How It Happened

Did it start with backyard chickens and wondering why our egg yolks were orange? Or maybe the dairy "allergy" that didn't show itself when drinking "raw" milk? Or the slippery slope of sourdough bread? Or maybe the early experience of gardening with Grammy that fueled a lifelong love of plants? Or that one pig slaughter weekend where Craig first climbed inside a still warm carcass and then learned to butcher it the next day?

Regardless of the exact beginning, we experienced a gradual conversion of heart, mind, and lifestyle from 2016 to 2021 (and still going) that prepared us to make the leap from corporate America, city/suburban living to livestock farming and owning/operating a butcher shop. The core change in heart and mind was a move from a technical, competitive, extractive mindset (the habit of mind we all inherit if we're born in the modern western world) to a natural, cooperative, husbanding mindset.

We believe the unique challenge of our time is continuing to foster human genius while prioritizing persons over stuff, place over transience, quality over quantity, beauty over efficiency, and relationships over connectedness.

In short, our view of the world is one of abundance rather than scarcity.

As we changed, we wanted to integrate our life and work in a way that made us part of what we see as the solution. We set out to create a human-scale business placed in a local economy to produce beautiful, high quality goods.

So, we opened Melvin Hill Meats!

What We're Up To

  • Caring for land and animals

    Our abattoir shares the same 16 acres as our diversified farm. Here we raise chickens, pigs, lambs, and cattle.

    As of 2024, we're in the early stages of establishing a multi-acre food forest system that will eventually offer fruits, nuts, and more to people and livestock. Eventually, this system will house and feed our American Guinea Hogs to produce pork unmatched in taste and quality, and especially well suited to producing traditional cured meats.

  • Feeding family and neighbors

    Feeding people is the point of animal husbandry and care of the land. If we start with the proper care of people, we can more easily achieve proper care of land and animals.

    We offer a complete lineup of meat options so you can have variety in your diet without tracking multiple providers: slow-growth pastured poultry, heritage breed pastured pork, grass-fed and finished beef and lamb.

  • Teaching and working with others

    We offer a variety of educational events and tours through Melvin Hill Meats and volunteer with our local livestock association to share our knowledge with others. This is where Craig really gets excited!

    We also partner with friends to provide intellectual formation and technical training through St. Joseph's Farms.

Reimagining the meat industry

  • Restoring the stability of hyper local supply chains.
  • Raising the bar for meat quality by focusing on the end: food on your table.
  • Offering a repeatable model for communities across the country.
  • Providing economic opportunity to other farmers through local partnerships.
  • Building community through food.