Dennis and Terry Robbins raise Animal Welfare Approved sheep at Cris-Co Farms in Gray, Tennessee. The Robbins have a very close- knit family and even named the farm by combining the names of their sons, Chris and Cody. However, Terry said the name causes some confusion. People often ask, “Why’d you name your farm after LARD?”

Tai and Tom raise their egg-laying hens, meat chickens, and turkeys in Elkhart, Iowa, letting them run in the pastures of their farm. Tai says, “We try to give the chickens a good quality of life. We try to give the animals respect because of what they do for us. We want them to be happy.” And when the hens at Foxhollow Farm are no longer laying eggs they are actually sent to a nearby retirement home for chickens where they continue to live free range on a one hundred-acre corn farm.

Chris Wilson grew up on a small farm and has been living on a farm ever since. As a child, Chris said she “grew up thinking everyone had a cow.” All her years as a farmer with an interest in sustainable agriculture definitely paid off because in 1999 Chris was named Conservation Farmer of the Year in Washington County, Tennesse – the only woman to ever receive the title.

East Fork Farm is a pasture-based sheep farm run by Stephen Robertson and his wife Dawn in the mountains of North Carolina. They use no hormones and finish sheep entirely on grass. Medication is only used when necessary and sheep are regularly rotated to fresh pasture to ensure that they are getting the best nutrition possible. Stephen eased into farming from his previous work as a software engineer. On why he decided to pursue farming, Stephen says, “It’s something I really wanted to do. I like physical labor, being outside, and working with my hands.”

Whomever you credit for the current economic crisis, we have all experienced the uncomfortable position of rising food costs amidst tightening budgets. The livestock industry is facing the same crunch and has been cutting costs with characteristic short-term efficiency.
However, some of these cost-cutting measures may be more expensive in the long run. A recent article [...]

We were so pleased to be at the Green Festival in Washington, DC this weekend, where we met so many conscientious consumers who are interested in our program and what it means for animals and family farmers. It was also terrific to meet some farmers, co-op managers and grocers whom we expect to be [...]