Giles Meats cuts against the grain

WILLARD — Nathan Giles loves farming but hates what corporate America keeps doing to his family's livelihood. "The entire industry has so many problems, and they're not for the farmers," Nathan said. "But I am mainly because I am a farmer and so is my family." To counteract the longstanding negative trends of substandard meat industry practices, Nathan — the youngest in a fifth-generation, Willard-area farming family — recently opened his own meat market and food truck. Known as Giles Meats, both the market and food truck serve customers in a farm-to-table/direct-to-consumer method by cutting out an unneeded middleman, said Nathan, who serves as its owner. The philosophy plays into Giles Meats' slogan: "a cut against the grain." "We are taking a cut against the grain against the entire corporate industry, exposing the problems of the meat industry in terms of why the American farmer is dwindling and starving," said Nathan, underscoring problems occurring throughout the agriculture sector with the import-export system, preservatives and, simply put, corporate greed. "By going to this direct-to-consumer model, consumers can maximize their dollar and receive the fresh products while helping to ensure a future for the legacy of farming instead of backing the legacy of a corporate company," Nathan said. Whether at the market or food truck, all beef — the market/food truck's primary product — comes from Giles' family farm, located just 1 mile from its market. Hundreds of Angus cattle roam the 1,000-acre-plus property. It's the same farm maintained and worked on by Nathan's: • Great-great-grandfather Wesley, beginning in 1935 • Great-grandfather Virgil • Grandfather John • Father Scott "My family has taught me to always have a superior quality, and that's done through superior cattle," Nathan said. "We breed the cattle to make sure we have the most high-end quality of marbling and rate of gain, which is the ability of the animals to grow as efficiently as possible." He then pointed toward a mantra of Giles Meats: "From pasture to plate, there's no long haul, no mystery: just local beef, raised right and served up the way it should be." Giles Meats serves steaks in styles of ribeyes, T-bones and porterhouses as well as patties for burgers. It also offers some pork and chicken as well as other products from neighboring farms. And what further separates Giles Meats from other places selling meat, like grocery market chains, is its flash-frozen process. "All of our meat is flash frozen and priced by the pack, not by the pound," a statement read. "Flash freezing locks in peak freshness, so when you thaw it, it's often fresher than what's labeled 'fresh' at the store." Among the biggest fans of the entire process would be Ethan Wilhelm, a friend of Nathan and Giles Meats' marketing manager. Wilhelm's father, Kevin, a fellow farmer, knows the Giles family well. "It's such a better process," Ethan said about the flash-frozen method. "It locks in the nutrients and flavors so, when you do thaw it out, you can taste and smell the difference. A lot of people say, 'It tastes like the beef when they had it as a kid' without all the preservatives added into it." Many people are getting their first exposure to Giles Meats through a food truck, which first rolled out to community events — like the Huron County Fair and the Milan Melon Festival — within the past month. It mainly serves burgers but also incorporates the beef into items like Philly wraps, tacos and other specials. "We are getting a lot of good support, and the backing we've gotten from people, who are now beginning to understand our process and our brand, has been great," Nathan said. In the near future, Nathan wants to make Giles Meats' products available online, so people, locally or not, can receive their products shipped directly to their front doors. "This truly is a passion project of mine," said Nathan, who, in 2018, survived a near-death experience in which the cornhead of a combine swallowed one of his legs. Today, he has a prosthetic leg in place of his right leg. "Every day, I'm still right here, working hard for a product I love," Nathan said. "If you are not moving forward, you are dying. Before this, I never had any experience with running a retail business, but it's worked out well so far." Nathan, Ethan and others welcome people to give Giles Meats a try. The market, 2561 Ohio 103, Willard, is open Wednesdays through Saturdays, and people can receive updates on its food truck's whereabouts by visiting Facebook and searching for "Giles Meats." "Just taste the difference for yourself," Nathan said. "The taste and quality of our meat is what sets us apart from everyone else."