July 2020

A thoughtful Buddhist monk stared into the (dried up) banks of the Rio Puerco and reflected that “We cannot control what happens to us in this life; we can only control how we react to what happens to us.”

I have been thinking about this notion a lot as the turmoil of Covid rumbles along throughout 2020. I love passports, air-plane rides, having the occasional meal made for me, and ordering bourbon drinks with gigantic ice cubes. These have all been creature comforts that have kept me sane in the fast-paced world we call home. I felt very grateful for my family and the life I lived prior to March, 2020.

Things have obviously changed over the past months. And if we were to look at this epidemic in terms of sports, we are not even to the half-time show. Jennifer Lopez is still in the locker room stretching out her hamstrings. Not even on stage yet. So we have some mountains still to cross before we get anywhere close to normalcy. Whatever that may look like.

Realizing this, I had an existential question flood over me, In these uncertain times, how can we as individuals not just survive, but thrive?

In all honesty, I have been stressed out and anxious for months. And I know that I am not unique. Our communities right now seem more like tinder boxes than a playful sand boxes. Nerves are frayed, sense of humor distant.

I have to tell you what I have found to stay sane in the new world that we are living in and encourage you to try it out…Go Outside! Plug into New Mexico.

I’m not talking about a stroll around the neighborhood, although those are great too. We are so lucky in NM to have such (inexpensive) easy access to natural playgrounds. The Organs, Sandias, Sacramento, Sangres, Jemez, Pecos, etc. We have so many playgrounds within a short jaunt. Leave your masks in your car and go explore. Breathe. Connect to this enchanted state. You will be so happy that you did. The world will not change while you are gone, but you will be better prepared for it when you return. And it will help us all appreciate this incredible land.

Now on to some cool things that we have in store for you around here this August. And spoiler alert, this will probably go down as one of the best months in the history of the farm.

Let’s start with Juices! They are flowing again. I am so pumped about this. We have been working with the City of ABQ to get this right for our business and for your safety. The issue is I do not want to Pasteurize our juice. Let me re-phrase that, if we have to pasteurize our juices then I do not want to make juice.

Why? Easy, it simply changes the flavors. I don’t care if it is heated or using HPP; subjecting fragile juices to treatment changes the flavor. And so for me it is simple, do it right or I will find other ways to spend my time.

Being unpasteurized, we Cannot sell our juices to anyone other than our customers. We cannot sell them to a store in order for them to sell them. No wholesaling. Which is great. I never wanted to make incredible juices in order for another store to sell them. I want to make them for you. So you will Never see our juices anywhere other than through us.

Fruit Ninja. We ran a little experiment. What if we sold some cut fruit? Result, great demand, but I wanted the quality to be better so we have brought all fruit chopping in-house. This way, we do not have to guess at how much fruit to cut. So you order it, then we cut it, then we delivery it. No guess work, no loss. Try these babies out if you get nervous slashing through a pineapple like Jason Voorhees.

Salad Dressings. Some easy and yummy salad dressings in store for you. Nice on greens and as a marinade for meats.

Pasture-Raised Tofu and Local Meats. Our proteins have never been stronger than they are right now. Jump on to see all the items we have available for you.

Lastly, a little riddle for you…
We have some new business Models that I want to share with you, but I will have to wait and tell you about them Mañana.

Lots of love. Stay safe amigos. And Viva New Mexico! Farmer Monte

After inventing Solar Power Heated Underwear, the great Viking captain, Loki, was quoted as saying, “Uff Da, Necessity is the Mother of invention!” And after a thorough examination of our local meat sup-ply, I have to say that I really understand what Loki meant.

During the peak craziness of COVID-19: Episode 1, our national meat supply took an absolute hammering. Availability low, prices high. Not a good recipe for consumer confidence. With all of that, a huge spotlight focused in on New Mexico’s ability to sup-ply its own meat. After all, we have the land, we have the ranchers, and we have the pasture-raised animals.

The one bottleneck (and this is a huge limitation), we just did not have the processing capacity for the demand that hit our state. In the short run, this became a problem; however, in the long run, our state realized a huge opportunity. So here is an update with how our state is transforming to meat [sic] this opportunity.

This August we will see a processing plant in Las Vegas (NM) open its doors again. It closed several years ago as the move to centralize processing plants was the national mantra. Now, the pandemic has opened the eyes (and minds) of folks to realize how important a diversified regional food model is to our national security. We cannot have 85% of our nation’s meats processed in less than 10 plants. That is a system waiting for disaster. And COVID exposed that.

Now we are seeing a move, at least in NM (which is all I focus on), to open several local processing plants that have previously closed. This means a) less travel time and stress for animals, b) less cost/more profit for ranchers, c) more local jobs!, d) more animals that are raised in NM Stay in NM, and lastly, more diversity for our state’s food supply. This is a huge win for our state. We have seen so many losses due to COVID, we must celebrate every victory that we can get.

So look for our incredible beef and pork offering on the site right now. You will not find better quality, value, or mission anywhere in the country.

Another piece of wise Viking philosophy falls along the lines of “Let no good deed go unpunished.” Again, this rings in my noggin as we try to hire crew members in this challenging time. And let me pref-ace this by saying that this is not a political statement, this is a snapshot from a small business in a small state.

With the highest unemployment that this country has seen in decades, we have never had such a hard time hiring a crew. Read that again and let that sink in. The free money that is being handed out to Not work, is making it almost impossible to find people To work. It is hard on our business as we try to expand our services/offerings to more people through-out the state. I hope that this is just a momentary loss of sanity, but we need to find a better way to help people.

With that, if you know people who a positive force in this difficult time, please have them email me…

What else is happening around here?? All in all things are moving very well. We have our feet back underneath us after the first spike and we are ready for whatever comes down the road.

I cannot tell you how grateful and thankful I am for the amazing team that we Do have working (for you) right now. The nation is anxious. It is evident everywhere from the TV news to the supermarkets. But our team comes to work with a mission and with focus of what we are all up against. The stresses of life outside these walls are left at the door and our team is doing a fantastic job of filling your fridge and your family’s bellies. Rest assured that we have your back in these times and are looking at ways to better feed/serve you.

Thank you for your support and trust. We do not take that responsibility lightly. Stay healthy amigos!

Farmer Monte

Archives for July 2020