Refreshing change

As the locally produced and grown food movement continues to gain traction in Colorado, bison rancher Neil Fischer wants to make it easier for residents to buy meat directly from ranchers.

“We looked at the landscape of organically and sustainably raised food and there is not great access from the farm to the consumer,” Fischer said.

That’s why in 2014 he and his wife, Teresa, launched The Farm2Table LLC Trading Post, a network of farmers, ranchers, local artisans and locals who buy direct. The model offers direct consumer distribution through an online marketplace — www.farm2tabletradingpost.com — and a year-round mobile market.

The mobile market is in Parker inside the Parker Garage restaurant on Mainstreet from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m on Sundays and in Castle Rock in front of Briccy’s Coffee on Wilcox Street from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Thursdays. Fischer hopes to expand the Parker market tothree days a week over the summer.

The Castle Rock market opened in May and resident Monika Wilmer couldn’t be happier.

“It’s fresh meat, fresh food and I just love it,” said Wilmer, who tries to buy chicken and farm-fresh eggs every week. “There’s something about chickens straight from the farm.”

Wilmer moved to the U.S. from Poland 10 years ago and had been searching for farm-fresh meat and produce to help combat stomach problems she recently developed.

“Since I came to America, my stomach stared freaking out,” she said. “So I started reading labels and found out there’s sugar in everything we eat.”

Fischer said Wilmer’s story is not unique.

“There’s such a disconnect today for people and their foods,” he said. “With the increase of obesity, diabetes and many different forms of food allergies in kids today, people are asking `why?’ If it’s not in what we’re eating in commercial food, then what is it? People are looking to know the source of their food to know what the ingredients are.”

Fischer’s solution to eating healthier is knowing your farmer. Marcus McCauley, of the McCauley Family Farm in Longmont, supports that notion, too.

“There’s no certification that can substitute for knowing your farmer and who is growing your food,” said McCauley, whose farm grows fresh produce and raises chickens. “And that’s what the local food movement really recognizes and embraces.”

One distributor who is embracing the local movement is CharcutNuvo, a premium sausage manufacturer owned by fourth-generation Swiss sausage master Eric Cutknecht. The Denver-based company makes sausage in natural casings from premium cuts of meat, including beef, bison, elk, “jackalope” (rabbit, pork and antelope) and wild boar.

The proteins are sourced within 500 miles of Denver and are humanely and sustainably raised on family farms, Roelke said. Fruits and vegetables used in the sausage are organic. No nitrates or chemicals are used.

“Sausage has always had a stigma, but transparency is one of our core values,” said John Roelke, sales manager for CharcutNuvo. “We want people to know what goes into their sausage. We think it’s really important for the health of our country that we don’t use chemicals.”

CharcutNuvo sausages can be found at Whole Foods, Costco and Biker Jim’s and, this year, their bratwurst and Polish sausage are featured at Coors Field. They also are sold at Fischer’s Trading Post

The company’s way of making sausage is not new, Roelke said. Rather it’s bringing food back to the old days, which is what Fischer is targeting with the Trading Post.

“Part of the idea of us being a trading post is going back,” Fischer said. “Our way of raising food is not new, it’s very old. I want to make a point with kids today that this isn’t a new food movement, this is how our grandparents ate — no processed foods.”

In the two years Farm2Table LLC Trading Post has been operating, it has grown from a dozen farms and ranches to more than 30 that contribute on a regular basis. All are from Colorado.

“We coordinated with different ranches to provide products, so it’s not just one person with 12 cows trying to feed the public,” Fischer said. The cooperative now carries more than 100 meat items. “There’s no one that has this collection of meat, and it’s because most of us don’t make enough to sell to a King Soopers.”

In addition to the online store and mobile marketplace, the cooperative recently started a monthly buyers club, which offers 10 different meat boxes, offering 100 shares of each box.

“I think at the end of the day a lot of people think this is really cool, but they haven’t changed their habits of just going to the grocery store and buying meats for food,” Fischer said. “So, until people vote with their dollar, not much is going to change in our food system. It’s the actual involvement of buying your groceries from the local family farm that makes all the difference.”