Our Story

From Lucinda, Moink Co-Founder

Both Adam (my husband and Moink Co-Founder) and I grew up on family farms in the Midwest. We both left those family farms after school for the East Coast where Adam worked as an engineer and I as an organic produce lady, setting up organic produce box companies all over the country.

 

Our Story

A few years ago we moved back home to the Heartland and traded in our house in the suburbs for a farm, which we have slowly been transforming to certified organic. We planned to go through the certification process, grow vegetables and then help other farmers learn to grow organically and be sustainable.

A Tender-Hearted Carnivore

Adam started raising hogs on the back woods of our property. Why hogs? Well, when we lived in the city I REFUSED to eat pork from the grocery store. I told Adam, “It tastes like a confinement building smells.” Plus, I’m not down for the torture of animals (the reality of factory farming).

Our Story

I’m a carnivore, but I’m a tender-hearted one. 7 years on a pork hiatus and my dear husband just wanted a pork chop! I told him that if he raised a hog like my mother used to (outdoors on clean, green grass) I would cook all the pork chops his little heart desired. So he did, and the quality and flavor were amazing.

Our Small Community Begins…Organically

Next, our friend Kim (who raises grass-fed beef) called to see if we had any ideas for connecting other tender-hearted carnivores with this awesome meat we were raising.

Then, our friend Janel began talking with us about her chicken. It’s the best chicken you ever did eat. Why is her chicken so delicious? She raises them outdoors, with plenty of fresh grass and a diet of bugs and Non-GMO grains. The same thing came up…how do we get this to the consumer?

Our Story


Today’s Food System

Right now the food system is set up so that if you raise animals you can sell them, but only at the local “sale barn” where, chances are, they will end up in the hands of one of the “Big Four” meatpacking houses in the country.

From our experience it seems that these companies have no desire to help the farmer or care for an animal. Everything comes down to making money. And it seems like a tragedy to let our animals end up in their hands.


A Community of Liked-Minded Carnivores

So we thought, what about the people all over the country facing the same pork chop dilemma that Adam and I once faced? Just because they don’t live in farm country doesn’t mean they should have to eat factory-farmed meat or be forced to support “big agriculture.”

Our Story

And then everything clicked. 

What if we set up a process like we do with the produce boxes and ship it? It would be easy for the consumers (make a few selections and meat arrives on their doorstep) and can help farmers plan well and connect with consumers.

I knew that in order to sell nationwide we would need more growers. Our farms are not big enough to feed everyone and, quite frankly, we don’t want them to be. 

Part of the reason our meat tastes so delicious is because we are small.

  • Our animals are cared for properly, with plenty of room to live well.
  • Janel raises her chickens in chicken tractors (allowing chickens to roam free while offering protection from predators), which her husband Chris moves 4 times a day.  If she ramped up the production there just wouldn’t be enough time in the day for that.
  • Adam names each and every one of our hogs, giving them personal attention to make sure they are happy and healthy. When you get big, you can’t do that.
  • Raising grass-fed beef that utilizes rotational grazing (moving the cattle regularly to fresh pasture) is a lot of work. You can’t do that when you are big.

So, we don’t want our farms to be big.  We just want them to be the best!

Building Partnerships with Like-Minded Farmers

There are plenty of farmers out there in our same shoes. They are raising their animals right and they’re fed up with the hijacked food system. They also want a way to connect to the consumer.

John, a nearby farmer, was raising and shipping grass-fed meat all over the country. We called him up and asked if he would be willing to help us. “Absolutely,” he said! Together with his farmer network and ours we knew we would have the supply without sacrificing quality.

Our Story

And So…Moink Was Born

We are THRILLED to launch Moink as part of the solution. We are connecting ethically-conscious meat lovers to quality food by helping farmers farm and people eat.

Our vision? To become a go-to source for humanely-raised and ethically-sourced meats for the consumer, as well as an outlet for grass-based farmers to sell their proteins.

We can’t do it alone and it won’t be easy, but together we can become a formidable opponent to the corporate giants currently hijacking our food system. Together we can reclaim our land and our dinner plates…all while enjoying the best darn ribeye you ever did taste!

Believe in What We’re Doing? Invite Your Friends to Join Our Community:

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Ready to join the Moink Moovement and help us fight for the family farm?

You can do that here!

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  • Dear Lucinda and Adam,
    I received my second meat selection order yesterday. Thank you so much. My family and I are so very happy with the quality and flavor of all our purchases. I appreciate the recipes included . I love seeing the pictures of you and your family as well as the other Farmers of Moink! I wish you all continued success! Happy New Year to you all!

  • Can’t wait for my 1st shipment will let you know how good it is after Thursday Oct 29th 2020. I’m starting my small Texas Grass fed beef farm in 2019 will have my 1st taste in 2021 ! We’ll see … Thank you look forward to my 1st meal

  • I grew up on a dairy farm in Western Pennsylvania. I love your philosophy! As a registered dietitian I look forward to trying your products. Thank you for helping the hard-working farmers.

  • Thank you! I was like you: on a “pork hiatus” because I couldn’t stand the taste of factory-farmed pork. (I also have a conscience, and I read about “pig-crap rain” being spewed onto low-income neighborhoods, and I just couldn’t support that.) Anyway… so, first: Shark Tank. I grew up on a farm, I saw your vision, I signed up the same day I saw your appearance on TV. But… still no pork. Then I tasted your meat (first delivery). Wow! This tasted like the meat I remembered from childhood! So then, I explored your website a little bit more, read more of your story, read about Adam and his pigs, and decided to try the pork (sausage, which went into Thanksgiving stuffing). Wow!! So yeah… you have a fan for life. Please don’t ever stop what you are doing!

  • Thank you so much for doing this! I really hated buying meat from the Grocery store. Please let me know when you will be teaching other farmers how to grow organically and be sustainable. I would love to be a part of your first class.

  • Who butchers the meat and under what conditions. How do you monitor sanitary conditions? How many farms or cooperatives do you have. Curious customer