A message from the boss lady. This is an editorial, not a sales pitch. That's me, with my daughter. I wrote it because people keep asking where I stand.
Lately, it feels like I can't open a single farmer-related post on social media without finding the same conversation in the comments. “Who did they vote for?” “They voted for this.”
Whatever the original post was about, we're right back to deciding whether that farmer deserves what's happening to them. And I keep wondering: Is this helping? Is it making anything better? Where's the part where we talk about a solution?
I've been on the receiving end of it myself. More than once, someone has told me, “You voted for this.” My reply has been, “The fuck I did.”
But even after I correct the assumption, we haven't done anything about the problem. We've just had another argument about who to blame.
That's why I'm writing this. People have asked where I stand on Blue Dot Beef, and I want to answer honestly. But I also want to explain why my answer doesn't end with sorting people into red and blue.
Asking where your money goes is fair. Then what?
I tell people to vote with their wallets. Of course I understand wanting your purchases to reflect your values. You have every right to ask what you're supporting when you buy from a business, including ours.
I'm not objecting to people asking questions or holding anyone accountable. I'm questioning what we accomplish when “you voted for this” becomes the entire conversation.
On most issues, I'm pretty middle-of-the-road. I can usually find common ground, and I'm willing to listen. Human rights and basic dignity aren't things I'm willing to bargain away. Neither am I willing to shrug at inequality because it doesn't affect me personally.
At 46, I attended protests for the first time in my life. I'm not telling anyone this from a place of indifference. I've been angry enough to show up, too.
But outside the comment sections, I work alongside red-hat folks. One still stands his ground, a little sheepishly. Another shakes his head and admits this isn't the right direction.
Maybe it's because it's hitting his wallet now. I can't tell you everything behind that realization. But you know what? Fine. If that's what gets him to stop and question things, I'll take the opening.
Would I rather he had cared before it affected him personally? Absolutely. I hope that next time, someone else's hardship is enough reason for him to pay attention. I can't control that, but I can decide whether I'm willing to have an honest conversation now.
We can't go back and prevent damage that's already been done. We can decide what happens next. If shaming someone matters more to us than accepting their genuine willingness to change direction, we're helping keep ourselves stuck.
That doesn't make everyone equally responsible for getting us here, and it doesn't erase the consequences of anyone's choices. But I'm not going to demand that people reconsider and then shut the door when they start. We have work to do, and I'd rather have more people willing to do it.
Buck the system. Shorten the supply chain.
So what does that work look like? In my corner of it, it starts with how we buy and sell food.
I believe our food system is broken. I want us to spend more time asking how to change it and less time deciding which farmers we're allowed to care about. Buying directly from a farm shouldn't be a partisan act.
When I say “buck the system,” I mean a shorter supply chain. Fewer hands taking a cut between the person raising your food and the person putting it on the table. Fewer pocketbooks dipping into the same purchase.
I want people to ask who raised their food, how it was raised, who processed it, and where their money is going. I want farmers to be able to answer those questions plainly. That is the kind of relationship I want us to build at Rivas Ranch.
Buying direct won't fix everything, and not every family has the same options. But where we can build those relationships, I believe we should. That's somewhere useful to put our desire for change.
And farmers have to be willing to question things, too. “It's always been done that way” isn't a good enough answer, whether we're talking about politics, business, or how we handle someone's food.
That's also why “buck the system” does not mean “fuck all regulation.” I've served on four committees, representing industry, that helped shape the FDA Model Food Code. I believe some rules need to be reconsidered, and I believe science, education, and sensible safeguards belong in our food system.
I believe our meat should be inspected. We owe the people we're feeding more than “we've always done it this way and been fine.” I want fewer unnecessary middlemen, not less responsibility.
The badge doesn't decide who gets a seat
So if that makes me Blue Dot Beef, that's a badge I'll wear. But I won't wear it at the expense of isolating people who aren't quite at that point.
I can tell you what I believe without requiring you to agree with every word before you're welcome here. Respectful, thoughtful discussion has a place at our table. Disagreement doesn't give anyone permission to deny another person's dignity.
If my answer to people deciding not everyone is welcome is to make my own list of who doesn't belong, what have I changed? I can't say I believe in building a longer table and then refuse to make room for someone who's honestly beginning to reconsider.
I believe in building longer tables. It doesn't matter which end you're sitting at; it's still the same table. That doesn't mean we're all going to agree. It means there's room to listen, ask difficult questions, own our choices, and decide what we're going to do next.
So yes, ask where your money goes. Ask what the people you buy from stand for. But when someone is willing to help change direction, let's give that conversation somewhere to go besides “you voted for this.”
You know where I stand. If you're ready to help make things better, pull up a chair. We have work to do.
Want to buy direct? See our bulk beef, or text us at 336-747-3070.