Happy cows, happy farmers, and rosy-colored veal from Kentucky fields where tobacco once sustained a community

Joseph Monroe raises grass-fed calves in Henry County and
markets them with Our Home Place Meat. (Photo by The Berry Center)

When tobacco money largely disappeared in Henry County, Kentucky, it left an economic hole and an opportunity. Mary Berry, daughter of local farmer-activist-author-poet-philosopher Wendell Berry, saw hope in pasture and cattle and put her nonprofit on the case.

"The Berry Center began to think about ways small farmers could make more, and more predictable, money from their cattle operations and landed on the idea of producing veal," Jacalyn Carfagno reports for the Kentucky Lantern. The community did not want to raise the milky, white veal of the past. It chose to focus on the European model: "In Europe veal is different, a rosy-colored meat from calves raised outside, nursing and eating grass."

Thus, Our Home Place Meat was piloted in 2017 with sustaining funds from the nonprofit Berry Center. Its first challenge was "persuading farmers to raise the veal, guaranteeing them a price for it, and finding markets for it," Carfagno writes. “The program began with the principle of guaranteeing a price that took into account farmers’ expenses and added a reasonable profit." Program director Beth Douglas told Carfagno, “With the market you are gambling. We tell the farmers how many cattle we will purchase and at what price. That allows the farmers to plan for the year.”

The program has developed creative partnerships with wholesalers who value relationships such as What Chefs Want!, a Louisville-based wholesaler. They also addressed animal-welfare qualms about veal "by preparing a multi-course meal at The Berry Center in 2017 using rose veal, inviting chefs to taste the product," Carfagno reports. "He cooked sliders, ribeyes, strips and filets, even veal blanc, which he described as 'the national French hangover food' to demonstrate the flavor and versatility of rose veal."

Our Home Place Meat is thriving and John Logan Brent, a member of the Berry Center board and a farmer who sells to the program, "sees a future when this pilot program can grow up and become a full-fledged agricultural cooperative that can pay its own administrative costs," Carfagno writes, "but believes it will have to achieve a scale of about 1,000 head processed annually to get there."

The effort is driven by Wendell Berry's vision, and that of his late father and brother and father, John Berry Sr. and Jr., who founded and headed the now-defunct Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association: "prosperous, well-tended farms serving and supporting healthy local communities."

Hoping to attract digital nomads, some rural communities look to boost their image with a focus on branding

Some rural regions are trying to stand out by focusing on branding and marketing their assets, Caroline Tremblay reports for The Daily Yonder. The post-pandemic working culture has given many previously office-bound workers the ability to work from anywhere, and a reinvention of an overlooked place's image could make it an ideal landing spot for some.

A study by North Star Place Branding + Marketing "looked at American migration to small cities, finding that only 12% of respondents considered finding the right job their primary goal. Instead, 42% said their priority was finding a balance between the right job and place, while 46% placed the greatest importance on finding the right place to live," Tremblay reports.

Rural regions with aging populations and stagnant economies could get a boost from an influx of travelers. That's exactly what the Monadnock Region of southwest New Hampshire was hoping for when it contracted with North Star to help attract "young families, students, workers and tourists," the report stated. The branding company has already toured the region, met over 100 people and surveyed hundreds more and the new brand should debut this summer.

Minnesota is hoping to get a travel boost after the state government pushed money into a campaign to portray the state as the "Dream State." Leann Kispert, senior brand strategy manager for Explore Minnesota, a state organization looking to boost tourism, said focus groups identified "the ‘Dream State’ concept was the one that best captured the beauty of Minnesota and the magic of travel.” Data from Explore Minnesota's study of the rebranding has found “double-digit growth in our core metrics of favorability, consideration, and intent to travel within the next 12 months,” Kispert said.