I can dive deep into that subject, but that is for a different time. I just like naming posts after famous quotes or songs that resonate with a theme that I am going to talk about.
This post is about us. You and I. I will not publicize this rambling thought vomit, I will reference it someday as the day I put my thoughts into motion. If you had two roads to take, they are staring at you- your car is going down the highway at 65 MPH and you have to choose which exit you are taking and this split second feels like a lifetime.
People pay a lot of money for a piece of paper. I am looking right now at spending close to $50,000 on one, while not even thinking about having to work out what it will take to cover almost $100,000 in unsubsidized bills for undergraduate studies. I will not learn much at a graduate school- and I don't think most people will/do. I think it is there to help people get better direction now, better opportunities later, and grow as a person. I have not learned a whole lot in my time at La Roche in the classroom. All of my growth and learning has been in the experiences that La Roche has provided me outside the classroom and in the working world which I am very familiar with at this point. That's not to say La Roche doesn't have a good curriculum, but for all the year I worked at Sugar and Spice with the people and situations there, I could have started working somewhere immediately.
I tell this story because my car isn't going the regular speed down the highway, lets say about 55mph, it is going 90. This $50,000 piece of paper would look real good on my wall someday, and having M.B.A. will have a nice ring to it when I am doing my (insert corporate job here). What if the exit was the much better looking road? What I am saying without saying is that I can spend $50,000 on a piece of paper which will somewhat help me get a better job and move up the short corporate ladder, but what if my future didn't have a ladder to climb? What if the boss that piece of paper really mattered to was myself? Would that be $50,000 well spent? No.
I am going to farm. Not like corn in giant silos and renting $250,000 structures to farm thousands of chickens in for a giant corporation- No. I am going to have an all natural, family owned, locally operated producer of delicious Pittsburgh grown food. It is going to be done the Jon Shanahan way.
I will not raise venture capital and have investors to answer to. I will not ask people for handouts and money which I will in turn feel a personal debt to, I will not end up selling my soul for a good deal or quick buck. I will produce the best tasting and irresistible product and service that people will spread the word organically and feel empowered to a brand dedicated to doing better things. I want nothing more than to encourage families to recycle, compost, eat healthy; I cannot do that in my spare time.
I cannot understate the fear I have in eating most foods. It is true that I watch a lot of documentaries but the age we are in encourages consumer awareness, well where is it! Have you ever seen where your chicken nuggets come from? have you ever REALLY seen where that florida orange juice comes from? do you know what half of the ingredients in a Shamrock shake are? Do you know what that cow went through before it became your dinner that you picked up at Giant Eagle? You don't and WON'T know any of that, because if you did, you would fear food just like I do. America runs on cheap over engineered food. McDonalds, Burger King, Arby's, iHOP, Sonic, Lays, Coke are all horrible chemically enriched garbage that should never enter our bodies. This isnt news to you, it is something we choose to ignore. I no longer can. I want to not only provide an easy outlet for myself to get great local food, but to the ones I love as well. 20 years ago if you wanted wholesome meat, you didn't have to go far, now Walmart is the only option for most people and that is just wrong. I haven't stepped foot in a Walmart in three year and I will keep that streak going as long as I can. Someday it will again be easy to get great local natural food. I can only shout that I want it so loudly, who is really listening?
I am.
