Porchetta was on our Easter menu. But finding a boned pork shoulder roast (or the traditional pork belly) was proving difficult. Until I walked into the new Smokin’ Oaks Organic Farms Market on 8th Avenue South. Butcher and chef William Kruse didn’t have the exact cut, but quickly found something in the meat case that he unwrapped, cut, and rewrapped for me. This is why we love getting our meat at a butcher. They know meat. And farmer Justin Head, owner of Smokin’ Oaks Organic Farms may know it better than anyone.
As a third-generation family farmer, he grew up seeing industrial agricultural practices that he didn’t like and, by 2015, decided that he was not going to participate in them anymore. “I saw a lot of evils in farming and wanted to make a change,” Justin recalls from behind the counter at the store. And he was hell bent on making it better by going organic.
On his 1,000+ acre farm, that meant no more antibiotics, steroids, or pesticides – or the attendant energy inputs required to produce and employ them. In the process of making that change he produced “greener” meat with a reduced “hoofprint.”
But switching from industrial to organic agriculture is not easy. “It’s very hard to transition over,” Justin says. “There’s not a lot of support or resources. Matter of fact, there’s hardly any. [It’s] hard to get funding. You don’t really fit into the system, so you pretty much have to self-fund.”
Despite the challenges and risks, Justin persisted, implementing practices that earned Smokin’ Oaks its organic certification through WFCF (Where Food Comes From) Organic, a highly reputable organization. The results have been more than the healthier cattle, hogs, and chickens that Justin and his family raise for market, but even healthier soil. “We rotate our cattle and hogs along with our grain crops,” Justin says. “Animals help replenish the soil as does the entire residue of the crops, so you get organic matter to build the soil. You can see the difference. The healthier the soil, the less weed pressure.”