About John Smith

After three years of slaving over hot grills and giant steam-jacketed kettles as a cook in the United States Marine Corps, author John Smith took a job in a small butcher shop. With broad shoulders and not a lot else going for him, he applied himself to the trade. The first few years, John worked in custom locker plants and small meatpacking houses learning to take the beef out in the pasture and get it ready for the skillet.

Now, after some 31+ years in the meat industry, he’s done it all, from wholesale to retail and everything in between.

Also, somewhere along the way, John began to release a suppressed urge to express himself with the written word. John and his wife Vickie published a nationally distributed newsletter called Ark Essentials, dedicated to “emergency preparedness and provident living.” It is this appreciation of provident living that has inspired John to share with any who will listen how to make a dollar stretch to its fullest when purchasing meat.
Another motivating factor in John’s commitment to frugality is that he is the proud father of ten children.

John is the author of Confessions of a Butcher-eat steak on a hamburger budget and save$$$ and a columnist for the Rexburg Standard Journal.