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Yesterday we mentioned the new film, Food, Inc., in which Michael Pollan and director Robert Kenner explore the unseen costs of the food we eat. The upcoming movie promises viewers that they will "never look at dinner the same way…
Food Inc., a new movie by Robert Kenner featuring Michael Pollan, debuts in select theaters this weekend and opens next week nationwide. The LA Times says it is "one movie that truly provides food for thought" while the New York…
The Animal Welfare Approved program and farmer Lee Menius have been featured in a major story in the Winston Salem Journal newspaper by the paper's food editor, Michael Hastings. "In 2001, Lee and his wife, Domisty, started moving away from…
Cicero Dobson raises Certified Animal Welfare Approved by A Greener World (AGW) and Certified Non-GMO by AGW pigs at Tom Farm, near Magnolia, North Carolina. Pigs at Tom Farm are raised outdoors, on pasture or range, where they are free…
Following our recent Alfred State Summit, this past Monday and Tuesday we attended a similar summit on sustainable food in North Carolina. This "Farm to Fork" summit was hosted by the Center for Environmental Farming Systems and North Carolina's two…
Mack Brook Farm is owned and run by Kevin Jablonski and Karen Christensen. The farm covers over 300 acres in Argyle, NY, situated between the Adirondacks and the Green Mountains of Vermont. In this quiet corner of upstate New York, their…
Hut's Hamburgers, an Austin tradition since 1939, has added that iconic symbol of Texas-the Longhorn-to its menu. Animal Welfare Approved Bandera Grassland of Tarpley, Texas is supplying the restaurant with pure Texas Longhorn beef from cattle that are direct descendants of the Iberian cattle brought by the Spaniards in the 1500s. The Animal Welfare Approved seal is an assurance to consumers that cattle from Bandera Grassland have been treated according to the highest welfare standards. "We were interested in the beef because of its unique history and strong identification with Texas, but what sold us on the burger was the spectacular taste," said Michael Hutchinson, the owner of Hut's, which is regularly voted as having the best burgers in Austin and is known nationwide for its innovative menu. "Our customers love it. It tastes like the beef you used to be able to get 150 years ago-like the beef you might have eaten on cattle drives. It's got big, authentic Texas flavor. Having the beef come from an Animal Welfare Approved ranch is an added bonus, because Austin is a town that cares about sustainable agriculture and animal welfare."
We wanted to share news about a new website published by the Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network, nichemeatprocessing.org, which was designed to provide information for smaller meat processors working with local, organic or grassfed products. This resource should be helpful,…
We recently had the pleasure of attending the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association's 14th annual Piedmont Farm Tour in the North Carolina triangle region. This is a self-guided tour encompassing 40 farms, where visitors pay by the carload to attend as many or as few as they wish. We had three farms on the tour this year: Baldwin Beef (grassfed Charolais cattle), Captain John S. Pope Farm (grassfed lamb), and Cane Creek Farm (pastured pigs). We met some wonderful people and had a great time talking with folks on the tour about Animal Welfare Approved and what being certified means (in between lamb burgers and popsicles!). Congratulations to the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association for pulling of yet another successful tour. Each one gets better than the last!
Rumors swirled that 1,200 people were expected at the Brooklyn Food Conference (BFC) on Saturday, May 2 at John Jay High School in Park Slope, Brooklyn. We were certainly surprised to find a projected 3,000 people in attendance and we even ran out of most of our materials! It was an honor to be invited to speak on the panel, "Our industrial meat complex: Hazardous to our health and our habitat" moderated by Kerry Trueman (co-founder of EatingLiberally.org) and to present testimony at the Public Hearing on Food Policy and Implementation with State and City Elected Officials. Animal Welfare Approved staffer Brigid Sweeney presented on behalf of independent pasture-based and high welfare farmers before State Senator Eric Adams, State Assembly member Jim Brennan, State Senator Velmanette Montgomery and City Council Member Leticia James. The public hearing was moderated by David Buckel, civil rights attorney and BFC volunteer organizer, who is determined to make Animal Welfare Approved's voice heard for New York's legislative agenda.
By Michael Hastings Media General News Service Published: April 28, 2009 See here for article. CHINA GROVE - Lee Menius grew up on a farm where animals were raised the conventional way for many years. Now he's trying something different…
