Where It All Started: The Journey to Faithful Harvest Farms
March 20, 2025
Photo Credit: Shelby Waltz Photography
I grew up in a rural farming community in Central Indiana, spending most of my life in the heart of the Midwest. While I had a few adventures across the country and even internationally, my roots remained firmly planted in small-town farm life.
Raised by a single mother in a low-income household, we did our best to maintain a small farm, raising pork and beef when we could. When we weren’t able to raise our own meat, we sourced it from local farmers. Because of this, I’ve always known the difference between homegrown, farm-fresh meat and the mass-produced options found in grocery stores.
From Egg-Laying Chickens to Raising Poultry for Meat
Despite my farming background, I had never raised chickens for meat until my mid-30s. As a stay-at-home mom, I had spent over a decade raising chickens for eggs, even before we moved to our homestead. But raising pasture-raised chickens for meat? That was a whole new challenge.
One major hurdle was finding a poultry processor. Having never processed an animal myself, the entire idea felt overwhelming—until our adventure with turkeys began.
How Turkeys Led to Faithful Harvest Farms
My son wanted to raise turkeys for our local 4-H fair. We had a family rule: every animal on our farm must serve a purpose. If we were going to raise turkeys, we had to be willing to process them for our own food.
Let’s just say… that experience didn’t go as planned. We ended up needing to process all five turkeys ourselves. Fortunately, I met an amazing woman who taught me how to process them. She and her husband were incredibly supportive, and she has since become a dear friend—helping me many times in my poultry journey.
Why does this matter? Because without that experience, and without her guidance, Faithful Harvest Farms may never have come to life with the confidence we have today.
The Turning Point: Why We Started Raising Our Own Chicken
Even before raising our own meat birds, we used to buy bulk chicken breasts—40-pound cases at a time. I would spend hours prepping and packaging the meat for the freezer.
Then something strange started happening…
Every time I handled the store-bought chicken, my hands would burn intensely—so much so that I had to start wearing gloves. At first, I wondered:
🔹 Did I have an allergy to poultry?
🔹 Was the chicken bad?
🔹 What was causing such a painful reaction?
Being a scientist at heart, I started researching. I’ll spare you the long, detailed process, but here’s what I found:
Commercially processed chicken is soaked in a “sanitizing solution.”
That solution was burning my hands. And then it hit me—if it’s burning my skin, what is it doing to my insides? What am I feeding my kids?!
To test my theory, we raised a small batch of meat chickens. When it came time to process and cook them, I handled the raw chicken with zero reaction. No burning hands. Just clean, fresh, pasture-raised chicken.
Not only was the taste and texture superior, but I also had peace of mind knowing exactly what was (and wasn’t) in our food.
Faithful Harvest Farms Was Born
And so, out of necessity and passion, Faithful Harvest Farms was born. Today, we proudly raise pasture-raised, non-GMO, farm-fresh chicken—providing our family and community with healthier, better-tasting poultry.
If you're looking for high-quality, ethically raised chicken, we invite you to experience the difference. Taste farm-fresh, pasture-raised chicken today!
Want to Learn More?
Visit Faithful Harvest Farms to explore our farm-fresh chicken, learn about our process, and bring clean, non-GMO poultry to your table.
