How Zhatka Farmer is Changing Our Nation for the Better

We began in East Texas, which is all the more interesting as it is the heartland of industrialized chicken farming - something we want to change. We started as first generation farmers, with lofty ideals and goals – we wanted to connect with the land and improve it, treat our animals with respect, feed our families and customers nutritious food and produce the highest quality product possible.

So we set out to prove it was possible to go back to regenerative farming, pay everyone in our chain a living wage, and encourage other farmers across the USA to join us. And it’s this point - paying everyone a living wage that we need to understand.   

The industrialized farming model led to a situation where the people who actually grow and process your food are not paid a living wage. You can see it in the hard, cold stats. 50% of family farms make less than $10,000 a year. It’s not a viable way of life and it’s forcing the next generation to flee to make livings elsewhere. According to the USDA, the average industrial broiler chicken farmer gets paid $0.06 per pound.

A Zhatka farmer receives $2.00 per pound for country chicken. This amounts to two-thirds of the food dollar going back to our farmers. Earning more allows Zhatka farmers to reach a living wage at a smaller scale, which is more environmentally responsible. Additionally, Zhatka cash-flows a farmer’s major inputs through your membership, such as supplemental grain and livestock purchases, thus breaking down more barriers that beginning and scaling farmers face.

We also own and run our own processing plants in the United States. Workers in these plants are among the lowest paid in the nation. Little to no stability, hourly pay at such low rates they are among the unbanked. Owning our own plant means we can ensure the highest and most humane standards at every step in the process, and we pay our staff a living wage helping lift them out of poverty and providing a future for them and their families. 

This year we want to celebrate our 100% American Hindu Farms and all of you who are supporting local farmers when you source from Zhatka. Buying from Zhatka helps our nation continue to prosper. It’s important to take a look and ask your suppliers where their meat comes from to ensure it is supporting the USA, keeping jobs and families afloat here, and raised with the highest quality standards for you and the animals.

 1 U.S. Department of Agriculture (2012). Census of Agriculture. Retrieved from https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2012/

 2 U.S. Department of Agriculture (2012). Census of Agriculture. Retrieved from https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2012/

 3 Johansson, Robert, Mancino, Lisa, and Cooper, Joseph. “The Big Picture: Obesity, Consumpt, and Food Production.” Retrieved from https://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/36682/PDF

4 Johansson, Robert, Mancino, Lisa, and Cooper, Joseph. “The Big Picture: Obesity, Consumpt, and Food Production.” Retrieved from https://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/36682/PDF

5 https://rafiusa.org/blog/big-chicken-companies-own-and-control-everything-except-the-farm-why/

6 Industry Today. (2011). “Major Disconnect: Americans and Their Food.” Retrieved from https://industrytoday.com/article/major-disconnect-americans-and-their-food/