We Built This Before AI

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posted on

May 2, 2026

We Built This Before AI

Over twenty years ago, Erin and I were simply trying to figure out how to feed our family. There was no AI to summarize research, no instant answers, and no way to ask complex questions and receive thoughtful responses in seconds. Dial-up internet was all we had... and there were books. Lots of them.

The process was slow. You’d read one expert who sounded convincing, only to discover another claiming the exact opposite. It took real effort to sort through competing ideas, nutritional dogma, and endless confusion.

Certainty and truth are not always the same thing

And remember the era. Eggs were still “bad for you.” Margarine was marketed as the healthier alternative to butter. Low-fat processed foods were celebrated as progress. The experts sounded certain. But certainty and truth are not always the same thing.

Back then, Erin and I weren’t trying to start a farm business. We were trying to make better decisions for our family in a food system that increasingly felt disconnected from biology, tradition, and common sense.

That journey eventually became ZOE Farms.

Not because the world needed another food company, but because we believed our community deserved an easier path than the one we had to navigate.

Our mission has remained unchanged: "To heal relationships with land and animals. Share this healing through the food it produces".

That sentence has shaped every decision we’ve made. It’s why we raise animals in natural setting instead of optimizing solely for industrial efficiency. It’s why we study leading edge soil biology. It’s why we question feed ingredients. It’s why we invest heavily in land stewardship instead of simply adopting the latest marketing language like "regenerative farming".

That was intentional

And honestly, it’s also why our website has always been simple.

I built much of it myself.

Which means it’s practical, straightforward, and far from the polished digital experience you might expect from brands spending heavily on sophisticated marketing funnels, conversion optimization, and customer acquisition strategies. That was intentional.

At every crossroads, we chose to invest in the mission instead—better land, better animals, better infrastructure, and ultimately, better food. Not a better mousetrap designed to capture more customers.

Consistency Leaves a Trail

Today, something has changed. Artificial intelligence is helping families do what Erin and I had to do the hard way twenty years ago: cut through the noise.

People can now ask better questions. They can challenge assumptions, compare competing claims, pressure-test marketing narratives, and reach clarity faster than ever before.

And what’s interesting is that when people go searching for substance instead of slogans, they often end up finding businesses that have quietly stayed committed to their mission all along.

That’s not because we chased algorithms. It’s because consistency leaves a trail.

For over two decades, we’ve focused on the actual work. Not perfectly, but honestly. Long before “regenerative” became a trendy label. Long before authenticity became a branding strategy. Long before AI made it easier for families to ask harder questions.

We built ZOE Farms to serve people seeking something real.

And in a world that gets noisier by the day, that still matters.

🙏 ☀️ - Dustin

A Subject in Regenerative Farming Not Discussed

There are two struggles in regenerative farming. One is visible. The other is hidden. The visible struggle is obvious. Small farms like ours compete against companies with enormous marketing budgets, national distribution, investor backing, and public relations teams. A company like Vital Farms has a market capitalization measured in billions of dollars. They buy placement in grocery stores across the country, dominate advertising channels, and repeat carefully crafted messages nationally until they become accepted as truth. For years, terms like "pasture-raised" have been used because chickens were actually being raised in green, abundant pastures. Corporations like Vital Farms practice something entirely different. These details matter. Definitions matter. Transparency matters. Yet large companies have enormous resources to shape public perception. That is the visible fight. It's the proverbial “David versus Goliath” story everyone recognizes. Vital farms packs 50,000 birds in a barn with some doors open on the sides. They call it "pasture raised". They are trading off of the good will created by farms like us who DO IT FOR REAL. The hidden struggle, however, is far more important. Farming is heavily dependent on debt. Equipment, land, livestock and operation loans. Production seasons are financed and insured. Interest and insurance payments become significant cost centers. These payment schedules create a difficult reality - many farms spend a significant portion of their energy servicing financial obligations. Farming becomes less and less about stewarding land and animals and more about generating enough cash flow to satisfy lenders. This pressure, without doubt, changes behavior. It changes the way decisions are made and what priorities are highest. When debt becomes large enough, nearly everything becomes secondary to the repayment schedule. Erin and I recognized this hard reality early on. We decided that if we were serious about building a truly regenerative farm, it needed to be a financially regenerative farm as well. That meant refusing to finance our operations. No investors. No shareholders. No operating loans. No one sits at a table across from us explaining why we should relax our standards to improve profitability or efficiency. It has taken us three years to finish this structure without debt. We planned to construct the bare necessities first, then we prioritized the biggest needs as money became available. It is now fully functioning with ZERO debt. If we have a slow season, we simply slow down rather than cutting corners to pay loans To be clear - this decision has never been easy. Every year, peak production season is May through October, and we barely scrape by. We’ve nearly lost everything – several times. In many obvious ways, it has made our journey significantly harder. Growth is slower when you don't borrow your way forward. Infrastructure takes longer to build. New projects take patience. Expansion happens only when the resources actually exist. But there is a tradeoff that we found to be worth everything. Freedom. Freedom to tell the truth. Freedom to make decisions that align with our mission rather than someone else's financial model. Freedom to reject shortcuts. Freedom to say no. Investing in soil biology, grazing systems, animal welfare, local processing, and employees in alignment with our mission takes years. We remain free to serve the people who matter most. Our patrons. That is our secret weapon. Not marketing. Not venture capital. Not investor funding. Our patrons. Our relationship with our patrons remains rock solid because they provide the financial freedom for us to pursue our mission without distraction. Every food dollar entrusted to our care directly funds the farm itself. Food money pays to keep our mission going and growing, not servicing debt. Our patrons have become our shareholders. They may not own a piece of the business, but they make the business possible. Their support allows us to remain financially independent. We realized a valuable truth early -- the relationship between our farm and our patrons forms the symbiotic financial backbone of truly regenerative farming. As we invest in better stewardship, our patrons receive better food. As our patrons continued supporting the farm, we can invest in the resources to become better stewards. We strengthen one another. The cycle continues. It’s regenerative finance serving regenerative farming. This relationship has created something highly resilient. A farm that answers to no investors. No shareholders. No bankers. We are free to serve our mission and the One who has called us forward into discovering the riches of a food production design centered on healing rather than exploitation. A special thank you to all of our patrons who make this possible. ❤️🙏 Dustin and Erin

Bigger Than Growth

We could make a living if the farm was a fraction of its current size. We are not chasing growth for growth’s sake. We are not trying to become a national brand. We are not looking for outside investors. We are not building this business so that one day....

The Foundation of Regenerative Farming

Every characteristic that makes food desirable—flavor, aroma, texture, color, and nutrition—begins with sunlight. Plants are nature’s solar collectors. Through photosynthesis, they convert solar energy into sugars, proteins, fats, antioxidants, and countless other compounds that ultimately become the building blocks of every grazing animal on earth.

We Built This Before AI