The Pride of New York Retail Promotion Grant program is working to help NY consumers identify food items from New York State. Their aim is to help increase sales for both NY farmers and retailers.

State Acting Agriculture Commissioner Darrel Aubertine says, “Consumer awareness and interest in buying local food has increased dramatically in recent years…This program will provide valuable assistance to retailers to help them source more local New York products as well as necessary resources to develop customized promotional materials that highlight local businesses. We are pleased to offer this financial opportunity that will support the New York State economy and benefit all sides of the equation, including retailers, farmers, food processors and consumers alike.”

Animal Welfare Approved was pleased to join more than 30 organizations supporting family farmers at this year’s Farm Aid 25: Growing Hope for America. The AWA Farm Aid team, Beth, Emily and Brigid, arrived in Milwaukee excited to participate in Farm Aid Eve, FARMpardy (AWA’s version of JEOpardy) and, of course, the 25th Anniversary Farm Aid concert.

Dave Matthews: “The farmers on our good Earth are taking care of the land and taking care of our children.”

Neil Young: “Maybe you don’t realize what’s really going on with factory farms in this country, how they are displacing family farms at an alarming rate…Factory farms are the reason why we have food alerts. They are the reason why we have dying people and disease. Try to buy something from a family farm, something that’s sustainably grown. You deserve the best. Your children deserve the best.”

The first Vermont dairy recently passed its state certification to legally sell up to 40 gallons of raw milk per day. The certification is being given in two tiers—Tier 1 farms are only allowed to sell up to 50 quarts of milk per day and they do not have to be inspected or have their milk tested. Farms that wish to sell 40 gallons or more must be Tier 2 certified and both inspection and twice monthly milk testing is required. You may want to read the full list of legal requirements under Vermont’s Legislative Act 62 and as outlined in Rural Vermont’s Raw Milk Sellers Guide .

Cow-Pooling – the practice of getting neighbors, family and friends together to buy meat in bulk to reduce costs and make use of the entire animal-was recently featured in Time Magazine. Time illustrates a $10-$12/lb price difference when comparing the price of cow pooled strip steak to the price of strip steak sold at [...]

Squish, squish, squish. That’s the sound everyone heard yesterday over and over at Empire Farm Days. The night before Seneca Falls was hit with torrential rain that made the conference site at Rodman Lott & Son Farms decidedly soggy! At first this was a blessing because passersby took refuge in our little [...]

Before working with Animal Welfare Approved I had never even heard of the Fancy Food Show. It seems like such a silly name for a tradeshow, but when you get there you realize it describes it perfectly. Essentially it’s hundreds, if not thousands of exhibitors that want to connect with retailers, manufacterers, distributors, restaurants and chefs. Most of the exhibitors offer lovely samples of their products to the attendees. Thousands of people were scurrying around the Javits Center tasting all of this exceptionally delicious food. For a sense of what people were saying some of the comments heard over and over were: Have you tried the wine flavored sorbet? Where did you get that HUGE Fave yogurt sample? I’m overwhelmed by all the chocolate! There’s so much food here, but I’m still sooo hungry! (referring to the tiny sample sizes this year).

While pork may not have been as popular as chocolate this year, pasture-raised, Animal Welfare Approved products were certainly intriguing to many attendees.

Last month, Animal Welfare Approved farmer Rose Marie Belforti of Finger Lakes Dexter Creamery was interviewed by Lorenzo Ragionieri for the Heritage Radio Network’s Farm Report.

Interview highlights include:

* The unique traits of the Irish Dexter cow
* Finger Lakes Dexter Creamery’s strict animal welfare husbandry practices
* Pro-biotic Kefir Cheese -why it’s so special and what does Pro-biotic mean?

For more information on the Finger Lakes Dexter Creamery and to order their cheese visit [...]

Chef Noah Sheetz recently visited Kinderhook Farm in Ghent, NY and he was so impressed by the farm that he blogged about his experience. Noah said, “It undoubtedly is one of the cleanest and most picturesque farms in all of Columbia County.”

Noah is a strong advocate for supporting local NY farmers and has more recently started educating children about eating healthier foods.

Below we’ve included a snippet of Noah’s recipe which showcases Kinderhook Farm’s Animal Welfare Approved beef ribs:

Honey and Chili Glazed Beef Ribs with Creamed Swiss Chard and Potatoes

David cooking for the Animal Welfare Approved Thanksgiving Dinner at the Food Bank for NYC
One of our favorite chefs, David Schuttenberg of Cabrito restaurant in NYC, was interviewed by Patrick Martins, Heritage Foods USA, for his Heritage Radio show last month.rnrnSome of the topics discussed included:

Animal Welfare Approved’s Supply Chain Summit in Alfred, NY
Why the [...]