From Grazin’ Angus Acres Farm Profile

Despite the pouring rain at NYC’s Union Square Greenmarket, customer after customer stopped by to ask Dan Gibson from Grazin’ Angus Acres detailed questions about how he raises his animals. His new status as the first Animal Welfare Approved farmer in Greenmarket is something he’s very proud of and it shows in his conversations. Dan said he gets these questions all the time, but that’s why he loves having a farmstand at Greenmarket. He appreciates when people ask questions and come for tours on the farm. “Once they come for a tour of the farm,” he said, “they’re customers for life.”

While Dan is usually the person you’ll meet at the farmers’ markets, he doesn’t run the farm alone. He raises 250 head of cattle and 400 laying hens with his wife Susan, his son Keith and his wife Nicole and their partners Jim and Ilene Stark. Dan and his family are successful farmers even though they didn’t come from a farming background. Dan was a corporate executive in NYC and after 9/11 he decided to leave the corporate world. Two and a half years ago Dan retired to become a full time farmer.

When asked why his eggs are “so great,” Dan replied, “The hens are pasture raised and the eggs have an orange yolk that’s full of beta carotene and Omega-3’s. The hens are out and about all day long eating bugs and grass-they’re supplemented with 100% organic grain.” The fact that his animals are pasture raised is very important to Dan. He said, “‘Pasture-raised’ is key, ‘free-range’ is meaningless. All of our chickens are moved to fresh grass every day. We want our animals to have a longer life span and raising our cattle to a later age gives nicer tasting beef because it allows the animals to marble. We cultivate the best grasses, 100% Black Angus, best genetics.”

Grazin’ Angus Acres applied for the Animal Welfare Approved certification because as Dan recalls, “I was sure in my heart that I was doing the right things, not just providing a superior, safe and efficacious product and we were sure we were treating our animals with the respect that our customers in NYC and Albany would appreciate. I could talk about it all I wanted, but without the Animal Welfare Approved seal it wouldn’t [have the same impact].”

To investigate some of these issues, Animal Welfare Approved sponsored a one-week, three-city tour for the UK Dinner Lady, Jeanette Orrey.  Jeanette is credited with changing school food in the UK, and AWA sponsored this visit to promote cross cultural dialogue and share her experiences with people working to make change in several US school districts. Following two days in New York City, the tour continued south (via Amtrak), as Jeanette was guided along by AWA staffers Andrew Gunther, Brigid Sweeney and Beth Hauptle, joined Chef Bill Telepan and Nancy Easton, both of NYC nonprofit Wellness in the Schools. (Pictured above:  Nancy Easton and Chef Bill Telepan from Wellness in the Schools in NYC talk with Greg Strella, Farm Manager of Great Kids Farm, a part of the Baltimore Public School system.  The farm currently grows crops and raises chickens and goats.)

On Wednesday as the tour continued, we visited with the Baltimore City Public Schools’ Great Kids Farm and a Culinary Center where students in the program prepared lunch for us.  Tony Geraci has been lauded for the efforts he is making in changing food in the schools in Baltimore and his plans are impressive.  The visit was covered by the Baltimore Sun.

On Thursday we hosted a luncheon at the Arlington location of Jaleo (ThinkFoodGroup), and shared meaningful dialogue about school lunches with representatives from the Arlington, VA school district, Alex Ashbrook, Director of DC Hunger Solutions, Maria Enie and Brandi Horton from Vanguard Communications and others committed to childhood nutrition and school food. (Right:  Andrew Gunther, Jeanette Orrey, Nancy Easton and Bill Telepan on Amtrak to Baltimore.)

On Thursday, we visited Washington-Lee High School, a high school in the Arlington Public School system. Arlington is a county (and city) adjacent to Washington, DC, across the Potomac River. We were hosted by Amy Maclosky, Director of Food Service and Mary Beth Chambers, Assistant Superintendent, Management and Finance Services. We were impressed with the efforts being made by this school district and the openness to share information and desire to effect positive change. AWA is looking forward to working with Arlington to identify local farms and help raise awareness among the staff and students about “where our food comes from.”

