Thank a Farmer: Southern Integrity Meats is all about family ... and beef

Apr. 18—Out on Cullman County's west side, there's a neat little storefront beckoning drivers away from their busy buzz down Alabama Highway 157. Set behind a deep, covered porch, it's an inviting place, one that comes to life on occasional warm-weather Saturdays when a community-wide Pop-Up Farmers Market brings local growers and cottage crafters out for a day of bootstrap commerce set amid the pleasant hum of rocking-chair conversation.

All that outside chatter, though, is only a prelude to what awaits indoors. There's beef here, and lots of it — locally raised and locally finished at the L.T.D. Cattle farm on Cullman County's western edge; then processed, packaged and labeled for USDA-inspected sale at the place where you're standing.

Where you're standing is Southern Integrity Meats, a still-young family business owned by lifelong West Point natives Brian and Melony Hamm. Each a 1991 graduate of West Point High School, Brian and Melony bought the property and built the shop from the ground up before officially opening in November 2022. Brian's brother, Jake, handles ranching duty back at the farm (the L.T.D. stands for "Livin' the Dream," as Jake explained), while Brian and Melony purchase Jake's finished cattle — primarily angus — for Brian, with assistance from staffer Fausto Hernandez ("I'm the 'kill guy!'" he joked.), to perform firsthand butchering duty.

Southern Integrity is an all-family affair, and in the 18 months since the business opened, its upward trajectory has reached the point where every extra set of hands matters. Melony quit her 30-year career as a registered nurse in an orthopedic surgeon's office to help staff the growing business ("I'm a do-everything 'employee!'" she said.), while the Hamms' daughter, Brooke Keaton, eventually joined in as a retail store clerk, graphic design pro and all-around social media whiz.

From pasture to point of sale, Southern Integrity runs a retail beef operation that places local beef on local tables. When the business was first conceived, the retail angle was almost an afterthought. The big idea, in the beginning, was to focus mainly on providing butchering services to area farmers.

"That's what we actually built this place for. The retail store was just us thinking, 'Hey, let's sell some steaks, too,'" said Melony. "But early on, there were months where that retail sales side is what carried us through the month. But there are still so many people who walk in here every day and say, 'I had no idea I could actually buy steak here — I thought all you guys did was processing!'"

The processing side of the business does keep Brian busy.

"We're booked out for two months on processing right now. We can't even take any appointments 'til June," he said.

But Southern Integrity has proven to be a retail hit as more customers take a locally conscientious, farm-to-table approach about where they source their meats. Highly prized cuts such as filet mignon and ribeye sell out quickly — sometimes faster than Brian's even able to butcher the animal they're cut from — leading the Hamms to seek out a second supply source from a fellow U.S.-based farming operation just to make sure there's always fresh stock ready for customers to take home.

The Hamms are serious about the beef business, and they treat "Southern Integrity" as both a brand and a motto.

"It's the only thing we have to offer," Brian said of the name. "Integrity means a lot to us — doing the right thing when nobody's looking."

The couple takes a smart approach to what makes a family-owned operation grow, keeping their social media presence lively while staffing the shop with what's proven to be a vital secret ingredient: Todd Holcomb, Southern Integrity's gregarious inside sales manager.

"People come here just to talk to Todd — he's a big talker; a big people person," said Melony. "A lot of people even think Todd owns the place. There can be a complete stranger walk in the door, and before they leave, they're like best buddies with Todd. They end up sharing fishing stories, and in the meantime he ends up selling them 100 pounds of meat ... or maybe even selling them a whole cow. He was actually part of the plan when we were building this place, and he's been a huge part of helping us build all these great local relationships."

People are still discovering Southern Integrity for themselves, and relationship building has played a prized role in helping the Hamms realize their locally focused dream. Events such as the periodic Pop-Up Farmers Market go a long way toward elevating that ethos, says Melony.

"I originally wanted our storefront to be able to help our local farmers out," she said. "People like my mother — she has a huge garden every year. She just loves it and she always grows way too much. We wanted to give people like that a place to be able to sell their fresh produce. If you're a local person and you grow your own produce — even if you make goat milk soap or hand-crocheted dish cloths — if you're local, come sell it. We don't charge anything to set up your shop out here. People on the highway see the tents out front and it makes them stop, so it gets people in the shop — which helps both our own business and all of these local producers. That's what we're really trying to build here."

Even with all family hands on deck and the business steadily growing, Brian admits it's tough running a small farm-to-table beef business.

"There's a lot of physical heavy lifting and hard work," he said. "I didn't realize how much of that there is when we started doing this. The only reason I'm the butcher is because we can't hire enough help. At 50-years-old, I'm probably in the best shape I've ever been in my life — just because, well ... I don't got a choice."

"I do really hope soon that we get to that point where we can take a day off," said Melony, who's only half-joking when she longs aloud for the day to arrive when sales are scaled to sufficient size where hiring some robust on-site operations help makes sense.

"Right now, we don't dare take a vacation. That's really the bigger goal for us, is to get to where we can get our staffing to where Brian and I can take a break," she said. "But we love it, and it's really brought us all closer together. I was worried about that too, in the beginning, us being together all day long and never, ever spending any time at all separated. But it's actually been a really good thing. We get along better than we ever have — and we've been married for almost 31 years!"

Jake, who goaded Brian for years to learn the processing side of the beef business so he could have a local outlet to place his finished cattle, says the family has no regrets about the hardworking life they've each chosen.

"It's a lot bigger than us," he said. "There was a vision and a dream for bringing it about, and it's snowballed."

Find Southern Integrity online at si-meats.com and keep up with promotions, fresh stock and even dates for future Pop-Up Farmers Market events in July and October by following Southern Integrity Meats on Facebook. Better still, stop by the shop and score your favorite freezer-fresh cuts (and even some sweet Southern Integrity T-shirt merchandise): The map app address takes you just a quick trip up the road to 12345 Alabama Highway 157, Vinemont AL, 35179.

Benjamin Bullard can be reached by phone at 256-734-2131 ext. 234.