February 22, 2024

How the Organic Chicken in Your Supermarket is Blazing a Trail for Better Meat and Fair Pay for Its Farmers -- with Corwin Heatwole of Farmer Focus

44 minutes

Did you know that 99% of poultry farmers don’t own their own birds? When we learned this statistic from our guest on today’s show, it completely shocked us.

Unfortunately, many family farmers across the US have their arms tied due to financial constraints where large corporations have swooped in to take advantage of their situation and hire family farms on contract, leaving farmers with little to no control over their compensation, how they farm, and the longevity of their farms.

Our guest on today’s episode saw this issue and wanted to create a system where farmers could have full control over their birds and essentially their farms. So after taking a few chances on himself to start his own organic poultry farm, with the mission to own his own birds, he persevered and was successful. That's when he decided to spearhead a unique business plan that would allow him to help other poultry farmers gain ownership over their birds, called Farmer Focus.

Farmer Focus puts the control back into farmers’ hands where they own their own birds, are paid fairly for their hard work, are able to afford to use sustainable and humane poultry farming methods, and helps to connect the farmers to the consumers purchasing their products in supermarkets.

Corwin’s story is inspirational to say the least, where he saw a problem and made it his mission to solve it in the most creative and ethical way he knew how, and was successful in doing so. This episode shows how perseverance and following your heart can make a huge difference in the world.

Tune in for this and more!

Topics discussed in this episode:

Why Corwin started his own poultry farm
The financial squeeze farmers face
What made Corwin decide to switch to organic poultry farming
How Corwin started Farmer Focus
How high standards are maintained with Farmer Focus
Sustainable and humane methods Farmer Focus farmers use
How Farmer Focus is bringing more people back to farming
Corwin’s plans for Farmer Focus in the future
How farmers are compensated in a Farmer Focus partnership
How to find Farmer Focus products in the supermarket

Farmer Focus resources

Website: https://www.farmerfocus.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/farmerfocus/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/farmerfocusbrand/

Resources mentioned in this episode

Talk Farm to Me episode with Paul Grieve from Pasturebird: https://www.talkfarmtome.com/can-a-small-farm-work-with-big-ag-paul-grieve-pasturebird/

Talk Farm to Me Resources

Rate the Show: https://www.talkfarmtome.com/reviews/new/

Website: https://www.talkfarmtome.com

Glossary of useful Ag terms: https://www.forfarmersmovement.com/post/glossary-of-farm-terms

Connect with Host, Dana DiPrima

Website: https://www.forfarmersmovement.com/

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xoxofarmgirl

Blog: https://www.forfarmersmovement.com/blog

Talk Farm to Me Credits

Production: Dana DiPrima and Sonia Dhillon

Sound Design & Original Music: Russell Chapa www.chapamusic.com

One Bite is Everything is the podcast formerly known as Talk Farm to Me (2019 to 2024)

One Bite is Everything Resources

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Connect with Host, Dana DiPrima

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Learn more about the For Farmers Movement

Website

Blog

Other Resources

Glossary of Useful Ag Terms

One Bite is Everything Production Credits

Production: Dana DiPrima and Sonia Dhillon

Sound Design & Original Music: Russell Chapa www.chapamusic.com

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By Dana DiPrima