Certainly one of the more interesting and thought provoking trips that we experienced this month was our day spent at the Cory Family farm in Elkhart.  We started the morning off right by learning how to milk goats with three of the Cory boys as knowledgeable instructors.  Although, the shining star of the group was Dr. HN, who was able to recall some his childhood experiences with milking cows.  The day continued as we learned about the Cory’s chickens.  The family orders a number of baby chicken eggs on the verge of hatching.  The little chickens are kept indoors until they are developed enough to thrive in the outdoor climate.  The chickens are then moved to a section of pasture in which they are kept in large movable pens that provide cover from rain and other adverse weather.  These pens house about 80 chickens in a single living space allowing the chickens to freely move, eat, and drink (feed and water dispensers are kept in each pen).  Twice a day the pens are moved so that the chickens have access to fresh grass, which adds another aspect to their diet.  The chicken pens continue to be moved twice a day until the birds reach a market weight at which they are removed from the pens, butchered, and packaged.  This entire process occurs on the Cory farm.  In addition to these chickens, the Corys keep a number of hens, from which they harvest eggs from for their personal consumption.  Goats, cattle, and sheep are also raised on the farm.  These animals are mostly grass fed, differentiating them from the conventional CAFO livestock.  The Corys sell their meat products at a premium price to a small, but growing, consumer market.  Robert Paarlberg in his book, Food Politics, references this type of niche market and attempts to explain the loyalty that some consumers have to this organic, local, and slow food movement.  He describes part of the attraction to this market as its difficult exclusivity, by which people take pride in the relationships that they develop directly with the farmer providing their food.  The Cory family farm definitely falls into the category that local food advocates so actively support.  And as we found out, the exclusivity of the market is not the only reason people buy the Cory’s meats, they also taste great!  For the first time, I had the opportunity to feast on some goat meat, and now I can personally vouch for the premium quality of the Cory’s products.