I met Norm when I started my business in Kalamazoo in 2012 when I was on the hunt for pasture-raised eggs. His chickens *actually* live outside and don’t ever have to go into a cage. This may sound like common sense, but just about every single egg at a grocery store comes from a chicken who lives exclusively inside a barn and many never leave their cage.
You can not trust the labels at the store, no matter how beautiful or convincing the marketing appears. So how do I know these chickens are raised differently? Because I have seen them with my very eyes, multiple times over the years.
Chickens at Carlson Farms are moved around so they are always pastured. This means Norm and Karen and their children work seven days a week, caring for the animals. Norm’s eggs are in every single one of our cookies and hand pies.
In addition to the eggs, the most memorable meat we serve is the picanha beef, sourced from Carlson Farms. Picanha is a highly prized cut of beef from the top of the rump, also known in the US as a culotte. Famous as the “Queen of Steaks” in Brazil, it is beloved for its intense beefy flavor, tender texture, and signature thick layer of fat that melts into the meat during cooking. We buy all of the picanha that Norm has annually and he knows he will get in huge trouble if he sells it to anyone else.
Norm and Karen have a market with hot breakfast and bakery items plus lodging for a farm stay. Most people know Norm for his big personality and Karen’s laugh that you can pick out of a crowd. We hope the food you eat tastes even better when you’re here at Of the Land, knowing it came from such a wonderful family.
