Our Origin Story
Short Creek founders Jeff and Dave have been friends since high school, and both studied environmental science at the University of Rhode Island. Jeff was a wildlife guy, and Dave (i.e. the smart one) was into evolutionary biology.
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Hi! I'm Jeff!
After college and some time spent working on endangered species conservation and ecology (tree kangaroos!), I began apprenticing on small, diverse organic farms, seeking a tangible connection to the ecological principles I learned about in school. After a few years, I started a small farm of my own on leased conservation land in Massachusetts, raising heirloom vegetables, grassfed beef, and eventually pastured pork.
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Dave.
After college, I decided to... do more college. I packed up all my stuff (mostly knives and other kitchen tools) and headed west to California to pursue a PhD in evolutionary biology. As it happens, I found myself putting most of my energy into studying homemade sausage and charcuterie production. After a couple of years, I left my PhD program to start building a career as a creator of high quality charcuterie.
THE FARM
While Jeff was learning the ropes on his farm in Massachusetts, and Dave was figuring out how to make salami in his closet in California, the two would occasionally talk about how hard it was to get really great sausages at farmers' markets. They would also talk about other stuff, obviously, but mostly about the sausage thing. In 2013, after Dave returned to the east coast, they decided to just start making their own. The initial response from Jeff's farm customers was encouraging, so they thought, "What the heck, let's buy a farm in New Hampshire and do this for real!"
--- 2015 ---
SHORT CREEK FARM is born
The farm encompasses 300 acres of field and forest in Northwood, NH. In other words, plenty of space to do.... absolutely anything Jeff and Dave could imagine. The mission was to raise or grow all of the ingredients for sausages they would sell at farmers' markets around southern NH and Maine. A good plan, if perhaps a bit ambitious in retrospect. After a couple of years, they decided to focus on raising heritage breed pastured pork while working with other local farms to source as many ingredients as possible.
THE PLANT
When they first started out in 2015, Dave and Jeff were making all of their sausages in a community kitchen that they rented by the hour. In 2017, they moved production to a very small commercial kitchen in Dover, NH–still tiny, but at least they could leave their equipment there! By 2020, they realized they really needed a bigger facility, and it needed to be USDA-inspected so they could butcher pigs and make all of their products in one place. In 2021, Dave put together a plan for the plant and wrangled contractors while Jeff continued to wrangle pigs. Finally, in mid-2022, they opened their USDA-inspected plant in Kennebunk, Maine.
--- 2022 ---
The plant opens in Maine.
Short Creek's processing plant is fully equipped to make the best small-batch artisanal meats. From breaking down carcasses to smoking bacon to fermenting and drying salami, a small and dedicated crew makes everything from start to finish right here in Maine. They even offer top-notch processing services to local farms around New England.
To keep up with demand and utilize the new plant to it's full potential, they began supplementing their own pork production with heritage breed pork raised on other small family farms in New England and the midwest.
THE FUTURE
As in 2018 when Jeff and Dave realized that they couldn't actually grow absolutely all of the ingredients for their recipes, they faced the hard truth in 2024 that they couldn't (or maybe shouldn't) try to run a farm and a processing facility at the same time. It was time to pass the farm itself on to new owners. In 2025, they sold the farm to their farm manager who will continue to raise heritage breed pigs for Short Creek products.
The team at Short Creek is excited about making their delicious small-batch artisanal meats available to folks near and far, while continuing to support local farms right in their own backyard.
