Farmers and a Slaughter Facility Brought Together by Michael Pollan: Food Systems Being Rebuilt in Healthy Human Ways

When I enter Lorentz Meats in Cannon Falls MN, I am greeted with a sign that reads:"We cannot live harmlessly at our own expense; we depend on other creatures and survive by their deaths. To live, we must daily break the body and shed the blood of Creation. The point is, when we do this knowingly, lovingly, skillfully, reverently, it is a sacrament; when we do it ignorantly, greedily, clumsily, destructively, it is a desecration." ~ Wendell BerryI know I am in an abattoir that is humane. This was not a planned visit. I had no intentions of visiting a slaughter facility when I met up with manager Todd Lein of Thousand Hills Cattle Company just down the street from Lorentz Meats.Lein told the story of a true partnership between a Lorentz slaughtering facility and Todd Churchill, the proprietor of Thousand Hills, who after reading an article by Michael Pollan, decided he could work on the problem and challenges facing the U.S. beef industry by developing a market for grass-fed beef. This article forced Churchill to leave his financial consultant's desk and begin a business that is a true partnership of 20 Midwestern farmers and a certified humane slaughter facility which is literally “down the road”.Lorentz Meats has been doing things a little bit differently from the mainstream ever since the Lorentz family started the business in Cannon Falls in 1967. During decades when the industry’s focus was on building ever-bigger plants to handle the mass production of inexpensive meat, Lorentz stayed small, partnering with local farmers who might only bring one animal a month to slaughter. It wasn’t until the year 2000 that the Lorentz brothers, who had taken over the family business from their parents a few years before, built a bigger, more modern plant.Mike Lorentz tells the story of the struggles of going to work everyday and wondering how much longer they could hang on financially. That all changed when Todd Churchill approached Mike and Rob Lorentz and a true partnership was born. These guys clearly respect one another and there is a strong sense of true partnership when I am in their presence. They each have their separate businesses, but the bond and interdependence is strong.With the new building, they were able to meet requirements for USDA approval, which in addition to their organic certification made them an attractive partner for farms in the booming market for natural and organic meat. Now they process about 35 animals per day with a staff of 60 employees.Mike shows us the facility through two large windows looking into the abattoir and fabrication area where any customer can come and view the production process. As I watch an animal standing in the “knock box” (learned this is where they “knock them out”), Mike tells the story of cattle that won’t go easily into the knock box. Our man will actually wait and calm the cattle down.“Imagine if you had to get 5,000 done on one day,” Mike turns to me and says, “you couldn’t afford the luxury of this much time…but here, this is the way we do things. It’s inconvenient, it’s a lot more work for the guys to do it this way, but they do it instead of just beating on the animal.” The abattoir handles cattle, bison, and hogs.Teamed up with nearby Thousand Hills Cattle Company, they are supplying area schools with their 100% grass-fed beef, as well as St. Paul's Macalester College. On the day I was visiting both facilities, Churchill was proud that his hot dogs were being served in 8 different regional schools. He was making .03 cents on each dog, but his dogs are competing against the commercial dogs filled with animal by-products. The health benefits of grass-fed beef far outweigh commercial beef, and as many people do in this industry, Churchill will sell his dogs for much less than they are worth, just to get them out there.

“I believe the food industry is supposed to be about distributing nourishing food that makes people well.”  TODD CHURCHILL

As I visit companies to find out what they are doing and talk to them, I consistently find partnerships such as these, relationships of businesses that support one another, are dependent on the other and boast of the others' success.Todd Churchill read an article and changed his course and the Lorentz family believed in an approach and wanted to stay small. Together, they are changing the Midwestern landscape, bring farming back to where it once was - much like 50 years ago, when large varieties of cow breeds grazed freely on grass and we were healthier and our food systems were healthier.Image Credit:  chaztoo