184: Cliff Pollard - Fixing the Missing Middle of Regenerative Farm To Fork

Cliff Pollard is the CEO and founder of Cream Co. Meats, which distributes, markets, and directly invests in over 20 small producers and sustainable, regenerative, family-owned farms.

He chats with Dr. Anthony Gustin about what it takes to even the playing field between mainstream and farm-direct distribution.

Many of us don’t like to think about what happens to an animal after it leaves a farm and before it winds up on our plates. But as Cliff explains, this middle step is a huge challenge for small, regenerative producers across the country.

They discuss how this “missing middle” infrastructure for farmers to get their products to the consumer has changed over time and how Cliff’s team is working to fix our broken system.

You’ll also hear about Cream Co.’s exciting Beef-to-Institution program that’s bringing grass-fed and finished meat from regenerative farms to 30 public schools in California.

Other topics in this episode include:

How many steps in the supply chain it takes to go from farm to fork

What happens when animals go from the pasture to commodity processing

The difficulties small/medium farmers and ranchers face getting to market (and Dr. Gustin’s own first-hand experience)

The “spectrum of sustainability” when comparing sustainable vs. regenerative producers 

Mobile meat processing units

Whether small farms should invest in an online store with direct-to-consumer shipping

How you can support small, local regenerative producers

Resource mentioned in this episode: