Small Business Sundays: The Farmer’s Rail

*Warning: Photos beyond this point are not for those uncomfortable around raw meat.*

On today’s edition of Small Business Sunday is The Farmer’s Rail, a local butcher and artisanal meat shop in Bath, OH. I was first introduced to this business by a chance encounter with the farm that runs it, Brunty Farms. I’m an avid farmers’ market goer and Brunty is one of the vendors at Countryside Conservancy’s Howe Meadow and Winter Farmers’ Markets. Up until recently, I still purchased my all-natural meats and seafood at Giant Eagle, but I’d been itching to go local ever since I made the switch for most of my in-season vegetables and fruits. I believe it was December of last year (2017) when I first decided to bite the bullet and try Brunty. Needless to say, I fell in love.

I suppose that I should share a bit of background as to why they’re so great. Brunty Farms is an area farm that sells pasture-raised meats and eggs located in Akron and Ashland, Ohio. All of their products are fresh, all natural, and locally processed. I don’t think you can get any more local than that unless you raise animals yourself!

After my first introduction, I craved more, but I prefer not getting my meat frozen. I did some digging and found that they do sell directly from their farm and have a CSA program where you could buy “shares” from the farm. This intrigued me, but I was never able to get out there to visit. This led me to learning about The Farmer’s Rail.

Located on Cleveland-Massillon Rd., it’s a bit out of the way for me, but distance never stops me from getting quality food. The shop is larger than it seems, but it’s constantly filled with people. They have everything ranging from seafood to cheese and jerky. They even have coolers and freezers featuring other local products like pierogies, lemonade and soda, hot sauce, and pickles.

If you’re interested in getting fresh, local meats, I’d recommend The Farmers’ Rail because their quality is unparalleled in the area. I also find that their prices are on par with what I used to spend for high-quality meats at Giant Eagle, so if you are used to that then you won’t even noticed the switch in your budget.