Your Monday Quickie * Buy Local and Make Mama Duke Proud

Sometimes in life, you just accidentally run into good people. Or maybe it's not such an accident. Maybe the Universe (or God, which to me is one and the same) has a plan in mind and we're just not aware of it. I think it happens more often than we realize. 
Every once in a while, the Universe knocks me upside the head with one of these connections, enough to rattle me into awareness. It happened again last week. I've been trying to find a new source for the lamb hearts for Lark's food (yes, I make my dog's food because she is allergic to everything). I had Googled butchers and found one several miles away by the name of Odessa's Wholesale Meats that looked like a local source. It was a Saturday morning, but Google said they were open, so I picked up the phone and called. A nice man answered, listened to my request and said he needed to check with some suppliers to see what kind of price he could get before he quoted anything to me. I gave them a call back a few days later and a woman answered this time.

After talking about the difficulty of finding lamb hearts as opposed to lamb shanks or rack of lamb (apparently the hearts are being bought up by big pet food manufacturers and the like and are hard to get for any butcher), something in my head suggested I ask her how she and her husband had gotten into the butcher business. I have no idea what struck me to do so. The question just popped in my head and out of my mouth. The story I received in return was amazing and inspiring.

She (Kristen) and her husband (Calvin) both came from large families ("Mama Duke" (Odessa), after whom the shop is named, having raised 11 children herself), where meal planning on a budget was an art. Kristen and Calvin had also previously fostered children here in North Carolina and were confused at first when some of the kids came home on Fridays with backpacks full of food. 

It turns out that the kids, because they were identified as in the foster system, were being sent him with food for the weekend through a program called Back Pack Buddies (another awesome story for another day). You can read more about the program here, but in a nutshell, the program sends at-risk kids home with six balanced meals and two snacks each Friday to ensure they can get through the weekend and have food. Most recipients are identified by their counselors, principals or teachers and many in the foster system are tagged. 
Kristen and Calvin already had food to feed the children they were fostering but it got them thinking about families, maybe even in their own backyard, that may be in need. So, they set out to do something about it. They started with three bags of frozen chicken wings and now three years later, they have their butcher shop - Odessa's Wholesale Meats. 

As Kristen said to me that day last week, "Not everyone can afford a Costco membership so they can buy in bulk. But buying one tiny package of meat at a time gets expensive." As a result, they try to help educate their customers about buying in bulk and planning for the month. They'll even have folks bring them their monthly budget and Kristin will help them figure out what meat they can buy to make it through the month with what they have. And because they aren't a big grocery chain or box store, their overhead is lower, so they can offer more reasonable prices. They have folks that walk (yes, walk. Some have no cars. Hard for those of us that drive everywhere to think about) to their store, budget in hand and with their help, they can free up $20, $30 even $100 month sometimes. That can mean the difference between making the rent or paying the heat bill for many folks. I loved their story so much, I asked if I could write this post about them, in the hopes that my Raleigh friends would stop by their shop. 

For those of you that live in the Raleigh area, I ask that you take your business to these folks. Let's make sure that businesses like this one can survive. They even make it easy on us by offering budget bundles (various items bundled together for a certain price), cases of meat (for example a case of boneless chicken breasts), many specialty items (including meats for making your own dog food) and entire animals (like a whole cow, cut into specific cuts of meat and packaged for the freezer). And guess what - they make it easy on those of us with limited time and busy schedules too - they'll even deliver. Just be sure to order at least 24 hours in advance for whatever you need and give them a few days to get it to you. 

By purchasing from these folks, not only are you helping to ensure a local business survives, but you're helping others who many not have the same means and resources that you do. Those with the tight budgets that need a resource within walking distance, so they can feed their family. Because in the end, that's what community is all about. And if you don't live near Raleigh, why not check out Google to find your local butcher? Chances are you'll find a similar story. And you know what? You're welcome.