Purple Rain Vineyard has plenty of heart and care pumped into it daily, from an entire family. Luisa DePaiva, her husband James Voisin, and their three daughters Danielle, Nastacia, and Octavia, all pitch in to make sure that every aspect of the farm and vineyard receives proper attention. This includes taking care of their flock of laying chickens, although they are mostly tended by Octavia, the youngest daughter. With this attention, it’s no surprise that they’re doing well. Luisa explains, “First and foremost, we have incredible respect for our chickens because they are providing us with eggs, the ultimate whole food.” The relationship between the flock and family is completely focused on the health and happiness of the chickens.

Linda Black of Washington Post writes about US food policy or lack thereof and how we can gather together to affect change.

Despite significant protest from organizations (including ours) and many thousands of concerned individuals, the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has defined “naturally raised” to mean something far from it. Producers are now allowed to to label products “naturally raised” as long as the animals have been produced “entirely without growth promotants, antibiotics (except for ionophores [...]

It turns out the old adage “You are what you eat” is true for livestock too. Researchers at the University of Exeter recently published a study which found that meat from animals grazed in quality, biodiverse systems is nutritionally superior to meat from intensive systems. Professor Henry Buller and his colleagues attributed this difference to [...]

This terrific short was brought to our attention by Debbie Davis of DWD Longhorns. She writes:
Here’s a “great 15 minute video on the state of our food supply from the perspective of some of today’’s greatest minds in sustainable agriculture.”
We Are What We Eat

We just returned from an exciting day at the Stuart Family Farm in Bridgewater, Connecticut. We visited with Bill and Deb Stuart along with WPIX/CW Channel 11 News who wanted to see firsthand what an Animal Welfare Approved farm looks like and how the auditing process works. Arthur Ch’ien and his cameraman Jason Johnson spent three hours with us and took so much farm footage that they ran out of tape! And despite, both Arthur and Jason’s initial apprehension about getting up close and personal with the cows, they became fast friends with Urma and a few other heifers in the Stuarts’ grassfed herd.

Last month, we posted some possible Obama appointees for the Secretary of Agriculture position in “Wanted: an rBGH-free Appointment.” We voiced our support for the picks touted at FoodDemocracyNow.org and also skepticism at the change-making capabilities of potential candidate Dennis Wolff. Since then Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack has been put forth for the post, [...]

A speaker at the Oxford Farming Conference (held at Oxford University from January 5-7) reported that farming in an animal welfare-friendly way can be the key to better profitability. Alistair Lawrence from the University of Edinburgh Veterinary School continued,”It is an achievable goal to deliver animal welfare within a competitive farming system.” Professor Lawrence used [...]

We are excited to attend the 6th annual American Grassfed Association Conference! The conference runs from February 6-7, and will be held at in Lexington, Kentucky. Acclaimed author and sustainable agriculture guru Wendell Berry will give the keynote address, followed by Dr. Lee Myer of the University of Kentucky who will discuss successful economic strategies for alternative ranching practices.

Animal Welfare Approved has recently announced a partnership with the American Grassfed Association (AGA) through which farmers meeting both organizations’ standards may receive both accreditations through one audit. These complementary accreditations will help differentiate farmers from those using only the USDA-defined “grassfed” label, which still allows feedlot confinement and growth hormones. Animal Welfare Approved Program Director Andrew Gunther and American Grassfed Association Director Don Davis will lead a workshop on obtaining these two seals, and walk farmers through the audit and certification process.

David Price didn’t intend to make the transition from a middle-school history teacher to a fulltime farmer. After all, he was suburban boy who simply wanted to raise food for his family so that he and his wife would know what their children were eating. But his passion for farming took over and now he farms fulltime to supply his direct-market customers with beef.