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COVID-19 impacts introduce more consumers to local farm store

Disruptions to the food supply chain and the shift in consumer buying patterns during COVID-19 have created a larger customer base for a family farm store.

Jill Vonder Haar is the manager of Main Street Pastures in St. Rose, Illinois where they raise their own livestock and grain to sell pasture raised beef, pork, chicken, eggs and lamb at their farm store and local farmer’s markets. She tells Brownfield the goal of their operation is to connect families more directly with their food source and COVID-19 has actually helped them do that.

“It should help our business quite a bit because I think with the larger meat processing having the issues that they did this year, it really makes people look at where there food comes from and more of a local source.”

She says more consumers are placing online orders for delivery this year and they plan to continue that service post-pandemic.

“I think those customers are going to increase and I think they are probably going to stick around.”

Vonder Haar says it has been a challenge to keep up with demand and they quickly ran out of several products, but she expects new customers will stay connected.