This is the second in a two-part series on Geisert Farms pasture to plate operation in Franklin County. In this part, Missouri Ruralist visits with the Geiserts about their markets, which include on farm and a retail grocery store.

In just one mile of Old Highway 100 just outside of Washington there is a farm roadside stand and a grocery store. Franklin County hog farmer Todd Geisert owns both.

INTERACTING: Katie Geisert visits with customers at the newly opened grocery store.

Geisert raises pigs on pasture by rotating them through produce patches. It is an old-school approach that created a market for his pork products not only to niche markets like Niman or restaurants in St. Louis, but also to customers at his roadside stand. Still customers wanted more. So the fifth generation farmer opened up a grocery store just down the road from the family farm.

Geisert is collaborating with other family farmers to provide meat and produce at Geisert's Farm to You Market. He finds that this new venture allows him to visit with customers and determine their needs. They are able to ask questions about how the animal was raised, and if they want, take a trip down the road to see the pigs on pasture. It truly gives them a pasture to plate experience.

He sells roughly 300 hogs to Niman Ranch. He butchers the remaining hogs and between the pork and the produce, Geisert delivers to more than 40 St. Louis-area restaurants and retail markets from the city to mid-Missouri.

There is one market that does resemble that of Geiserts' forefathers. Right along the blacktop road of Old Highway 100 sits an old honor system roadside stand. Here customers can still purchase produce and pork anytime of the day or night. They only need to tuck their money into a tin box.

PASTURE PRODUCT: The Geiserts sell pasture-raised pork at their grocery store located 1/2 mile from the farm.

"We have a lot of customers who stop by after work to grab dinner," he notes. Then there are the occasional Sunday afternoon travelers. Either way, Geisert says the roadside stand is here to stay.

But in April, the family made one more bold move in the marketplace. They opened a grocery store, deli and wholesale food storage hub just a half mile down the road.

The market

Geisert's wife, Katie, manages the grocery store known as Geisert's Farm to You Market. The family's pork and produce are stored and sold in the 10,000-square-foot grocery store, deli, café and wholesale food facility.

Everything the grocery store sells complements Geisert's pork. He partners with 80 different people to supply anything from produce to soup mixes.

It is a mixture of products from pasture-raised to antibiotic free, but not necessarily grass fed. After all, Geisert supplements his own pigs feed that contain GMOs. He is all about choice.

HONOR SYSTEM: Customers at the roadside stand can purchase produce and pork at the roadside stand by tucking money into a tin box.

"People come to us with food issues," he says. "I may not have that issue, but others do, so we try to help them solve it." For example, some people are allergic to chicken eggs, so Geisert sells duck eggs.

The store also sells milk that undergoes low temperature pasteurization, also called vat or batch pasteurization, a process used to kill harmful pathogens. It is different from the high heat pasteurization typically found in Grade A milk. Geisert says customers that are lactose intolerant contend they can tolerate vat pasteurized milk better.

While the pork comes from Geisert's farm just 1/2 mile up the road, the meat case if full of lamb, beef, chicken and turkey from his farmer suppliers. However, he boasts on the rabbit. It is a project of his son, Ben.

"He raises rabbits on the farm and it is USDA inspected," he notes. And his son is following dad's example by appealing to the customer. "We have had request for duck, so he is hatching a few this year to see if we can provide duck meat to customers," Geisert adds.

The payoff

A store customer approaches Geisert and he stops the conversation. "What can I help ya find," he asks the patron and then leads the man over to the meat counter where they talk over pork cuts. Still grinning he returns.

"That's what it is about," he says pointing back at the meat case, "helping customers make their food choices." It is something Geisert and his wife are doing on a more direct basis--from the farm to the market to the plate.