Time to put our money where our mouth is.
We’re raising wages on the farm.
This is LONG overdue. For years we have been justifying our mediocre pay scale by succumbing to three very common tropes about farming: (1) farmers never make any money (2) it’s a labor of love (3) we can’t afford to do any better.
Well, at some point if you want to dig out of old, oppressive ruts, you just have to build a new road. So this is it, we’re doing it. Over the next two years. We will raise our minimum wage to $15/hour for all employees. Starting in April all of our employees will get at least a $3 raise. It’s time to stop saying one thing and doing another. I believe in paying a decent living wage and I want to be the kind of company that prioritizes its employees first and foremost.
Which brings me to my second point: we’re raising prices.
This will be the first time in our 7 years of business that we have raised prices and it turns my stomach all in knots to pull the trigger. But there is no other way to raise wages. Furthermore, we do believe that it is important to prioritize food as a truly valuable commodity and, in fact, it should be a significant portion of one’s budget. High quality, healthy food that is sustainable for the environment and your body is not cheap. I’ll say it another way: delicious food grown by farmers you know and trust is expensive. Or maybe this will land better: The blood, sweat, and tears we pour into the food you eat are valuable. We are worth it.
All that said, the reason raising prices ties me in knots is not because I’m worried about those of you who forget to even look at the price tag when you check out—you know who you are. It’s because of those of you who really do prioritize local food as so important that you are sacrificing other items in your budget in order to pay for our products. I don’t want to turn you guys away, I really don’t want to be prohibitively expensive to anyone. It will make me so sad if we become the type of shop that is exclusively a “value-add” producer for the very rich.
So here’s what I want to do, and I need your help:
We raise wages
We raise prices
If you can’t afford our prices, please PLEASE tell us and we will give you an automatic 20% discount, no questions asked.
That’s our plan. Thank you for helping us to be a better employers. Our team is our family and we want them to know how much we value their livelihood. Together I do believe change is possible. Are you with us??