Making local food effortless: Red Hen is changing how we connect with farmers

Buying corporate won't be more convenient for much longer with the rise of new local-minded apps

Note: This is a US story, but by far the only story. More like this in the US include Farm Fresh 24/7, which we’ll be writing about soon. Looking for something like this in the UK? Check out The Modern Milkman or Ooooby and the story of Fordhall Organic. Canada? Try Lufa Farms. Know of something in another country? Please tell us about it in the comments!

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The more we share these stories,
the better the world gets.

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Small farms are closing at an alarming rate. We lose 2,000 acres of farmland every single day in America. But farmers Eric Canfield and Lauren Lovejoy at Blue Horn Farm had an idea that could flip the script.

After seven years of struggling to get their grass-fed pork in front of customers beyond word-of-mouth and exhausting 12-hour farmers market days, they built Red Hen, the first app designed to make buying from farmers as easy as grocery shopping.

“It’s not that people don’t want to shop directly with their farms. It’s just not really that convenient.”

Think about it. When you want local food, you probably face the same barriers these farmers identified: Which farms are near you? What do they have available right now? How do you order? Do they deliver? It's complicated, time-consuming, and often unreliable.

Red Hen solves this by creating what Canfield calls "Airbnb for food." Farmers list their products, set prices, and offer pickup, delivery, or shipping - whatever works for them. Customers can search by location or product type and place orders directly.

This isn't just about convenience. When you buy through grocery stores, farmers typically get only 15-20 cents of every food dollar. The rest goes to distributors, processors, and retail chains. Red Hen's model keeps significantly more money with the farmers while making local food accessible to everyone.

The economics are regenerative rather than extractive. Farmers pay only when they sell (with small 2% credit card processing plus 2% app fees), with no upfront costs or hidden fees.

What's exciting is how this addresses multiple community wealth building principles simultaneously. It shortens supply chains, keeping food dollars circulating locally. It gives farmers direct access to customers without needing marketing expertise or expensive websites, deepening local relationships. And it makes supporting local food systems frictionless for consumers.

This is exactly how economic transformation happens - not through policy changes or protests, but through people with a problem to solve building alternatives that work better for everyone.

Red Hen on the Southeastern Virginia local news.

Lauren Lovejoy, who co-founded Red Hen, has built a social media following of 150,000 people around sustainable food systems. She brings both farming experience and data analytics expertise to scaling this solution nationally.

Red Hen launched just months ago and is already gaining serious momentum. Over 200 farms signed up within the first week of July alone. Farms across the US are joining, and the first customers are starting to shop. Right now, pickup and delivery are available where farms have joined, with nationwide shipping launching in August.

Here's what matters: The more people download the app now, the more demand farmers see, the faster they'll join. If there aren't farms in your area yet, downloading and searching shows local farmers there's interest. Many farmers don't even know this exists yet. What if everyone was using it?

When our local farms win and our local communities win, we all win.

Lauren Lovejoy and Eric Conrad and first generation regenerative farmers passionate about supporting farmers working to change the world. Find out more about them at Regenerative Farmers of America.

Here’s how you can help us win.

There are thousands of us subscribed to this newsletter. Imagine the change we could create if each of us took just 5 minutes, 15 minutes, or an hour to support this wellbeing economy initiative.

If you have five minutes today

1. Download Red Hen now - Even if no farms show up in your area yet, your search shows farmers there's demand. The app needs users to attract farmers, and farmers need to see demand to join
   

2. Follow RedHen’s social media accounts.
   RedHen on Instagram
   RedHen on Youtube
   Regenerative Farmers on Tiktok
   Regenerative Farmers on Facebook
   

If you have 15 minutes today

1. Tell local farmers via social media. Use the following template and copy/paste to three local farms.
   
   DM (for their social media accounts)
   Hi! Love following your farm updates. I wanted to share something that might help you reach more customers - a new app called Red Hen that makes it easy for people to buy directly from farms. Over 200 farms joined in the first week!

   It's like having an online store without the hassle - people can find you, see what's available, and order for pickup/delivery/shipping. Just 2% platform fees.

   Thought it might be useful since so many people want to buy local but don't know how to find farms. Check out redhenapp.com/farmer-sign-up if you're interested!

   Thanks for all you do 🚜
   

2. Tell your friends. Give a shout to any friends you know who would use this. Share this article to get the news out to more people! Here’s an easy copy/paste DM/text for you.
   
   DM/text Message
   Found this cool app - Red Hen - that connects you directly with local farms! No middleman, fresher food, more money goes to farmers. Just launched and growing fast. Search "Red Hen" in app stores
   

If you have an hour today

1. Tell local farmers via email. It probably won’t even take an hour! Search for three local farms, find their websites and copy/paste this email template.
   
   Email
   Subject: New app helping farms reach more customers with less work

   Hi [Farmer Name],
   

   I hope you're having a great season! I wanted to share something that might help you reach more customers without the hassle of managing another website or spending hours at markets.
   

   A new app called Red Hen just launched to make it easier for people to buy directly from farms. It's like having an online store without the work - customers can find you, see what you have available, and place orders for pickup, delivery, or shipping.
   

   The best part? It's only 2% (much lower than most marketplaces). No upfront costs or hidden fees.
   

   I'm not affiliated with them - I just think this could help local farms like yours thrive. More and more people want to buy local, but they often don't know how to find farms or what's available.
   

   You can check it out at redhenapp.com/farmer-sign-up or search "Red Hen" in the app stores.
   

   Thanks for everything you do to feed our community!

   
   Best, [Your name]

2. Get serious about telling others. Share one of their approved memes (and maybe have a giggle while you’re at it!), or check out other options below. You can also join Red Hen’s affiliate program to earn 4% of every transaction for the first two months on the app for everyone you refer.
   

• How it works Graphic Carousel (1080x1080)

• How Does Red Hen Help Local Farmers Carousel (1080x1080)

• Red Hen Memes (1080 x 1080)

• Why We Created Red Hen Reel

• Red Hen Explainer Reel

• Red Hen Basic Text Reel

Even if you do just ONE of these things today, you’re making a massive impact.

So what do you think of Red Hen app? Will you be using it? Got any other apps or stories to share for upcoming article? Let us know in the comments!

xoxo

J. Friday

Connectioning is a collaborative media project. I’m happy to be serving as your guide for this week. For more on me, follow on my personal newsletter at The Saving the World Strategy Guide, where I share the story of going from homeless to global community wealth influencer.

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Did you know?

150,000 people follow this work across the internet.

A tiny fraction pay for it.

We need 400 paid members to make this sustainable so we can make the WEconomy the new normal.

That’s 1 in 14 of you reading this right now

Become a member today for as little as $25 monthly or $200 annually.

Or for any amount via Open Collective.

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For more detailed information about this project, see our website connectioning.io.

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Quick Links

Our developing Discord Community

Prompt for Finding Wellbeing Economy Initiatives in Your Area (not perfect, but a great place to start until the Wiki is more comprehensive!)

Please check the developing Wellbeing Economy / Community Wealth Wiki for a directory of resources and tools for finding wellbeing economy and community wealth initiatives in your area and globally, plus a growing list of apps and services.

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Coming up next: Wednesday is Act day, the day for taking action. We’ll talk steps to getting started as well as highlight an action guide and round up our favourite apps this week. See you tomorrow!