In 2013, when Laura Jensen and her husband Bill moved to Loganville, they were looking for a place to raise their children and introduce them to farm life.
Although it was not in the original plans, the 10-acre farm where they settled also would become the home for a new artisan food business, Jensen Reserve.
It was a desire to improve the family’s health that led to the founding of Jensen Reserve. Laura Jensen and her oldest daughter have an autoimmune disease, and when they ate eggs from their own chickens, they found that they felt better.
“In our search to manage the disease with food as much as possible, we looked into other things, like raising our own cows and pigs,” she said. “We didn’t have the right setup for cows, but we could raise pigs.”
Credit: Laura Jensen
Credit: Laura Jensen
Jensen’s social media posts attracted former neighbors from Lilburn who wanted to purchase eggs, and when she started harvesting pork, they wanted to buy that, too. “They loved the way we were raising our animals, and they wanted the same quality for their families,” she said.
Issues with the breed of hogs she was raising led Jensen to look for other options. An ad on Craigslist in 2016 introduced her to Rico Silvera, a Tennessee farmer who had purchased the last remaining Meishan hogs from a research facility operated by U.S. Department of Agriculture and the University of Illinois, part of the last exportation of the breed allowed by China.
Credit: Laura Jensen
Credit: Laura Jensen
“Meishans are very docile and very prolific,” Jensen said. “People are looking for great pork chops, good bacon, with a good meat to fat ratio, and Meishans have that.”
Silvera went on to found the American Meishan Breeders Association, focusing on saving the breed. Jensen became a registered Meishan hog breeder and opened a butcher shop focused on charcuterie.
“We really didn’t intend to open a retail store, but the community let us know they wanted a farm store, so they could buy directly from us,” Jensen said. “We taught ourselves how to butcher our pigs, how to make sausage and bacon, and Bill figured out the cures, so we could produce prosciutto and capicola. We named the company Jensen Reserve after our family, and to indicate the small-batch artisan approach that would be our wheelhouse.”
The barn that came with the property now houses their commercial kitchen and the living room of a former barn apartment is the store where they sell fresh and frozen cuts of meat, charcuterie, spice mixes and more. The Meishan pork sold is from the farm’s hogs, but they also offer pork, beef and chicken from local farms that raise their animals to meet the Jensens’ standards. Online shipping is available for much of what they sell.
Many of the family’s products, such as 15-blend organic mushroom powder and sauerkraut, are focused on the same goal of boosting immune systems that got them into the business of raising their own food in the first place.
Credit: Laura Jensen
Credit: Laura Jensen
For those who would like to see Meishan hogs up close, farm tours are offered occasionally and are announced on Facebook. Those visiting the farm store can meet Poppy Pickles, who has become their hog mascot. She lives behind the barn and, when summoned by the old-fashioned dinner bell, the hogs will come out to enjoy treats provided by the store staff.
Jensen also offers consulting services for other farmers through her Pig Nerd website and serves as president of the national breeders association. In 2020, she created Meishan Preservation at Jensen Reserve, to provide seed stock and keep the genetics of U.S. Meishan hogs pure.
Jensen Reserve. Farm store open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays. 4091 Bullock Bridge Road, Loganville. jensenreserve.com
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