ABOUT OUR FARM NEWS INSERTS

            Open a quaint and cozy little carton of The Country Hen eggs and you will find the most charming little folded note entitled Farm News resting on top of the best tasting and most beautiful Omega-3 enriched organic eggs. This little insert might tell a story about people on the farm or offer an educational summary of the nutritional value of the eggs themselves. Some tell of current events taking place on the farm or in the town area. The Farm News inserts were one of many innovative ideas our founder George Bass implemented as an important part of our standard operating procedures here at The Country Hen farm. The tradition began in early 1989. George loved to tell people about all the benefits of our healthful organic eggs and about all of the happenings on the farm. George also liked to write.

            If you have ever had the experience of talking with a proud grandparent, you know the enthusiasm they exude while boasting about their grandchild’s superior talents, intelligence, skills, charms or successful accomplishments. They do this because those grandchildren represent the embodiment of a proud legacy of family traditions and a lasting heritage that reaches into the future. This is perhaps as close a comparison as can be made with respect to George’s penchant for writing the Farm News inserts. George’s enthusiasm and pride toward the accomplishments on this farm are well earned. Who can blame him for wanting everyone to know about the great qualities of the farm, the people who work here, the pampered lifestyles of the hens and especially the exceptional superiority of the unique organic eggs we produce here. Organic farming is not a new concept, but rather an heirloom and tradition passed to us from our predecessors, we believe this tradition must reach into the future.

Personal Connection with Our Customers

Our customers call or write to tell us how much they appreciate the personal connection they feel when they read our newsletters. It is reminiscent of the “olden days” when going to the market meant meeting your neighbors there, maybe sharing a little gossip, being familiar with the butcher behind the meat counter, the grocer stocking his shelves or the cashier that rings up your groceries. The people who handled the food you brought to your home were not strangers.  It is this nostalgia, this connection to days gone by, and this reminder of the simple things in life that add to the charm. Being familiar with and trusting in the people that produce your food is the next best thing to harvesting it yourself.

As a consumer myself, I rarely think about how the mundane but necessary merchandise I buy came to be on the shelves of the department stores. I will most certainly take into consideration things like the practicality, functionality and value of the purchases I choose to meet my needs within my budget but I usually do not consider knowing much about the factory that manufactured the items because it does not always inspire the sense of contentment I would like it to. The realist inside me knows that my shoes were not hand-stitched by a cobbler making shoes one pair at a time in a little workshop down in the village square. Gone are the days of blacksmiths making household hardware by pounding hot metal on an anvil at a fiery forge. And though the quilted bathroom tissue being marketed by manufacturers through showing us images of little old ladies sitting around sewing circles to produce the toilet paper, well we all know that is not how it is made. It is hard to feel good about many of the things we buy in this modern day and technological age. Food should never be counted in that list!

We here at The Country Hen farm want our customers to know everything they can know about us. We want to promote and maintain the personal connection and familiarity customers once had with the people that supply their food. That is a pretty ambitious goal coming from a company that does absolutely no advertising at all. The Farm News inserts seemed like the best way to attain that goal. In our next blog, we’ll talk about how it all began.

 

 

This is Brian Steinberg whom we affectionately nick-named our “Professor of Feedology” pictured here in his laboratory/feed mill at The Country Hen.  Our hens consider themselves to be the “cluckiest” chickens in the world because they are favored to dine exclusively on the proprietary cuisine and culinary delights prepared for them by the loving hands of master chefs Brian and Miguel. Brian and Miguel are responsible for making 60 - 80 tons of feed per week for only The Country Hen’s chickens to enjoy.

                I have taken the liberty of acquiring a quote from a   Farm News insert featuring Brian issued back in 2003. The paragraph taken from that insert was titled “High Standards” and reads as follows:

                “One of my jobs as the mill operator is to check the quality and content of our raw ingredients when the deliveries come in. We set high standards for our grain. I have on occasion taken a little home for my own consumption.”

                I chose to resurrect this statement in particular because it speaks volumes about the quality of non-GMO ingredients that make up the feed we give to our beloved hens. Knowing what your hens are eating is one thing, being willing to eat what we feed them, now that says a lot!

 

 

This is Brian doing his impersonation of “Spiderman” demonstrating how high our feed standards really are! It would be fun if we could talk him into doing an impersonation of Luciano Pavarotti singing the Neopolitan favorite “oh SILO mio” while he’s working up there.

Now I would like to share one of Master Chef Brian Steinberg’s best recipes to make eggs:  Add 1 pound of TCH proprietary formula, Non-GMO, certified organic feed to chicken. Wait 20 – 27 hours. Enjoy delicious omega 3 enriched, organic egg!

TCH FEED IS NON-GMO       

One of the most frequent questions we answer is; “Is your feed non-GMO?”   The Country Hen’s proprietary feed is certified organic.  To be certified this way, it has to be free of GMOs.  That being said, our farmers are aware of the dangers of cross contamination between GMO and non-GMO crops.  They are committed to preserving the non-GMO purity of their crops through the management of isolation distances, planting dates, and wind directions.  The GMO-Awareness.com website states: “USDA Organic is not failsafe….but remains one of the best and most easily-identifiable ways of assuring that you are eating GMO-free foods most of the time."

I am particularly amused by the latest “trend” of avoiding GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) and the way the media portrays Non-GMO as if it was a new concept only recently discovered when it was in fact the way of life just a few generations ago.          

The concept of pure, organic, poison-free foods is not new to us here at The Country Hen. We have been providing pure organic eggs for more than a quarter of a century now. Our founder, George Bass made it his mission to eliminate all risk of pesticide poisons in our eggs after an acquaintance of his who was a gardener by trade actually died from accidental poisoning by pesticides used in the vegetable garden.  We are certified organic and this means we do not ever use antibiotics, no special breeding, no hormones, and no additives like artificial coloring, flavoring or preservatives.  Even our packaging is environmentally responsible made from 100% recycled fibers as are our Farm News inserts. Not many people know this but even the ink used in the newsletters is soy based to prevent any chance of harmful ink from coming into contact with the eggs! George really thought of everything.

We hope you continue to enjoy our exceptional eggs in good health.