| Hope you're doing well this week. My mental wanderings are below and I hope you are encouraged by it. It's a little longer so I'll dive right in.
We are a pretty small company(tiny compared to most meat companies you see on the grocery store shelves), 20 or so employees in all, but we often refer to ourselves as “a little engine that could” due to the amount of dedication, passion, and work ethic that lives in the bones of each person on the team here which results in some pretty amazing wins for a little company like ours. However, we are continually inspired and motivated by the true “Little Engine That Could”; the Bison.
Bison have impacted our continent’s landscapes and permeated the ethos of our North American cultures to such magnificent proportions one can't really isolate their impact. Once 60-120 million strong, they dwindled to between 500 & 1000, scattered amongst little herds in the most remote pockets across the western US & Canada. A few key visionaries saw a glimpse of a non-bison future and sprang into action to save the species. Bison now number around 400,000 in entirety, a massive increase in just a little over 100 years time. This comeback story that many know is nothing short of heroic and inspiring, yet far from complete. To give you some perspective as to just how small this little bison engine still is, the beef industry slaughters approximately 135,000 head per day.
Slaughter of Bison at this rate would eliminate every bison from the face our planet in 3 days. Furthermore, the average American consumes 55 lbs of Beef annually. The average American consumes .25 lbs of Bison annually... One ¼ lb bison burger out of over 1000 meals, every year. The good news in this little-engine-that-could story is, as you can see, it doesn’t take very many people to make a massive difference in the support for bison. Support for bison means eating bison. Consuming bison is simply "pruning the herd" for a healthier herd and simultaneouslysupports the growth and expansion of bison herds by fueling their conservation & substantiating their cultural value in society with self-supported(non-government funded), fiscal backing. A neighbor, friend, relative, etc., deciding to eat 1 meal of bison equals astronomical impacts for the species and the ecosystems they inhabit & nurture. The National Bison Association has put forth a short-term goal of growing bison to 1 million or more strong... we're fully committed to doing our part in reaching that goal. Here at Northstar, one of our core values is a Growth Mindset; Regardless of where we ended yesterday, be better today.
If you’re content with the status quo, you’ll be uncomfortable around here. Collectively, we want to continue to grow this company and we aren’t about to apologize for it. Expanding our impact means more healthy, more conscious consumers. It means support for more ranchers who align with our vision of raising & grazing as nature intended rather than having to sell them into the traditional meat-production(CAFO, feedlot, factory slaughterhouse) system. It means more acres, more wildlife, and more diverse ecosystems impacted by the bison’s little-yet-mighty influence. It means more bison. In total transparency, we currently ship around 400 orders per week and growing. Shipping 800 orders per week would allow us to double our impact by supporting more ranches that have reached out to us because of the impact it would have on the acres of land they steward, the bison, and you, the consumer(and your pets! :). We know this is absolutely impossible without you. You, the consumer(and us because we eat lots of bison too ;), are the most powerful hero in this story and a mighty little engine that could.I do not say that to butter you up, it’s simply the truth.Buying bison meat takes a very conscious decision... one that requires a lot of trust in us and we’re so very, very grateful for your trust & commitment. We plan to build a tracker on the website to keep you abreast of the progression of our weekly order volumes and share with you the incredible wins being accomplished through your support; near miraculous, inspiring stories of healing and restoration for not only humans and fur babies alike, but bison & the ecosystems they help thrive at a foundational level to support other critical, valuable life above and below ground. Bison are a little engine that could. Your decision to consume bison products is significantly influential in supporting one of the greatest conservation comeback stories in known history as well as the only long-term system solution toward truly sustainable food production for generations to come;
Regenerative. |
