On a cold winter day in Illinois, three little pigs are resting in a three-sided shed. They have plenty of space to trot around, as they do when Jennifer Duensing approaches. Those footsteps mean it's feeding time. They squeal impatiently, waiting for their usual diet of organic feed, which sometimes includes vegetables like squash grown right here on the farm.
One of the pigs at Illinois Country Harvest waits for organic feed in Prairie du Rocher, Illinois, on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. Once butchered, in about two months, the meat will be Certified Naturally Grown.
Produce from Happy Hollow Farm at the Columbia Farmers Market in Missouri on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024 sports various labels, including “USDA Certified Organic.” Farmer Liz Graznak said the label is valuable and recognizable to customers.
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Jennifer Duensing stands in front of her classic truck on her farm in Prairie du Rocher, Illinois on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. She likes to run Illinois Country Harvest the same way she likes the rest of her life, the “old fashioned way.”
David Lovelady just purchased organic food from Happy Hollow Farm at the Columbia Farmers Market in Missouri on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. “I want to make sure that I put good fuel in my body, because I feel it's a temple,” he said.
This story is a product of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, an independent reporting network based at the University of Missouri in partnership with Report for America, with major funding from the Walton Family Foundation.
