This week, we surpassed 50,000 members in the Shop Texas Farms FB group! How incredible to have such a great, and growing, number of Texans who are connecting in support of each other. This is such a beautiful milestone!!
Back in the Spring of 2020, Greg Malone (the founder of this group) came up with the idea to connect the people of Texas with their local farmers for food sources. This was during the Covid epidemic, and he was saddened at the sight of empty store shelves whenever we went shopping for food. This was especially true for many of the items that he knew could be found locally: eggs, milk, meat and homemade breads to name a few. He saw that a group had started in Kansas that connected people with their local farmers and ranchers and thought “why not provide Texans with this same service?” On a whim, not knowing what to expect, he started the Shop Texas Farms Facebook group. His goals were simple. First, connect people with their local farms and ranches for their food. Secondly, and most importantly, everyone must be kind to each other. The group slowly took off and it was evident that people wanted to establish relationships with the farmers who could supply their families with food when commercially produced foods could not be found on store shelves. The epidemic passed, but a strong desire was beginning for people to want to know exactly where their food was coming from. Who is growing, or raising, the food? What chemicals, if any, were being used? What were the living conditions for the animals that would go from grazing in a pasture, or strutting around a farmstead, to becoming a meal for a family? Shop Texas Farms allowed the opportunities for Texans to get the answers to the questions they had, and to support and develop relationships with their local farmers and ranchers.
Our food producers are such an important part of our lives and so important to our Texas economy. I am delighted to see so many Texans seek out local farms and ranches in this group. My hope is that the connections continue to grow over the next few years, and I am able to celebrate with all of you many more milestones like this one.
God bless you all!! And God bless Texas!! – Cookie Lynn