
Herd owners Troy and Carrie
If you've been keeping up with our communications, stopping by our booth at the farmers markets this summer, or coming to recent farm tours, you've likely met the newest additions to our Pasture's Delights team. Herd owners Troy Fisher and Carrie Carpenter joined Pasture's Delights last May, and they've brought their enthusiasm for REAL food along with them. Now they've chosen Pasture's Delights as the site for their marriage ceremony on September 22 after the "Why buy the cow?" Fall Farm Festival. They've had so much fun meeting other REAL MILK lovers this summer that they want to share their day with all of you! So what drives this couple's passion for Pasture's Delights raw milk? Read on
How did you first learn of raw milk and Pasture's Delights?
Troy:After losing 75 lbs by switching to REAL (unprocessed) food and adopting an active lifestyle, I had become pretty obsessed with nutrition. Originally I was following a paleo diet and had eliminated most dairy and sugar from my diet. After further reading and research from the likes of Weston A. Price, I decided that raw milk and fermented milk products would mesh well with my dietary worldview of sticking to mainly animal and plants while avoiding grains and legumes. Then it was just a matter of where to get raw milk. Thanks to Honored Prairie and Seven Sons Farm, I eventually found my way to Pastures Delights.
Carrie:Troy turned me on to raw milk and the other dietary changes we've made these past several years. I had struggled with my weight trying low-fat diets for over a decade. Once we got away from conventional thinking and eating, weight was no longer a struggle. It goes back to the source. Pasture's Delights represents what I believe our food source should be.
What changes, if any, did you notice once changing your diet?
Troy:For me, I saw relatively easy weight loss and the ability to sustain it long term; increased energy, mood, and outlook on life; and the elimination of my seasonal allergies and asthma although I mainly attribute the last part to the removal of gluten and other grains from my diet.
Carrie:The biggest thing I noticed was the taste. I've never been much of a milk drinker, but with the whole raw milk, it's so much richer than what I was used to that I find myself reaching for a glass. I also love Troy's ice cream, yogurt, and kefir. The best part is, I've still been able to maintain my weight which was a problem when I was eating more conventional dairy products with their additives. I guess this just agrees with me better.
What are your "day" jobs?
Troy:I am the training and safety manager at Mullinix Packages in Fort Wayne. It's a bit of a contradiction that I work for a company that manufactures plastic packages for pre-packaged foodssomething that I no longer support. I draw solice in the fact that one of my primary functions is to ensure the 400 employees that work at our facility make it home each day safe and sound.
Carrie:Im a freelance graphic designer, working for over a decade for both advertising agencies and on my own in both print and web. When I answered Mark's ad in Pasture Bites for some graphics help, I didn't realize it would turn into so much more. Its refreshing to have the chance to promote a product I really believe in. With Pasture's Delights, I feel like I'm helping people and changing the system.
What are some of the things you do for the farm?
Troy: Mainly I work to raise awareness in the area about raw milk and Pastures Delights herdshare program at farmers markets, farm tours, Facebook, YouTube, etc. In addition, I have been pursuing an eclectic mix of projects such as modeling herd lactation cycles (huh?) to help with production planning, making forecasts to aid Mark in financial planning for the farm, and playing around with a cream separator to make heavy cream from excess milk production when we have it.
Carrie:With the exception of actually milking the cows, it might be easier for me to make a list what I dont do. In addition to leading all the marketing effort, I take care of a lot administrative tasks so that Mark can focus where he needs tokeeping the farm operation running. My tasks include putting together the newsletters, revamping and updating the website, creating marketing literature, answering email inquiries, and processing farm receivables to name a few. I also help Krista coordinate deliveries.
Through your efforts, what are you finding to be the climate for raw milk among the public in Indiana?
Troy:It's really a mixed bag. At farmer's markets its not uncommon to ask someone about raw milk and they give you a look like you're trying to peddle them poison. Then of course there was the whole Yorktown market and Delaware county Board of Health controversy. But for every negative it seems like there are two positives. For example, just last weekend when passing out flyers at Broad Ripple I had a guy come back and thank me for handing him the flyer. He told me he'd been looking for a place to get raw milk for some time without luck and was surprised when someone just handed him what hed been unable to find. In these moments, I know which way the tide is turning.
Where do you see it headed?
Troy: More and more people are waking up to the fact that Big Ag and the industrial food complex care more about their bottom lines than they ever will about our health. Although Big Pharm would have you believe a cure can be found in their latest patented pill, the truth is that real health comes from eating REAL food. Rather than seeing us invest in REAL food and REAL health, these corporate interests would rather continue to peddle their cheap, chemically-contrived "stuff" with its ridiculous profit margins and cash in again when this stuff makes us sick. The vehement smear campaign of raw milk is testament to this. They don't even want us to have a CHOICE. However, it's not just the people on the fringe who are fighting for our food rights now. We are seeing this trend go more and more mainstream.
Carrie: That's right. Fortunately the veil is coming off. As more people are getting sick and asking why, we're seeing a rising demand for truth. The science, when unfettered with the bias of corporate money, will prove it. No amount of fear mongering by government agencies can stop it once people see for themselves that not only is raw milkwhen it comes from an appropriate sourcenot as dangerous as the government claims, but it's full of nutritional benefits we've been missing. Farmers have known this all along, but more and more of us "city folk" are just now becoming aware.
Speaking of city folk, neither of you grew up on a farm, right? Why did you choose to have a farm wedding?
Troy:While I didn't grow up on farm, our neighbor had cows next door where I grew up near Anderson. The farm is a great place for the wedding plus we were looking for a way to throw a fall farm festival at Pasture's Delights. Putting the two together on the same day seemed like a good way to kill two birds with one stone. That, and I couldn't find a place to roast a hog in the city!
Carrie:Wed been planning to have our wedding reception for sometime, but weve just been so busy lately that it got pushed to the side. When we started talking about planning for a fall farm festival for Pastures Delights, the idea of combining the two popped up. Since the whole local, sustainable farm movement has become such a large part of our life lately, we figured why not? and thought it would be fun as well. It is a way to put focus not just on us and our wedding for the day as is typical, but also to spotlight what Troy and I believe in to our friends and family.
Who came up with the "Why buy the cow?" festival theme?
Carrie:I have to give the credit of that one to my father. Troy and I have been together for almost 5 years now, so my parents were ecstatic when we got engaged last November. My dad had been dragging out that old phrase for years. When we decided to have our wedding at the farm, it just seemed to fit perfectly. I guess it was meant to be.
1 Comments
ellen/andrew ley
Sweet story. Best of luck! We are glad we finally got around to meet you at market! And we'll see you at festival.