The Pinto Beanery

Betty,
No, you are not insane. You have a big heart. Wanting to do something for the hungry is admirable, however I don't believe the hungry will take the beans without permission. Most likely they would be taken by people for profit. Without permission to pick, some may consider it stealing.
Having a patch (or area) available for self-picking by the public with a sign giving permission would help.

"Beans for your family. Help yourself to all you need. Ask at (Betty) for picking details."

I see it, Betty. Pay it forward.

Of course that would be your way. It's who you are.

Ann

Betty Fasig wrote:

What I wondered is if I walked along the barbed wire fences here, planted beans on the side that the county maintains, but close enough to the fence that they could not mow it all down, if one day, when some hungry people needed the beans they could walk down the road with a bucket and harvest enough for their family to survive. I must be insane about this. No one else can see it.

Forgive me my cynicism, but the era in which people would have done that is long gone. Now they get their beans packaged and handed to them via SNAP, TANF and multiple other entitlement programs. Were they even inclined to do the hour or so of work that picking a bag of beans might require, they would not have the mental resources to even think of it. Generous welfare programs cripple self-reliance.

I believe that self-esteem exists even when self-reliance is not possible. Given an opportunity to be self-reliant, self-esteem kicks-in.
I have never met a person who enjoys living on hand-outs, with the exception of preachers. I find it difficult to understand how people who have never been down and out with no choice but to accept welfare to survive and/or support a family, can understand the mindset of the needy.
A parent will do whatever is necessary to put food in the mouths of their children, even if it means stealing food for survival.

From my perspective, more and more of the people I know are going toward local, fresh foods that have fewer, if any, pesticides and additives.

Michael Pollan's Food Rules is a good source for seeing why. It's a short, easy read.

http://www.amazon.com/Food-Rules-Eaters-Michael-Pollan/dp/014311638X

Main rules:

Eat food (meaning real, natural food that isn't over processed
Not too much (Real food is more satisfying, so you don't need to eat as much.)
Mostly plants (Since we are omnivores, as explained in his earlier book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, we need to include some lean animal protein)

Betty's pintos are right on track with his views.

Just me.

Ann

Abe -too many people on entitlement programs now for me to believe anything but that many (most?) of them are content with it. Not necessarily happy, but not unhappy enough to pick beans on a hot day to supplement their government cheese.

In my view, unemployment is the problem.
Without entitlement programs, more people would be living on the streets, in tents and starving.
Going into the country and seeking food would put people in jail for tresspassing. If someone has crops available for picking, they need to know it is permitted.

I understand entitlement programs are needed. What I'm saying is that they have had the side effect of making recipients less resourceful in supplementing their entitlements. Picking beans, even if they provide free, excellent, nutrition, just isn't something today's entitlement receivers are going to do if they have to actually work to get it.

If the free beans are advertised to the general public, those who aren't on entitlements might be interested. People pay to pick berries at berry farms.

The truth is that not many people in the US do much manual labor. A good portion of the population has never seen a bean grow.

I have tried to give this produce I grow away to whomever wanted to come and pick it. I get no takers. They would be glad if I picked it, but it is way too hot and most of them are way too fat to take the heat or deal with the itchy leaves.

We are a spoiled rotten nation. LC is right in that people would really rather go get their food stamps than put out some effort to grow food for themselves or even go pick it for free.

Here in Florida, food can be grown most all the year. It is not like Oregon in the mountains where it is only warm a few days of the year. We have three seasons for growing. The winter hardly ever freezes long. A lot of land is not necessary. A person with a little gumption and a few nursery pots could grow a lot. It is easy to presever the harvest. It does take some work and paying attention.

If children did not suffer without the entitlement programs, I would say to do away with a lot of them. Especially for people who produce one child after another and collect more money for each one. What shoddy care some of these children get!

I better stop before I get on a soap box. I am a believer in doing what you can to help yourself before you go to the welfare office to apply. Do what work you can.

You do not see white or black people picking fruit in Florida. It is piece work, per box work, hustle your butt work. It is hot. Mexican people do all of that work while the American people collect unemployment and welfare. It is not right.

Too late, I have set off. hahah.

It will be well over 200 pounds of pintos, I think. How awesome is nature to provide, given a chance.


Love,
Betty

So, off I went today to try to sell a few examples of my produce to local vegetable markets that proclaim "locally grown" with large flags.

I had 6 one pound clam shells of grape tomatoes, two one pound clam shells of baby squash (less that three inches each) 12 pounds of green beans, some not hot jalapenos, and some already shelled pinto beans. If I could make a zero large enough, you could understand my discouragement. I was asking 1 dollar a pound. No takers.

On my way home, I pulled into a little place that sells pinatas. She has no air conditioning or refrigeration. I traded her the whole lot for two onions, four sweet potatoes and one cucumber.

When I got home I told my David that I had traded the whole lot for two magic onions. He is not up on the old fairy tales. I explained about Jack and the Bean Stalk and the trade of the cow for four beans.

He felt so sorry for my effort that he washed all three dogs. Talk about your magic onions.

Love,
Betty

Betty,
a sad story deserves a happy ending. I still think something good can come out of all this. I don't think washing the dogs is what you wanted or expected.
Have you thought about taking orders on-line? Is that possible?