The trip concluded yesterday as Jeanette traveled back to the UK. We are all looking forward to the next steps and for the opportunity to draw upon her many years of experience in making change happen. More in depth coverage of the trip will be featured in our next newsletter. (Right:  Jeanette meets cafeteria workers at Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, VA.)

During her stay, Orrey met with the following:

New York City Department of Education
Eric Goldstein, Chief Executive Officer for Nutrition and Transportation
Dianne Frankel, Director of Operations
Chef Jorge Collazo, SchoolFood Executive Chef
Stephen O’Brien, Director of Food and Food Support

Queens County Farm Museum, NYC
Amy Fischetti-Boncardo, Executive Director
Michael Grady Robertson, Director of Agriculture

Baltimore City Public Schools, MD
Tony Geraci, Director of Food and Nutrition Services
Greg Strella, Farm Manager, Great Kids Farm

ThinkFoodGroup, Washington, DC
Richard Brandenburg, Kitchen Director

Arlington County Public Schools, VA
Amy Maclosky, Food Service Director
Mary Beth Chambers, Assistant Superintendent, Management and Finance Services

(Above: Students in one of Baltimore City Public Schools’ culinary centers proudly prepared a delicious gourmet lunch for Jeanette and the other visitors!)

We are headed to Baltimore this morning on an early train.  Yesterday while meeting with Queens Farm we got a call from Tony Geraci (soon to be dubbed the US Dinner Man?!), Director of Food and Nutrition Services for Baltimore City Public Schools.  He prepared us for our reception at the train station in Baltimore, where we will be greeted by a camera crew from a Baltimore City High School.  The students are excited to meet us and we are looking forward to a productive day!  We’re going to have lunch prepared by high school students in the culinary program as well as visit with Greg Strella, the Farm Manager of the Great Kids Farm, actually owned by the school system.

More to come tomorrow.

We were joined by our friend Bill Telepan, of Telepan restaurant of course, and Nancy Easton, both with Wellness in the Schools, a non-profit working to support healthy school food in NYC.

Hosts:

New York City Department of Education
Eric Goldstein, Chief Executive Officer for Nutrition and Transportation
Dianne Frankel, Director of Operations
Chef Jorge Collazo, SchoolFood Executive Chef
Stephen O’Brien, Director of Food and Food Support

Queens County Farm Museum, NYC
Amy Fischetti-Boncardo, Executive Director
Michael Grady Robertson, Director of Agriculture

Baltimore City Public Schools, MD
Tony Geraci, Director of Food and Nutrition Services
Greg Strella, Farm Manager, Great Kids Farm

ThinkFoodGroup, Washington, DC
Richard Brandenburg, Kitchen Director

Arlington County Public Schools, VA
Amy Maclosky, Food Service Director

Jeanette Orrey is the School Meals Policy Advisor to the Soil Association. Jeanette’s achievements and guidance were central to the success of the Food For Life campaign and an inspiration for Jamie Oliver’s fight to improve school meals. Her life has been a whirlwind of training, lecturing, meetings with ministers and, of course, awards ceremonies. She has received recognition of her work from, amongst others, Radio 4’s ‘The Food Programme’ (2003); The Observer (2004); Good Housekeeping (2005) and the Guild of Food Writers (2006) for her book ‘The Dinner Lady’.

We’ve got to run off now to visit the Queens County Farm Museum and our friends Amy Fischetti-Boncardo and Michael Grady Robertson, but we wanted to post a few photos of our first day.

More to come!

Jeanette Orrey, UK Pioneer in Reforming School Lunches, Visits US

Animal Welfare Approved, the nation’s leading certification label for family farmers raising their animals with high welfare standards, is hosting Jeanette Orrey, the United Kingdom’s famous “Dinner Lady” (that would be a lunch lady on this side of the pond) the week of January 11th. Orrey is a leader in the U.K.’s efforts to provide school lunches made of fresh, local organic food. She will be visiting with school officials, farmers and proponents of healthy school lunches in New York City, Baltimore, Maryland and Arlington, Virginia.

