By Jon Huang
In 2019, Tropical Storm Imelda hit Houston, and for Courtney and Nicole Mallory, it forever changed their lives. In the destructive aftermath, they found themselves bartering with their neighbors for fresh produce and experiencing the vulnerabilities of the current food system.
“As long as you’re dependent on everyone else for your food, you really have no freedom,” Nicole Mallory said. “It was a life-changing experience to be in the United States (and be hungry).”
Prior to this, they were living the city life. Mallory worked in law and Courtney Wayne Mallory, who goes by C.W., was a veterinary technician.
Mallory grew up in public housing near South Bend, Indiana. With two working parents, she grew up often lacking home-cooked meals, fresh produce and healthy food.
“We grew up in poverty,” she said. “My parents did the best they could but (what) I learned from growing up is that your choices about what you eat and how you live your life is largely dependent on your zip code and access.”
For Mallory, her desire to seek opportunity led her into the U.S. Marines for eight years, traveling internationally, attending law school and working for the Innocence Project.
“My thing was advocacy, and I thought I was going to be keeping kids from inner city areas out of jail or making bad choices,” she said. “Criminal defense, wills and trusts … that was my thing. I wanted to educate people. I was tired of seeing people in our communities die.”
“One thing we all have to do every day is eat. Food is the basis of your life, from cradle to grave. Our mission is making sure people have choice and access.”
Nicole Mallory
Traveling expanded Mallory’s world. She met people from other walks of life and experienced new cultures. It even led to a future partner.
“I ended up in Houston, and I met this amazing man who I think was born an animal,” she said.
“A bull,” C.W. Mallory said.
C.W. Mallory was from Houston, but had fond memories growing up with his family in rural Louisiana. His grandparents, who were farmers and homesteaders, passed down their love of the land, which included loving animals and people.
“My grandfather didn’t talk about politics, religion, gender, sexuality, none of that stuff. It was always about the land, the food and what it could do for you. It had no color,” he said. “Everything I seen them eat was from working with their own hands, from their own land and what they grew.”
Instead of going to the store, his grandmother would point outside and tell him, “Go get me that bird.” He would retrieve it, butcher it and they’d eat it for lunch and supper. Instead of chips, they ate “cracklins” or deep-fried pig skin. Commonly discarded animal parts like oxtails were kept and eaten. Nothing was wasted. Food was a communal, family affair.
“We would all come together, process a pig, and that’s how we were always able to take meat home,” he said.
After Imelda, the two traveled in a recreational vehicle and ended up in Colorado. They found land in Yoder; and, in 2020, started Freedom Acres Ranch.
Despite being a city girl, Nicole Mallory has learned to embrace the slower pace and different environment. For C.W. Mallory, farm life was second nature.
He has always been a farmer at heart and is eager to share his love for the land.
“I love talking to people about agriculture, how it was shared with me from my elders,” he said. “I want to be an open book to anybody that wants to know about where their food comes from. You don’t have to put these additives or other things into the food for it to be healthy for you.”
The Mallorys raise cows, chickens, goats, pigs, turkeys and sheep. Their animals are grass-fed and finished (the last part of the feeding process to increase weight), even their chickens get alfalfa grass. They sell meat as well as chicken, turkey and duck eggs. They offer customizable meat packages, including whole or partial cow offerings that allow for cheaper pricing.
Rainfall in Yoder is limited. The animal manure they use on the land dries out quickly. The winds can be fierce, but so is their passion reconnecting people to their food.
For Nicole Mallory, eating well and agriculture have become another form of community advocacy.
“One thing we all have to do every day is eat,” she said. “Food is the basis of your life, from cradle to grave. Our mission is making sure people have choice and access.”
Their attitude toward food has been shaped by their own family’s health issues. Both Nicole and C.W. Mallory have family with preventable, chronic health conditions on numerous, expensive medications.
“My mama’s on the verge of potentially having to do dialysis because she can’t let some of those foods go,” Nicole Mallory said. “What we were doing was not just about saving the lives of our community but saving the lives of our family members.”
From her own upbringing, she understands the value of eating well, teaching people how to buy healthier food and the education involved. To her, it’s an issue of prioritizing the right things.
“Once (food) becomes important to them, now they’re looking through a different lens,” she said. “A lot of people don’t do better because they don’t know better but once they do know, they can consciously make different choices.”
More than nutrition, the Mallorys are passionate about community building. They have hosted senior groups, school groups, private groups from out of state to spend a day or two, meet the animals, learn about ranching, camping and reconnecting with the land. This past February, they hosted their first annual Freedom Festival, which included food, games and rides that drew a couple hundred visitors.
The Mallorys want to introduce farming to anyone who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to experience it or are hesitant to try. They strive to rebuild the relationships between the people and their local producers. They hope to re-establish the mutual respect for where food comes from and what it takes to raise it.
Getting their meat into traditional grocery stores has been difficult. They think some of this may be visibility, lack of public knowledge of local producers and a complicated food system that makes it hard for small farmers to break into the large grocery chain, despite being so close. With recent concerns of tariffs, they said they encourage people to find ways to support local farmers already producing in their communities.
To that end, they invite local groups, schools, chefs, churches, volunteers and those needing community service hours to partner with them in learning and teaching others about food and the importance of raising quality food for the community.
“Why not connect and work with that farmer or rancher directly and know where your food is coming from, what’s been put into it,” said C.W. Mallory. “Work side by side with us and see how the product is taken from the pasture to the plate.”
Because in the end, the Mallorys know that while knowledge is half the battle, it is going to take collaboration from all walks of life to make this mission come to fruition.
For more information on pricing, contact Freedom Acres Ranch directly as they are in the process of updating their website. They ask interested parties to reach out via email at freedomacres1@gmail.com or call 719-242-1002 so they can make accommodations based on people’s specific needs and budgets.
Visit https://freedomacresranch.com for more information.
C.W. Mallory mingles with his chickens and a turkey at the farm he owns with his wife, Nicole, in Yoder.
C.W. and Nicole Mallory (center bottom) are with Montbello Walks, a senior advocacy program in Denver. The group came for the day to see the farm. They bought eggs, goat and other meat.