Betty,
Your story reminds me of a situation that occurred with a friend of mine in Larchmont, NY.
He went to Europe and got a deal on wine. He imported the entire lot – hundreds of bottles. He stacked his shelves with the wine at a very low price tag. It didn’t sell. Then a marketing guy came into the store and gave him some advice.
The advice: “Take all the bottles off the shelves except for just a few. Place a sign next to it that says, “While they last”. Double the price.
The wine began to sell. He replaced what was sold with more from his stockroom. He sold out within a week with twice the profit he originally expected.

Marketing people know that people want something with a limited supply. The price suggests the quality. When the price is too cheap or the stock too plentiful, it has no appeal.
His supply was limited to what he had in his warehouse and the higher price was still a good value for the customer.

I found the same to be true when I was in the cosmetic business. Dropping the price on the slow movers did not enhance the sale. When I raised the price, it indicated a greater value and the products sold.

Experiment. Your beans have value. Double the price and indicated that there is a limited supply.
You have nothing to lose by trying.

Dear Abe,
Thank you for your kind heart.

I have given up on selling the beans. It has become my quest to pick and shell them all, see how many pounds can come from that little bit that I planted. So far, dried and shelled are 42 pounds. I am only through 32 stacks. Only 324 stacks to go. The fresh ones are in the freezer. 13 pounds.

Then off I go to the black-eyed peas. I planted about a cup.

What has happened is that the plants that have been picked have bloomed again.

The thing about these beans is that they are not bothered by insects, drought, lack of fertilizer, they just keep on producing. They can be picked dry or fresh.

I wish I knew how to get people who are hungry to plant a few beans and feed themselves, feed the world, for that matter. Why is the pinto bean not hearlded through out the world.

Love,
Betty

Betty, you are no different than the Georgia farmers whose crops are dying because their new state immigration laws have eliminated those who are willing to pick - the Mexicans. You have no people to pick your beans.

Abe is right about marketing. There is a demand for organic foods. Here you can order a basket of whatever is in season for a flat monthly fee. Perhaps you could try something like that.

Beans make great gifts in pretty bottles or in little mesh bags with ribbons. Maybe you could sell them in mason jars with ribbons to gift shops with a recipe included.

I think the Internet (Abe's idea) is a good idea. There's so much hype for organic food.

I took a marketing class where they explained Abe's lesson as it applied to Perrier. The real cost of the drink, bottled, was about 25 cents. To get it to sell, they decided to price it as a wine alternative - a glass of wine. Thus it would fit the high end and desired set of drinks. That's why bottled waters are priced high. There's a tremendous profit in elite bottled waters with or without carbonation.

Betty,

I'm sending you a link to the website of the local farming group here that I've mentioned before. DK's group sounds similar. I know it is a different situation, but it might give you some ideas. The pages, "Our Story" and "Our Team" might be especially helpful, as they explain how the group got started and who all is involved.

http://www.greenling.com/

You are so creative, you might be able to find something in these pages that you could adapt and use.

Ann

Brainstorming is helpful. Not all ideas are good, but you don't know what will work for you unless it feels right and is tried.
One normally thinks that the greatest effort pays the greatest rewards. That may be true for some things, but not all. I got the best results from doing the thing that felt right for me and didn't make me feel I was strugglling to get it done.

With many products, people tend to buy the packaging. Avon is a good example of that. Many bought the Avon products for the bottles and not what was inside. As DK suggested, an inexpensive mason jar with a ribbon or some label that has appeal may be the sizzle needed. A catchy name, a slogan, may also help.
Could you tie Woofer into a slogan. "Woofer says this is good stuff." And when they ask about Woofer, show them your book.

My friend, Alfonsa was here last Saturday. She checks on me once in a while, buys some peppers . . . .

While she was here, I was canning salsa. I had already canned Jalapeno Relish. She was over the moon about the Jalapeno relish. She bought three pints.

Yesterday, Alfonsa called and ordered 20 pints for her friends. I guess it is a hit! It is a simple recipe with sliced red and green jalapenos, equal parts of tomatoes chopped, lemon juice as the liquid instead of vinegar, garlic and salt.

Now if I can get a following for home canned pinto beans.

Love,
Betty

Quote :

The Theiss Farms Market is located at 17045 Stuebner Airline. It
is open Mon. through Sat. 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. – 5
p.m. For more information on the market or the latest news on
product availability call 281-370-3276 or visit
theissfarmsmarket.com.

http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/champions/news/article_56373140-5d21-5276-b77c-5833b65965d2.html

This is one of two places in my old NW Houston neighborhood. The other, Strack Farms, closed down its farmer's market several years ago to focus on its restaurant, which had started as a little place to pick up brisket and sausage sandwiches, and developed into a restaurant so popular it had a helipad in back so that businesspeople from downtown could fly out for a quick lunch. They started as a vegetable stand. You never know.

The Theiss Market is about 3 miles from my home there, and about 1/2 mile from my sister-in-law's house. They always had pickles and home preserved jellies and salsas as well as whatever was fresh.

Klein is a suburb of Houston now, but not too long ago was a small town north of the city. When I moved there in 1980, it was still fairly small. When I left, 9 years ago, there was no empty space left between the town and the city. Everything changes.

Ann

Here I go again on a wild tangent. I guess these tangents keep my mind from exploding!
Since the Jalapeno relish is such a hit, I am considering trying tamales. I am thinking that my friend Alfonsa could show me a few things.

The other thing that is a hit is red and green jalapeno peppers canned
with garlic in vinegar. They look so pretty, too.

Love,
Betty

You could specialize.

It's like our books, and the headway Shelagh and others are making right now.

Start with one or two that are really good, build a market, and the new items ought to sell themselves.

Ann