitted°