Farm to Face Means More Than Fresh Ingredients
When we say “Farm to Face,” we’re talking about more than what goes into a bar of soap.
Yes, it means knowing where our ingredients come from. It means fresh goat milk, carefully raised animals, thoughtful farming practices, and creating products that connect what happens in the barn to what you use on your skin.
But for us, Farm to Face is also about making sure farms still exist.
Fairs Are About More Than Rides and Fried Dough
Every summer, families head to county and state fairs for the rides, food, games, concerts, and traditions. But tucked between all of that excitement is something incredibly important:
Agriculture.
Walk through the barns and you'll find young people proudly standing beside animals they've spent months caring for. You'll see dairy farmers answering questions, families washing animals before a show, kids sleeping in lawn chairs between classes, and generations of farmers sharing knowledge that can't simply be learned from a textbook.
Those barns aren't just exhibits.
They are classrooms.
They are gathering places.
And, in many ways, they are one of agriculture's most important opportunities to connect with the people it feeds.
You Can't Have Farm to Face Without the Farm
We love talking about natural ingredients and knowing where our products come from. But sometimes we forget the most important part of the phrase Farm to Face:
The FARM.
Before there can be goat milk in a bar of soap, there has to be a farmer willing to get up early and care for goats.
Before there can be locally grown pumpkins, apples, herbs, or other farm ingredients, someone has to plant them, tend them, harvest them, and take the financial risk of growing them.
Farms don't survive simply because we like the idea of local agriculture.
They survive because people support them.
That can mean buying directly from a farm, choosing locally made products, visiting a farmers market, purchasing from a farm stand—and yes, showing up at your county and state fairs.
Go to the Barns
This year when you attend the fair, ride the rides. Eat the food. Watch the tractor pull. Buy something you absolutely don't need from one of the vendors.
But please...
Go to the barns, too.
Take your kids.
Look at the goats, cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, rabbits, and horses.
Ask questions.
Talk to the farmers.
Watch a livestock show.
Stop by the 4-H and youth exhibits.
And when a young person wants to tell you everything there is to know about the animal standing beside them—listen.
Because that child may be one of the people we depend on to keep agriculture alive for the next generation.
A Ribbon Represents So Much More
When you see a child standing in a show ring holding the lead of a goat, cow, sheep, or pig, you're seeing far more than a few minutes of competition.
You're seeing early mornings.
You're seeing feed bills.
You're seeing chores when friends were doing something more fun.
You're seeing lessons about responsibility, disappointment, patience, life, and sometimes loss.
And you're seeing a young person discovering that agriculture might have a place in their future.
That matters.
Because preserving farmland isn't enough.
We also need people who want to farm it.
Supporting Small Farms Is Something We Do Together
Small farms are part of the character of our communities. They're the barns we drive past, the animals our children point to from the backseat, the farm stands we stop at in summer, and the families we see year after year at the fair.
But we can't assume they'll always be there.
Every time we choose to participate in local agriculture, we're casting a small vote for the kind of community we want to have.
We want communities with barns.
We want communities with animals in the pastures.
We want children who know that milk doesn't begin in a grocery-store cooler.
We want another generation that understands how to care for animals, grow food, work with their hands, and respect the land.
And we want small farms to have a fighting chance.
That's What Farm to Face Means to Us
At Rowandale, Farm to Face isn't just a cute phrase to put on a label.
It's a commitment.
It's knowing the animals behind our milk.
It's caring about how they're raised.
It's appreciating the farmers who grow the ingredients we use.
It's choosing local whenever we can.
And it's supporting the agricultural community that makes everything we do possible.
Because someday, we'd still like to drive down country roads and see red barns.
We'd still like children to grow up showing goats at the county fair.
We'd still like families to know the farmer who produced something they use every day.
And we'd still like there to be small farms where the next generation can fall in love with agriculture.
So this fair season, show up.
Buy the ticket.
Eat the fair food.
Cheer from the bleachers.
Walk through the barns.
Ask the kids about their animals.
Shake a farmer's hand.
And remember that simply showing interest tells the agricultural families in your community something important:
What you do matters. We see you. And we want you to still be here tomorrow.
For us, that's the heart of Farm to Face.
Because Farm to Face isn't only about knowing where our ingredients come from.