32 - T. R. Jones & Coley Drinkwater at Richlands Dairy Farm in Blackstone, VA

EATYALL: Chefs Tell the Story of Farmers

Do you realize that behind mouth watering ice cream and butter goes around the clock work by dairy farmers who have to cater to the milking cows and their requirements while also keeping the farm clean and habitable. More intimidating could be the fact that there’s less than 40,000 dairy farms left in the United States now, less than a half a percent of our population!

The vast and beautiful Richlands Dairy Farm in Blackstone, Virginia is over 270 years old, making it a little older than the country! Thanks to TikTok and its incredible power to bring likemind people together, Richlands Dairy Farm has brought exposure to the plight of family dairy farms. This multi-generational family farm has captured the hearts of more than a

hundred thousand people on TikTok to date, and they continue to draw people to the farm for its exceptional cleanliness and unmatchable care given to the animals there.

Join Andy in today’s episode as he interviews Coley Drinkwater and her brother T. R. Jones, from the family behind Richlands Dairy Farm. Coley shares their family’s journey to invest in a creamery to save the family farm, and T. R. expounds on his roller-coaster journey, making known the struggle and sweat that went into the making of the creamery. He also talks about the unanticipated surge in the number of followers they witnessed on their social media accounts and how he keeps positivity alive in the unprecedented times of today!

Sneak Peek:

• Coley and T.R. 's grandfather named the farm “Richlands” after his time in Richlands, Virginia, and started to convert it to a dairy. [2:16]
• The day after they built it, their main housing barn on the dairy farm blew down and collapsed! - “We got into panic mode, had to shift a lot of things, trying to survive, trying to make it work the same time” [4:46]
• T.R. talks about starting a TikTok account and the need to connect to positive people that led him into doing that. [10:31]
• “Mom talk” and the extraordinary hard work that goes behind managing a dairy farm. [12:03]
• The incredible support that they received via TikTok and how it helped them stay hopeful in the difficult times of today. [15:28]
• T. R. talks about bullying that happens with TikTok and how you can manage it in a fun way. [22:43]
• T. R. talks of the organizations and societies that are against livestock rearing and why it’s important to respect individual opinions. [23:41]
• Join the duo in EATYALL’s lightning round! [27:32]

Reference Links:

The Dairy Alliance: https://thedairyalliance.com/

Richlands Dairy Farm: http://richlandscreamery.com/

Connect with Richlands Dairy Farm online:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/richlands-dairy-farm

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/richlands.dairyfarm/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/richlandsdairyfarm/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tr_jones7

Connect with Us:

https://eatyall.com/

https://findfamilyfarms.com/

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Facebook - https://facebook.com/letseatyall

Twitter - https://twitter.com/letseatyall

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/letseatyall

The EATYALL Podcast is hosted by Andy Chapman, Chief Relationship Officer and founder of EATYALL. EATYALL helps food farmers and artisan food makers connect to chefs and consumers who are looking for better ingredients. EATYALL is the creator and host of EATYALL Chef Camps, an immersive, overnight experience for professional chefs who want to learn more about where their ingredients come from, want to discover new, better ingredients and rejuvenate in a collaborative environment with other like-minded chefs.