Meat With A Mission

Calling all food lovers in the Lafourche and Terrebonne areas! Cut Off’s newest, veteran-owned business, Southern Farms Specialty Meats, recently opened its doors– just in time for summer barbecues.

Southern Farms Specialty Meats is owned and operated by veterans Jady Guidry and Trent Naquin, who have a mission to bring locally-sourced meat to the community. Southern Farms Specialty Meats will bring together a variety of different meats from farms all across southern Louisiana, ensuring all their customers enjoy high-quality, local, and ethical meat products for years to come.

Jady is also the owner of Guidry’s Cajun Farmstead, a charming farm located in Cut Off, which opened in late 2019. “I started the Cajun Farmstead part-time right around when COVID-19 started, and have been working there on and off for the past four years,” explained Jady. “We started raising pasture-raised chickens, which focuses on the animals living out in the sunlight with fresh bugs, seeds, and grass to eat. Big industrial farms cram these animals into chicken coops where they never see the light of day– so pasture raising is a lot more labor intensive, but significantly more ethical for the animals and yields a much better product.”

Guidry’s Cajun Farmstead also provides pasture-raised pigs, ducks, and turkeys around the holiday season. Alongside Jady‘s part-time work at his farm, Jady served as a full-time safety manager for a boat company, and is the father of two young girls.

“I really felt passionate about working on my farm and selling these products, so I decided to turn it into something full-time. I was ready to take the Cajun Farmstead to the next level,” said Jady. “So I decided to leave my full-time career and put everything into starting Southern Farms Specialty Meats. I knew I couldn’t take on this project by myself, so I reached out to my good friend Trent Naquin and we decided to partner to make this dream a reality.”

Co-owner Trent Naquin specializes in specialty meats, such as curing sausages, boudin, and more, and the new meat market aims to combine the talents of the two men. Southern Farms Specialty Meats opened its doors on June 10th, 2024 in Cut Off, and offers dozens of unique services to the community. The meat market currently provides locally-sourced meat from Guidry’s Cajun Farmstead and farms all across Louisiana, including chicken, pork, beef, lamb, eggs, honey, and spice blends. There will also be boudin, fresh green onion sausage, garlic sausage, smoked sausage, in-house bacon, pork cracklins, chicken cracklins, boudin balls, and much more. Southern Farms Specialty Meats is also working to be sustainably zero-waste, and plans to make pet food from different meat by-products in their store.

For Jady and Trent, their goal with Southern Farms Specialty Meats is twofold: to source as many products and services as possible from other local farms and businesses, supporting the community as much as they can, and to provide local food lovers with ethical, high-quality meats at a good price.

Just as with any new business, Jady and Trent have faced their fair share of doubts and challenges. “It was a really nerve wracking decision to leave my career and start this business. A lot of people don’t realize that when you start a new business, there is a lot of money that goes out before you get anything back in,” chuckled Jady. “We have always sold things from Guidry’s Cajun Farmstead, but it was too part-time to support a salary. Now with Southern Farms Specialty Meats opening, we know all the hard work will be worth it. All these years I have never paid myself a salary from the farm, and I’m excited to see our new business grow and hopefully support multiple employees.”

Despite the difficulties of getting a new business off the ground, Jady explained that the excitement he and Trent feel much outweighs any nerves. “Trent and I have been doing our own thing for these past few years, and it is really rewarding to see all our hard work come together like this,” said Jady. “But even more so than that, offering this service to our community is ultimately the best thing. We have a lot of people that thank us, because there are just not many places that offer what we offer. We are not just a little butcher shop that gets wholesale meat from who-knows-where, but we are supporting local business and providing a great product in the process. We hope people will continue to care about where their food comes from, how it was raised, and support these small businesses.”

The bond that connects Jady and Trent does not stop at their passion for providing high-quality products, however– when you shop at Southern Farms Specialty Meats, you are supporting a double veteran-owned business. Both Jady and Trent served their country in the United States Marine Corps for several years before joining forces to create their new business. “I served in Okinawa, Japan and spent some time in Afghanistan before finishing out in North Carolina and eventually coming back to Louisiana,” said Jady. “It‘s really interesting how it worked out, because Trent and I never knew each other in the service. We didn’t start to get to know each other until just a few years ago, when we met through the specialty meats business.”

This veteran connection is represented in the Southern Farms Specialty Meats logo, which is an artistic rendering of an American flag. “Being a veteran-owned business is something we take a lot of pride in,” said Jady. “We want to always show our patriotism and our thanks for other citizens who served.” Southern Farms Specialty Meats will offer discounts for customers who have served or are currently serving in the military, and first responders, as a thank you for their service.

As the newest addition to the culinary landscape of Lafourche Parish, Southern Farms Specialty Meats promises more than just a place to purchase your meats – it offers a heartfelt connection to the community and a commitment to quality like no other!