According to Andrew Gunther, Program Director for Animal Welfare Approved, Orrey’s work in the U.K. dovetails nicely with the U.S. movement to educate children about food and improve school lunches. “Right now, U.S. work focuses very strongly on fresh fruits and vegetables,” he says. “Jeanette began by sourcing beef from local farmers for her school, so we felt her work would be of interest to her U.S. counterparts. Farmers in the Animal Welfare Approved program provide healthy, safe, nutritionally superior products which should be part of any child’s school-provided lunch. To this end, being a part of the dialogue regarding healthy eating by our nation’s youth and in our nation’s schools helps us to achieve our mission of promoting our family farmers while ensuring children receive the best food possible.”

Accompanying Orrey on her journey will be Animal Welfare Approved staff, Bill Telepan, chef/owner of Manhattan’s Telepan Restaurant, and Nancy Easton, a New York City teacher for 20 years. Telepan is a long-time Animal Welfare Approved supporter and a board member of Wellness in the Schools. Wellness in the Schools is a grassroots organization that promotes children’s environmental health, nutrition and fitness within the New York City public schools. Easton co-founded Wellness in the Schools and serves on its board. The New York City school system serves approximately 1.1 million students.

“We’re excited to join the conversation about the best way to serve safe, nutritious and delicious food in schools,” Gunther commented. “Each country faces different challenges in achieving the same goal and everyone is looking forward to talking shop and exchanging ideas and stories. It’s a coming together of those dedicated to serving great food in schools.”

During her stay, Orrey will meet with the following proponents of healthy school lunches in addition to visiting a number of schools in each of the three school districts:

New York City Department of Education
Eric Goldstein, Chief Executive Officer for Nutrition and Transportation
Dianne Frankel, Director of Operations
Chef Jorge Collazo, SchoolFood Executive Chef
Stephen O’Brien, Director of Food and Food Support

Queens County Farm Museum, NYC
Amy Fischetti-Boncardo, Executive Director
Michael Grady Robertson, Director of Agriculture

Baltimore City Public Schools, MD
Tony Geraci, Director of Food and Nutrition Services
Greg Strella, Farm Manager, Great Kids Farm

ThinkFoodGroup, Washington, DC
Richard Brandenburg, Kitchen Director

Arlington County Public Schools, VA
Amy Maclosky, Food Service Director

Jeanette Orrey is the School Meals Policy Advisor to the Soil Association. Jeanette’s achievements and guidance were central to the success of the Food For Life campaign and an inspiration for Jamie Oliver’s fight to improve school meals. Her life has been a whirlwind of training, lecturing, meetings with ministers and, of course, awards ceremonies. She has received recognition of her work from, amongst others, Radio 4’s ‘The Food Programme’ (2003); The Observer (2004); Good Housekeeping (2005) and the Guild of Food Writers (2006) for her book ‘The Dinner Lady’.

fan

/fæn/  –noun

an enthusiastic devotee, follower, or admirer of a sport, pastime, celebrity, etc.*

Facebook is a forum for us to communicate with our friends and supporters and sometimes to engage in respectful debate. We are pleased that so many of you have become our “fans.”

It is becoming increasingly difficult not to want to delete posts that are insulting or hurtful to the farmers in our program, many of whom are also fans of our Facebook page.  All of our farmers are making a significant difference in changing the face of farming in America.

Part of what we do on Facebook is share facts that will allow consumers to make informed choices. We are a program promoting high-welfare meat, dairy and eggs.  We have a strong following of people who choose to consume these products, but want to assure that the animals were raised with positive welfare.  These consumers understand that these products are safer, healthier and ultimately better for the farmers, animals and the environment.

There have been lively debates between farmers and those who do not eat meat and we welcome respectful debate, however, single line, invective and sometimes ill-informed comments are very unhelpful. Why is this morning’s article “gross?” Why do we need a “dislike” button?

