Photo: Courtesy of For the Love of Dutch
You’ve likely heard of farm-to-table dining for humans. For the Love of Dutch, on the other hand, is a local dog food company that offers farm-to-dog bowls.
For the Love of Dutch delivers human-grade dog food made from Charlotte-area farms to your door each week.
Why it matters: Charlotteans love their dogs — we’re constantly spoiling them with human-like dog treats and celebrity-approved makeovers. Charlotte is even one of the nation’s most pet-friendly cities for renters, Axios’ McKenzie Rankin recently reported.
The big picture: For the Love of Dutch is similar to national organic dog food brands that you may be familiar with, like The Farmer’s Dog and Ollie. “We’re offering the same thing. But we’re local and supporting local farms,” For the Love of Dutch owner and founder Christi Busch said.
Flashback: Busch officially launched For the Love of Dutch in 2020, but she was cooking organic meals at home for her basset hounds, Dutch and Lucy, long before that.
- She put both of her dogs on a holistic diet per a local vet’s suggestion after Dutch, who was three years old, developed crystals in his urine. “Lucy lost a bunch of weight and Dutch’s crystals went away and they never came back,” Busch said. “That’s when I kind of had my aha moment about food.”
Lucy, who lived to be 13, and Dutch, 16, both passed away in 2017. Since then, Busch has added a couple more bassets to her family, including Ernie, pictured here. Photo: Courtesy of For the Love of Dutch
Details: For the Love of Dutch offers three varieties of meat: pork, chicken, and beef, all paired with seasonal produce. Daphne’s beef stew, for example, has sweet potatoes, collard greens, blueberries, cranberries and egg.
- All of their meat and produce come from North Carolina farms, including Evans Family Farm in Mt. Ulla, Gilcrest Natural Farms in Iron Station, Happy Dirt in Durham, Hickory Nut Gap in Fairview and Keener Farms in Lincolnton.
“It’s real food and we do supplement all of it with vitamins and minerals, and fish oil or sunflower oil, whatever balances out the fats and everything in each of the recipes,” Busch said. “So dogs with allergies and tummy issues tend to do really well on it.”
How it works: The food is made weekly and delivered to your home every Thursday.
- It needs to be refrigerated and can be frozen if needed. The food will remain fresh in the fridge for up to a week.
- The bags range from $14-$15 for smaller 16oz-bags and $29-$31 for the large 56-oz bags.
- For the Love of Dutch is based in Charlotte and is available for delivery in the greater Charlotte area, including in Davidson, Mooresville, Gastonia, Fort Mill, Clover, Rock Hill, Waxhaw, Weddington and Matthews.
Photos: Courtesy of For the Love of Dutch
