Help Pat’s Pastured Rebuild After Our Fire

Last week, Pat’s Pastured experienced one of the hardest days in our farm’s history.

While driving to our Saturday farmers markets, our refrigerated market truck caught fire and was completely destroyed. Thankfully, everyone made it out safely, but within minutes we lost not only the truck itself, but also the refrigeration equipment, coolers, cooking equipment, farmers market setup, inventory, tools, and countless other pieces of equipment we rely on every single week to operate our business.

The truck wasn’t just a vehicle—it was one of the most important pieces of infrastructure on our farm.

It allows us to safely transport thousands of pounds of pasture-raised meat throughout the year, serve customers at farmers markets across Rhode Island, make deliveries, support our USDA processing operation, provide refrigerated storage during busy production weeks, and bring our farm to community events, educational programs, farm dinners, turkey pickup days, and countless other gatherings. Losing it has affected nearly every part of our operation.

For more than 20 years, Pat’s Pastured has been about much more than raising exceptional food. We’ve built this farm around caring for our animals, restoring the land through regenerative farming, supporting our employees, and creating meaningful connections between our farm and the people who choose to feed their families with food they can trust.

Whether you know us from Hope Street Farmers Market, Aquidneck Growers Market, Casey Farm, our farm store, one of our on-farm events, or simply by following our journey over the years, you’ve helped build the community that makes Pat’s Pastured what it is today.

Since the fire, one question has come up over and over again: “How can we help?” This fundraiser is our answer.

The Immediate Impact

The effects of the fire were immediate.

Because we lost our refrigerated truck and the equipment inside it, we were forced to make incredibly difficult decisions almost immediately. We had to consolidate our team at Hope Street Farmers Market, leaving two of our regular weekend markets without Pat’s Pastured. Even at Hope Street—our busiest market—we weren’t able to operate our To-Go food program and had only a fraction of our normal inventory available for customers.

Those lost sales matter.

Like many small farms, we depend on the income generated each week to pay our employees, care for our animals, purchase feed and supplies, and keep every part of our operation moving forward. Missing markets and operating with reduced capacity isn’t simply a disappointing weekend—it’s revenue our business depends on to continue serving our community.

At the same time, we’re also facing the enormous cost of replacing the equipment that makes those markets, deliveries, events, and day-to-day farm operations possible.

Where Things Stand

We do have insurance, and we’ve filed claims immediately.

However, we’re still working through that process and don’t yet know how much of our losses will ultimately be covered or how long reimbursement will take. Based on what we’ve lost, we expect our total damages to exceed $100,000.

We’re not waiting for the insurance process before rebuilding.

Our team has already begun replacing essential equipment, finding temporary refrigerated transportation, rebuilding our market setup, and adapting our daily operations so we can continue serving customers while putting the pieces back together.

This fundraiser exists because so many of you asked how you could help bridge the gap.

What We Lost

We’re still completing our inventory, but among the major losses are:

Some of these items can be replaced fairly quickly. Others—especially our refrigerated truck and commercial equipment—will require significant time and investment.

How Your Support Helps

We’ve set an initial fundraising goal of $60,000. Funds raised will help us:

Every dollar allows us to focus less on replacing what was lost and more on continuing to farm, care for our animals, support our employees, and serve our customers.

Our Goal Right Now

Right now, our goal is simple:

The fire happened in minutes. Rebuilding will take much longer. But we’re committed to doing exactly that.

How You Can Help

If you’d like to support our farm, there are several meaningful ways you can help.

Donate. Every contribution—whether it’s $10 or $1,000—helps us replace critical equipment and continue moving forward.

Share this fundraiser. Sharing our story with friends, neighbors, and anyone who believes in local agriculture expands its reach far beyond what we can do alone.

Keep shopping with us. Visit us at the farmers markets, stop by the farm store, place an online order, and continue choosing Pat’s Pastured for your family’s food. Supporting our business is one of the most meaningful ways to help us recover.

And if donating isn’t possible right now, please don’t feel that you need to. A kind message, a shared post, or simply continuing to support our farm means more than you know.

**A Personal Thank You**

One of the things that has surprised me most since the fire isn’t just the loss—it’s the overwhelming kindness we’ve experienced. We’ve received messages from customers, fellow farmers, neighbors, friends, and complete strangers asking what they can do to help.

I have a hard time asking people for help. We’re farmers. We’re used to figuring things out, fixing what breaks, getting up the next morning and getting back to work.

But Pat’s Pastured has never belonged only to our family. Over the last 20 years, thousands of customers, employees, fellow farmers, volunteers, neighbors, and friends have become part of this community. You’ve watched our children grow up behind the farmers market stand. You’ve attended dinners on the farm, brought your kids to educational programs, picked up your Thanksgiving turkey with us, shopped at our farm store, trusted us to feed your families, and shared our story with others.

You’ve helped build this farm right alongside us.

So when so many of you asked us to give you a way to help, we decided to say yes.

From the bottom of our hearts—Thank you. We’re going to rebuild. We’re going to keep farming.

And we’re going to keep showing up—for every market, every event, every employee, every animal, and every family who depends on Pat’s Pastured.

With gratitude,

Pat, Kelly, Marin, Cavan & the entire Pat’s Pastured Team