Column #500    March 28, 2025Ted Linda Gunther and Bulls

It’s my time to move on to a new chapter in my life: Retirement. I’m turning over Slanker Grass-Fed Meat’s assets to Bryce Cunningham effective today.

I’ve been involved in many different business ventures over the years and being in the meat business was not an original goal. It sprang from my ranching venture which had its modest start in 1969 when I purchased a horse. That venture peaked many years later in Texas with a ranch that owned and leased around 800 acres while running more than 300 head of cattle of various ages. Of course there were also more horses, along with chickens, pigs, turkeys, ducks, peacocks, guinea fowl, rheas, and even llamas.

It was in late 1999 that I decided to start marketing meat direct to the public via the internet. It was a modest venture at first, but after some televison appearances on the Doug Kaufmann show it started to gain traction. It’s been cyclical for sure with the “great financial” crisis, COVID, a soaring cattle price, and the most reckless spending program our government has ever embarked on all having challenging impacts.

I’m 80 years old and have worked virtually nonstop my entire productive life. Vacations were mostly attending conferences which became a mix of work and play. Being on call continuously has been a way of life and, I can testify now, that maybe that’s overdoing it. Thank God I lived most of those years on a ranch in God’s great outdoors surrounded by animals.

One of the advantages of being in differing businesses over the years were the people I met. Yes, a few were really rotten, but the majority were good people and from them I learned a lot. I was fortunate in being able to rub shoulders with many amazingly brilliant people in finance, mining, agriculture, politics, and nutritional science.

But it’s time to pass the baton to the next runner. Bryce is a “Young Turk” which reminds me of the guys I ran with after graduating from Oregon State University. We were all very aggressive and looking back many of us individually pulled off some minor miracles that still amaze me today. For that reason I think Bryce will make SGFM a far better business than I did.

His success will depend on his skills plus the support that all of you have given me. All businesses require a solid customer base to succeed and some SGFM customers have been with us for so long they are like family. Of course the same applies to employees and trusted farmer suppliers. The ones that can stick with it through tough times are really important. A special tip of the hat goes to Carolyn Ratliff who started with SGFM in 2007. And Lisa has been a charger with us since 2019. For everyone who has supported us we owe our heartfelt thanks.

It’s now time for Linda and me to move on and enjoy our remaining years. As we do, we wish everyone a hearty Godspeed.

To your health.

Ted Slanker

Ted Slanker has been reporting on the fundamentals of nutritional research in publications, television and radio appearances, and at conferences since 1999. He condenses complex studies into the basics required for health and well-being. His eBook, The Real Diet of Man, is available online.