JACKSON, Mich — Justin Fairchild quit his job in the middle of the pandemic to follow his dreams in a kilt.
Fairchild opened the Kilted Farmer to follow his dreams of making products from scratch for the community.
Fairchild gathers produce and other foods from local producers. He and his wife, Jessica, will prepare the goods from scratch and distribute them to its customers.
“We’re a green business," Fairchild said. "We do everything pre-order. We do everything fresh to order for those customers, so we’ll take orders for the whole week ahead of time. Monday, Wednesday and Friday I’ve got so many customers with so many orders for this vendor, the vendor, this vendor. So, I treat it like I’m a chef.”
He left his job as an AT&T store manager during the pandemic.
“I’m not going to work any harder for somebody else than I am for myself and my family and the community so why am I doing it?" Fairchild said. "What’s the end game to make somebody else that’s not even here more money when I can make more money for my community?”
He went back to his roots as a chef taking advantage of an opportunity to help the community in a time of need. His main goal is to put more money into Jackson's economy by selling local goods.
“It was kind of a godsend idea actually," Fairchild said. "At the time of COVID...and I struggle with depression. I was doing a lot of soul searching. So, I started talking to God again and I was trying to figure out what can I do to help the world. At this point the government tells me, you’re high risk, you need to quarantine, find a safe way to work because you can die. So, I was like if I'm going to go at any time, I’d like to do some good in the world. What are some things that will make the world a better place if I'm not here.”
He wears a kilt as a symbol for standing up to oppression.
“Kilted farmers have kind of been a beacon against oppression for centuries. When it was the English and they were fighting for their own people. I've got some Scottish in my history and I’ve always wanted to wear a kilt, so what a better beacon than to stand up for your people in the community than wearing a kilt?”
Justin says this allows him to spend more time with his family while also providing a necessary good for the community. You can get in contact with him ontheir Facebook page.
The Fairchilds have big plans for their business. They want to grow to the point where there will be thousands of kilted farmers in communities all over the nation doing the same things they are doing right now.
"It's going to be the next Amazon, but for the little guys," Fairchild said. "We're going to teach people to work with and for their communities. We're the capitalist Robin Hood."
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