One of my favorite events each fall is the annual Minneapolis Public Schools Community BBQ, a showcase of their ambitious farm-to-school initiative and the farms it supports. This year, the BBQ fell on a picture-perfect night, a great community of fellow local foodies, with the Minneapolis skyline as our backdrop. The Ferndale turkey tacos and my unexpected win in the corn shucking contest (no joke!) made a good night even better.

I was on a farmer panel with two of my favorite people, Rae from L&R Poultry and Produce, and Ben from Open Hands Farm. We all marveled at Ben’s incredible stats on the number of carrot seeds he plants each spring, and we bemoaned all the things trying to eat what we grow – insects, rabbits, coyotes, owls – among the other familiar farming challenges.

As the panel wrapped up, the host asked us what we’re most proud of as farmers. My answer felt like a no brainer: TurkeyFest. On the ground, TurkeyFest is our weeklong festival leading to Thanksgiving and the first chance to pick up a fresh turkey. As a turkey farmer, it’s the culmination of a year’s worth of effort and incredible teamwork. Thanksgiving feels like the mountaintop we slowly inch toward all year.

More importantly, I’m proud of TurkeyFest because this isn’t the way it usually works today. Most people buy their turkey at a superstore. Oddly enough, we often see frozen turkeys advertised for less than you’d pay for a couple gallons of milk. No way could a farmer use that discounted price to actually raise a turkey. Even more, we know visiting an on-farm market requires an extra stop in our one-stop world. None of this fits with the way most of our big food system works.

And yet, here we are each TurkeyFest, cars flowing into a turkey farm driveway. Our staff busily working face-to-face with customers, farmers proudly handing turkeys to our guests. It feels good to do things a little differently.

We’re about to kick off the season again and I invite you to be a part of it.