Tyner Pond Farm

This is Evan Smith.

Evan is part of the second generation (along with his sister) at This Old Farm , the family-owned abattoir where we process our beef.

He grew up in the business. Later, he spent two years in Wisconsin studying under master butchers before returning home to help lead the family operation. Today, Evan manages the processing side of the business.

I think that's an important story.

When people talk about supporting local farms, they often picture the farmer. But there are a lot of other people behind your food.

Much of America's meat supply is now controlled by a handful of very large companies. That reality makes it harder for independent farms and independent processors to survive.

When you support a farm like Tyner Pond Farm, you're doing more than buying beef, pork or chicken.

You're helping create a future where young people like Evan can build a career, raise a family, and prosper in their own community instead of being forced to leave it.

That's one of the reasons we believe local food matters.

Good food begins with a place.

And it depends on people who are committed to their place.

People ask me what we actually eat.

Honestly, it looks a lot like this.

A burger for Amy.

Half a ribeye for me.

And lately we've been splitting one of the salmon fillets a couple nights a week.

Simple food. Hot grill. Not much cleanup.

We've found that works pretty well.

Ultra-processed food did not become the center of the American diet by accident.

A new editorial in the American Journal of Public Health looks at ultra-processed food, corporate influence, and the way large food companies helped shape the modern food system.

The part that stood out to me is this: the problem is bigger than personal willpower.

People are being asked to make good food choices inside a system that has spent decades making cheap, shelf-stable, highly engineered food more available, more advertised, and harder to stop eating.

That does not mean every packaged food is bad. It does not mean every family has to eat perfectly.

But it does mean we should be honest about what has happened.

At Tyner Pond Farm, we believe the alternative is not another packaged health product. It is ordinary food raised in a way people can understand.

Cattle on grass. Chickens moved on pasture. Eggs from hens with real access to land. Food with a shorter path from the farm to the table.

Good food begins with a place.

I wrote more about this here: https://tynerpondfarm.com/blogs/all/ultra-processed-food-corporate-influence-local-farms

People do not always think of Indiana when they think of cattle country. But consider our immediate neighbors feature two nationally prominent cattle operations: Ramsey Herefords and M5 Family Farms Inc.

As a family, when we decided to begin farming, we were grateful to be right here in east-central Indiana. This place has dependable rainfall, real seasons, and the kind of weather that suits cool-season pasture. For a grassfed farm, that matters. Grassfed beef begins with forage, and forage begins with conditions. Central Indiana’s climate and Indiana’s common pasture species make this a very good place to raise cattle on grass.

We are not in the same business as every other cattle operation around us, but it means something to see serious cattle families rooted here in eastern Hancock County. This is cattle country too.

Good food begins with a place, and we are grateful for this one.

This is Shanti Farm

When we partner with another farm, we want our customers to know where their food comes from.

Shanti Farm is where we get our duck eggs. Like us, they are a real farm with real animals, daily chores, and a commitment to caring for the land.

One of the things I appreciate about local food is that it connects us to places like this. When you buy duck eggs from our store, you're also helping support another farm family here in our community.

Good food begins with a place.

This is one of the places behind the food.

Today is Kristen's birthday!

If you've been around Tyner Pond Farm for very long, you've probably interacted with her, whether you realize it or not.

She helps keep orders moving, answers customer questions, solves problems, and generally keeps the rest of us pointed in the right direction. A lot of what happens on this farm happens because Kristen is paying attention.

She's organized, dependable, and somehow manages to stay positive even when things get busy.

We're fortunate to have her on our team, and we're grateful for everything she does for our farm and our customers.

Please help us wish Kristen a happy birthday.

We are adding something new this week: wild Alaska sockeye salmon from Captain Tony Wood and Wild Alaska Salmon & Seafood Co.

Obviously, This is not a product we raise here at Tyner Pond Farm, so I want to explain why we are offering it.

We thought long and hard about offering salmon, but I’ve come to know Captain Tony and his family business, and I was impressed by how similar our views are. We both care about food with a clear source, a short supply chain, and careful handling. We are both wary of food that moves through too many hands before it reaches the customer.

That matters with seafood.

A lot of fish is sold through long, anonymous supply chains. Captain Tony’s company is different. They fish their own salmon, process their own salmon, and sell it directly under their own name. Their sockeye is processed the day it is caught, flash frozen, and shipped frozen.

We are starting with sockeye because it is a clean, practical fish to add once in a while to a healthy diet. It is known for omega-3 fats and is generally low in mercury compared with many other fish.

This is not a replacement for our 100% grass-fed beef. We believe deeply in beef raised on good pasture. But no single food has to do everything. Wild sockeye gives us something different from a different place, with a different nutrient profile.

The standard is the same: know the source, keep the chain short, and avoid anonymous food whenever we can.

We are starting small to see what our customers think.

Wild Alaska sockeye is now available at Tyner Pond Farm.

https://tynerpondfarm.com/products/wild-sockeye-salmon-6oz-fillet

We are excited to share that Tyner Pond Farm is now offering a small selection of products from Smoking Goose Meatery in Indianapolis.

This partnership makes sense.

Chris Eley and I have known each other for more than a decade, and Smoking Goose has built a national reputation for smoked meats, salumi, sausages, and charcuterie made here in Indiana.

Their sourcing and approach to meat line up with the kind of local food system we believe in. That includes working with Gunthorp Farms for pasture-raised, non-GMO pork, a farm relationship we also know and respect.

We are starting with a few products to see how our customers respond. If it goes well, we will gladly expand what we offer.

This is another way to make it easier for people to buy more food from independent Indiana farms and food makers instead of relying only on the industrial grocery system.

You can now add select Smoking Goose products to your regular Tyner Pond Farm order.

Shop Smoking Goose here:
https://tynerpondfarm.com/collections/smoking-goose-smoked-meats-charcuterie