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James Faison knows something about life on the farm, it’s a family tradition.
“My grandparents, Milton and Winnie Faison, were second generation farmers.And my grandfather passed away and left the farms to my siblings and I.And so that started to process, sort of trying to figure out what we were going to do with the farms.”
Gradually, Faison learned about the economic challenges facing small farmers.
“The issue with agriculture in America is we only spend 6.8 percent of our income on food,which is the lowest in any industrialized nation.We expect food to be inexpensive, which means in order to make a living doing it, you have to have really big volumes.And so, having big volumes of anything can be very expensive in terms of having enough cattle,having enough hog or having enough infrastructure to support having all them.”
After meeting several farmers who raise animals free of hormones, antibiotics and steroids,Faison started Milton’s Local, a company named after his grandfather. It markets and distributes all-natural meat from local farms to wholesale clients, like restaurants and grocery stores.
Mom’s Organic Market in Arlington, Virginia, is one of the retailers that carry his products.The grocery chain is committed to selling all natural, organic products.
“All the business decisions that we make are made in order to protect and restore the environment. We don’t have any products that include high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors, artificial ingredients, nitrates, nitrites;things that are frequently found in meat.”
Milton’s Local products have been sold here for over a year and customers like them.That’s not just because they’re natural, but because they are produced by local farmers as well.
“The farmers are growing because we’re demanding more, because our customers are demanding more.”
That’s good news for James Faison, who is currently working with about three dozen small farms in Virginia and North Carolina.His goal for Milton’s Local is to expand, generate higher profits and help more small farmers.
