Mission Statement: To help develop sustainable mountain communities in Central Asia, rekindling pride in their traditional, nomadic way of life by developing a unique and delicious jerky product that everyone wants to buy. In summer, nomadic herders travel with their herds up into the high mountain pastures, living in yurts and fattening up their livestock on the abundance of nutritious forage tha
t is only available during the hottest summer months. Among these Central Asian herds you will find numerous sheep, goats that produce some of the finest cashmere fibers in the world, cattle, and even some camels. One animal, however, has captured my attention and imagination like no other…the high-altitude loving, snowy winter thriving, summer grass foraging, shaggy and majestic yak. Besides looking super cool with their shaggy coats, providing milk for the infamous Tibetan yak butter tea (only the females of course), and producing a downy fiber similar to cashmere, yaks are also extremely efficient eaters, requiring significantly less food than their cattle or bison cousins. Their ability to thrive at high altitudes, feeding only on grass in remote mountain pastures, makes them uniquely suited to the harshly beautiful climate and topography of Central Asia. Their hardiness is comparable only to that of the determined and proud nomadic herders who raise and care for them. The idea for Hungry Nomad Jerky first came about when I was brainstorming business possibilities with the potential to impact these remote villages of Central Asia. After six years of experience working with and consulting for a variety of business models in the region, I knew I wanted my business start-up to meet two important criteria. First, it had to utilize and develop resources which were already present in these mountain communities and second, to connect them more effectively with regional and global markets while sustaining their unique way of life. My desire is to honor the endurance and dedication of these amazing mountain communities and to help rekindle pride in their traditional, nomadic way of life by developing a product that they can be proud of. To that end, I have decided to simultaneously start up a socially-responsible, “sister” Hungry Nomad Jerky company here in the U.S. Initially the proceeds from my U.S.-based sales will be used to scale up the jerky production in Kyrgyzstan, however, long-term I plan to use these proceeds to fund a variety of community development projects, nutritional programs, village education efforts, as well additional small-business start-ups with a focus on developing sustainable communities and food security in Central Asia. We believe we have developed a product that is unique, environmentally friendly, socially responsible, and positively delicious!!! Thank you for giving it a try, and by doing so, joining with us in having an impact in this oft forgotten corner of the world.
