.png)
Jake's Country Meats to Launch Community-Building Farm Store
- Bob Benenson
- Apr 29
- 3 min read
Chicago region farmers market favorite expands in its southwest Michigan base
Increasing access to better-for-people-and-the-planet food is at the heart of local food ecosystems. So is building community to better connects farmers and marketers, consumers and advocates.
In this light, I was pleased to receive an email newsletter from Jake's Country Meats — a producer of pasture-raised livestock in the southwest Michigan community of Cassopolis — about a store it is building out in nearly Dowagiac. The Farmstead by Jake’s Country Meats is intended to be an extension of the farm, rolling out in three phases:
A retail store "with real foold from farmers you know."
A commercial kitchen where Jake's can produce broth, tallow, pet treats, and other farm-crafted goods.
A sharing space "bringing it all together in one place with food, learning, and community."
I have been a fan of Jake's Country Meats since the start of my transition to a second career as an advocate for a better food system. It was one of the first farms with which I connected when I started shopping at Chicago's Green City Market in 2012, and I am still a regular customer. One of my earliest published food stories, written for Edible Michiana magazine, was about this multi-generational farm.
I wish the folks at Jake's the best of success with their new venture and I will plan a visit after it opens.
The newsletter content is copied below in full.
Newsletter content
The sun was setting while we were in the garden harvesting green beans when my husband’s phone rang.
A normal August evening on the farm.
But when he hung up, I had no idea that phone call would change the course of our workload for the next six months… and the course of our lives for the foreseeable future.
Minutes later, we were standing outside a large red barn along M-51 just west of Dowagiac, MI city limits.
By the end of that evening, we were the new owners.
We hadn’t planned to buy a building. In fact, the idea hadn’t even crossed our minds.
But looking back, several things had quietly been unfolding before that phone call.
First, we had received quotes for construction to add office space onto our farm shop. Those numbers made it clear that moving the office out of our home might be years away.
Second, the processor who had been making our bone broth and pet treats let us know he was closing his facility. Suddenly we were left wondering how the next round of products would even happen.
Then, in the very same week, a large building with office space and commercial kitchen opportunities landed in our lap… at a price we could actually work with.
Moments like that make time stand still for a moment. When several doors seem to close, another one opens in a way you never expected. God was clearly at work. And we took a leap of faith.
We saw potential in a building that needed vision, and stepped into the work.
For the past several months we’ve been developing a concept that allows us to reach more people, serve more families, and continue building and sustaining a farm you know and trust.
We are calling it The Farmstead, by Jake’s Country Meats.
An extension of our farm.
A place to source real food from farmers you know.
A place to craft products from trusted ingredients and known sources.
And a place to share it with many different communities.
Our vision will unfold in three stages as time, finances, and support allow.
Stage One – SOURCE: A retail store where you can buy food directly from farms you trust, and build nourishing meals.
Stage Two – CRAFT: A commercial kitchen where we can produce broth, tallow, pet treats, and other farm-crafted goods.
Stage Three – SHARE: Bringing it all together in one place with food, learning, and community.
Over the coming weeks we’ll begin sharing more about The Farmstead on our social media pages and on a page dedicated just to the project on our website.
We hope you’ll follow along.
Share the news with friends.
Support our farm and this new venture.
And we promise to keep building a farm and place for you that doesn’t cut corners, offers incredible service, and provides real food for rooted living.
Comments