Rebuilding a Resilient, Regional Meat Supply Chain - LIVE at the Old Salt Festival
Mountain & Prairie with Ed Roberson
The Importance of Connection in Ranching
"I'm unapologetic about the price of meat. It's the best nutrition per ounce per unit that we have with the possible exception of oysters, which I think is meat anyway," he says. "It's just, you know, in a lot of ways, ranching is not sexy at all."
This is a special live episode that was recorded in late June 2023 at the first-ever Old Salt Festival, which was held on the Mannix Family Ranch in Helmville, Montana. The Old Salt Festival is a three-day celebration of ranching, land stewardship, and wild places that features live Western music, wood-fired cooking, products from some of the West’s most renowned artisans, readings and interviews with Western authors and poets, and in-depth discussions about conservation and land stewardship. The festival was a resounding success, so I’m thrilled to share one of the many conversations with you here.
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The episode is a panel discussion titled "Rebuilding a Resilient, Regional Meat Supply Chain," featuring several of the West’s leading voices in sustainable meat production and regenerative agriculture. In order of their appearance in the episode, you’ll hear from Cole Mannix, President of the Old Salt Co-op; Kate Kavanaugh, owner of Western Daughters Butcher Shoppe and host of the Mind, Body, and Soil Podcast; Dan Miller, Founder of Steward; and Wyatt Nelson, President of Wild West Local Foods. As you’ll hear, each panelist is deeply immersed in a different aspect of the meat production supply chain, and each of them brings a unique and wise perspective to the challenges facing producers and small businesses involved in meat production.
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Many of you may already know, but the Old Salt Festival is a part of the Old Salt Co-op, a new, purpose-driven company that “provides meat raised with integrity from Montana landscapes its customers know and care about.” The Old Salt Co-op is working to rebuild the meat business in Montana, creating a sustainable business model that is beneficial to local ranchers, local consumers, and local economies– all while responsibly and effectively stewarding the lands that support agriculture. Rebuilding Montana’s meat supply chain is no small feat, but with smart, purpose-driven people like Cole, Kate, Dan, and Wyatt working to find solutions, I think you’ll be both inspired and encouraged.
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To learn more about the Old Salt Co-op, you can go back to my first podcast conversion with Cole from February of 2023. And be on the lookout for another live Old Salt Festival episode, which I’ll be releasing on August 8, 2023– that one will feature a conversation with famed western author David James Duncan followed by a reading from his new novel Sun House.
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A huge thanks to Cole and the Old Salt team for inviting me to the Festival, and a huge thanks to the Mannix Family for sharing their stunning ranch with all of us. Thanks to Cole, Kate, Dan, and Wyatt for sharing their wisdom. And last but definitely not least, thanks to the one and only, always hilarious and energetic Bex Frucht for the amazing intro. Hope you enjoy.
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- OLD SALT FESTIVAL
- OLD SALT CO-OP
- Cole's first M&P episode
- Full episode notes and links: https://mountainandprairie.com/old-salt/
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TOPICS DISCUSSED:
- 2:45 - Introductions
- 6:15 - The challenge and opportunity that Cole saw, leading to the development of Old Salt Co-op
- 9:00 - What Kate sees as major potential challenges for Old Salt Co-op going forward
- 12:15 - What attracted Dan to finance regenerative agriculture, especially given that industry’s tight margins
- 15:00 - Wyatt’s introduction, as well as the roadblocks that Wyatt sees to a more resilient food system from the distribution side of things
- 17:15 - How the panel members go about getting people’s attention
- 24:45 - The work Cole’s family and neighbors have done to protect the local landscape, as well as trends in young people getting involved with agriculture
- 32:15 - What Kate is seeing on the retail side of meat production, and how to address it
- 38:15 - What Old Salt Co-op is working on right now
- 41:15 - What we can do that would help build a resilient meat and food system
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