We respectfully request that if you are not a “fan” of what we do, please find another page to become a “fan” of.

We appreciate all of you true fans who are following us, and really enjoy the diversity, but we will have to take steps if our farmers continue to be insulted on this page.

More people supporting AWA farmers means fewer animals raised in confinement and on feedlots.

*dictionary.com

While Animal Welfare Approved farmers supply numerous Whole Foods Market stores, typically it has been difficult for consumers to find Animal Welfare Approved products at these stores because most AWA products will lack the familiar AWA label. And since Whole Foods Market stores offer a variety of meat products from a host of different sources, consumers need to ask for Animal Welfare Approved products  by the specific farm or farm group where the animals were raised on pasture or range.

A state-by-state list of Whole Foods Market stores that stock AWA meats, and specifically what you should ask for at the meat counter, is available on www.AnimalWelfareApproved.org/whole-foods/. Since the AWA products lack labels, asking the butcher for meat from a specific farm is the key to ensuring Animal Welfare Approved meat is a part of your meaningful holiday meal.

Consumers can find a searchable database of other Animal Welfare Approved products on the AWA website.  AWA wishes everyone a humane and happy holiday season!

So stated Deputy Secretary of the USDA Kathleen Merrigan at the Farm Aid press conference on October 4.

Emily Lancaster, Brigid Sweeney and I were honored to represent Animal Welfare Approved at Farm Aid this year from October 2-4 in St. Louis Missouri.  AWA farmers Mark and Patricia Whisnant, David and Lana Price and Henry and JoAnn Fudge joined us for the festivities.

FRIDAY
On Friday night we attended a special Farm Meets Fork dinner at Overlook Farm in St. Louis where we met local farmers and chefs. Read Farm Aid’s blog about the event here.

SATURDAY
On Saturday afternoon we visited Farm Aid’s Homegrown Urban Country Fair where we ate delicious sweet potato and goat cheese crepes from “Oh Crepe!”  and met some of the Tower Grover Farmers’ Market farmers.  We saw Severine of the Greenhorns demonstrating all the different ways beginning farmers can access land with lovely sewn images of creative ways for young people to access farm land.  Fabric is the new PowerPoint!

Following our visit to the Fair, we attended a kind of town hall meeting with family farmers and family farmer advocates who spoke at the First Presbyterian Church about the most pressing issues facing family farmers today:

Mary Hendrickson, University of Missouri/Food Circles Networking Project, focused on the necessity of a truly competitive marketplace for family farmers.

Joel Greeno, American Raw Milk Producers Pricing Association called for an emergency floor price that will help prevent more families from losing their dairy farms.

Scott Marlow, Rural Advancement Foundation International, discussed the credit challenges facing family farmers.  He began his talk by making everyone in the room repeat “If they’re too big to fail then they’re too big. Enforce antitrust.” Scott was adamant about the fact that we need to make sure that the farmers who are in trouble don’t lose their farms.  His call to action asked the audience, “Now is the time and here is the place. If not us, who, if not now, when?”

Later in the evening, Farm Aid Eve at Blueberry Hill Restaurant featured Animal Welfare Approved pork and grassfed beef from Fudge Family Farms and American Grass Fed Beef.

SUNDAY
Animal Welfare Approved staffers were attending Farm Aid with Media Credentials as writers for the AWA newsletter and blog.  Because of this we attended the press conference and had the opportunity to take photographs of the concert from the photo pit in front of the stage.  Plus, hanging out at the Media Tent allowed us the opportunity to share the good word about AWA and several of our farmers were interviewed by the media.

This year’s press conference also featured Deputy Secretary of the USDA Kathleen Merrigan, who has spearheaded the new “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” initiative. Two seats down from her “idol” Willie Nelson, Ms. Merrigan described this new effort to support local and regional food systems, and to promote sustainable agriculture practices.

