WELCOME GRASS ROOTS FARM!

Mass Farmers Markets welcomes Grass Roots Farm, our brand new grass fed beef and pork vendor, to the Central Square Farmers Market this season! Tom and Kristen, the husband and wife team at Grass Roots, cherish the lives of their animals and strive to give them a happy life before they go to slaughter.

At Grass Roots Farm, the animals roam and graze freely. Cows graze first, eating tops off the blades of grass, followed by chickens who graze on the remaining shorter grass and larva. This process helps fertilize their land. The pigs often graze on land that was formerly cornfields because they help tear up the ground, which helps bring back the topsoil. This is a natural cycle in which everyone enjoys new space and nutrients daily, keeping the land in top shape for seasons to come.

Tom and Kristen started their careers in the corporate world, but felt unfulfilled by this lifestyle and eventually turned to renovating multi-family homes instead. Neither thought they would one day be co-owners of a farm in New Braintree!  

As with many new parents, their lives completely changed when their first babies were born. Already heavily influenced by authors Michael Pollan and Joel Salatin as well as the movie Food Inc., Tom and Kristen decided to put the well being of their children first seeking organic alternatives and growing their own food. Eventually, they came across a farm for sale, too enticing to pass up. This farm, now Grass Roots, started out as an old building lacking heat and foundation with 212 acres of land that was used to grow corn by a neighboring farmer.

Tom and Kristen got to work fixing up the old farm house (built in 1742) and left their old home and lifestyle behind with two toddlers and a third baby on the way. They took back the land, bought 3 calves from a dairy farmer for $20 each, and started teaching themselves a new way of life in which they survived on their own food and nourishment. Now, Tom and Kristen sell their meat three times a week at our Copley Square and Central Square Farmers Markets. 

Life on the farm isn’t something to go into lightly, and the 12-hour market days tend to be the easiest on Tom and Kristen. Their children (now 8, 10 and 12) love farm life and often help take care of the chickens, piglets, and bunnies. 

Both Tom and Kristen agree on the importance of shopping at farmers markets. “It used to be that farming was a way of life," Kristen says. "Now, people are so removed from where things come from and take it for granted, people don’t understand everything has its season.”

Tom adds, “People complain so much about how things are, but spend money at Walmart and buy gas at BP. Their money is a vote and I don’t think they realize that. It doesn’t have to be us or this market, but just Farmers Markets in general. Go to the market, meet the farmer, look at his hands, see what he does.”

Last Monday, Tom and Kristen celebrated their 18^th wedding anniversary at the Central Square Farmers Market, which was exactly where they wanted to be!

Visit their website to learn more and come to the CentralSquare Farmers Market on Mondays, or visit the Copley Square Farmers Market Tuesdays and Fridays.

Live closer to New Braintree? Stop by the farm Thursdays or Saturdays with advanced notice.