Waynesville Mail

Rural Route One Meat Company

Though Rural Route One Meat Company is fairly new, the company is built off of generations of experience. Starting with Randy and Marj who, in 1976, started a hog farm on Rural Route One, the knowledge of farming has stayed in the family. However, like many businesses, 2020 proved to be a tough year. Emily Schmidgall explains, “It was through the struggle of 2020 that Rural Route One Meat Company was established. Because of several supply chain difficulties, our farm was unable to sell pork to our standard buyers. Our family and friends observed this struggle and wanted to help alleviate the load by purchasing pork direct from our farm rather than their usual outlets. The feedback we received was overwhelmingly positive as customers enjoyed not only the taste and quality of the product, but also the ability to buy and support local farmers.”

Unfortunately, the current economic situation has been less than kind to Rural Route One Meat Co., “Inflation has caused the price of all our inputs to go up 30-50%. Feed, gas, and electricity have all increased substantially”, Emily tells me. However, she goes on and explains the only solution available, “We have tried to absorb as much cost as possible to keep our prices steady for our customers through this season of inflation.”

Luckily, it’s all hands on deck at the farm. “Our RR1 team includes Randy and Marj - who originally started the hog farm - and their three children’s families…Jolynn and Kevin, Alissa and Duane, and Tim and Emily. There are 11 children between the three siblings and their spouses that also help! They ride along for meat deliveries, help with hog chores, collect and wash the eggs we sell along with our meat products, and various other tasks. We each have our roles that keep Rural Route One up and running.”

You read that right: deliveries. On top of their numerous products and bundles that go by names like “The Lumberjack”, “The Grillmaster”, and “The Tailgater”, the folks at Rural Route One will deliver to Mackinaw on any orders over $30. They will also deliver out of town for orders over $50. Check out their Facebook page, place an order with local farmers, and tell them The Mail sent you!