Acknowledging that the new website is “skeletal” she invited input from the public as to what they need from this new administration, saying, “We’re trying to reorient the Ship USDA.” One of the reforms Deputy Secretary Merrigan has pledged to work on is spreading the word about new funding opportunities, saying that certain programs are continually under subscribed. Information on grant opportunities offered through the USDA’s $130 billion cut of the Recovery Act is available online.

Later in the morning, Deputy Secretary Merrigan was taking the opportunity to talk with farmers and farm advocates and AWA staffer Emily Lancaster and AWA farmer Henry Fudge were both interviewed for her You Tube channel.

Memorable Quotes from Farm Aid
“Not every family needs a lawyer, not every family needs an accountant, but every family needs a farmer.  Farmers are the real rock stars.”   —Deputy Secretary of the USDA, Kathleen Merrigan

“People are becoming aware that there is good food and it’s available. And it should be there for everybody.”   —Dave Matthews

“We want people to wake up, think big and make a difference in the world.”   —Jason Mraz

“Factory farms are not my favorite thing.”   —Neil Young

“We want our farms back!”   —Neil Young

“Raise your voice to participate in something.  Flex those activist muscles!”   —Jason Mraz

“Look for your @AWAapproved label and you will feel better in more ways than one when you eat.”  Will Dailey

Willie Nelson appeared on CNN yesterday, talking about Farm Aid and the struggle of America’s family farms.  In this clip, he also performs a new song to be premiered at Farm Aid, which he co-authored with Bob Dylan.  Animal Welfare staff members and three Animal Welfare Approved farmers are on hand at Farm Aid this weekend to spread the word about the benefits of pasture-based farming and high-welfare standards.  Hope to see you at the Homegrown Village this afternoon and at tonight’s Farm Aid Eve dinner where all of the pork and beef served will be from AWA farmers Fudge Family Farms (pork) and American Grass Fed Beef.  Photo:  Paul Natkin/Photo Reserve Inc. 2008

TODAY AT FARM AID

On Saturday, October 3, Farm Aid is inviting St. Louisans to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty.

The free HOMEGROWN Urban Country Fair, curated by Farm Aid’s online community, HOMEGROWN.org, will feature exhibits and workshops showcasing ways that everybody can get involved with good food. From urban farming to composting, beekeeping, home brewing and all things in between, the Fair promises a day of hands-on, interactive experiences. Farm Aid’s partners for the event include All Along Press; The Greenhorns; KDHX Community Media; Local Harvest Grocery, Cafe and Catering; and the Tower Grove Farmers Market.

For more information about Farm Aid, visit www.farmaid.org and follow www.twitter.com/farmaid.
To join the HOMEGROWN conversation, go to www.HOMEGROWN.org.

AWA farmer Craig Rogers, Chef/Owner of VOLT Bryan Voltaggio, Chef Graeme Ritchie and Chef Steven Halliday

Many people have become familiar with Bryan Voltaggio as one of the dynamic season six competitors on Bravo’s Top Chef—but did you also know he’s a committed supporter of humane farming and serves Animal Welfare Approved lamb at VOLT, his highly regarded Frederick, Maryland restaurant?

Animal Welfare Approved recently joined AWA farmer Craig Rogers on his delivery run to VOLT (Craig supplies VOLT’s lamb) and had the opportunity to speak to Chef Bryan about the program and its farmers. “Chef Bryan was excited to meet with us and hear about our mission,” reports Beth Hauptle, Director of Marketing and Public Relations. “He is interested in offering more Animal Welfare Approved products on his menu and we were able to put him in touch with additional Animal Welfare Approved farmers.”

Animal Welfare Approved is proud to have Chef Bryan among the chefs who enthusiastically support our program. A visit to his restaurant, where the staff is knowledgeable about the origins of the food being offered and the farms are listed on the menu, highlights the growing importance to the culinary community of establishing relationships with farmers. We wish Chef Bryan much luck as season 6 of Top Chef progresses, but he’s already a winner to us.