Last year over Labor Day, Animal Welfare Approved farmers and staff attended Slow Food Nation in San Francisco with the goal of promoting a better food system for this country. This year, Slow Food is again rallying to promote good food for all. Please read about the initiative and plan to take part.

FROM AN EMAIL JUST RECEIVED FROM SLOW FOOD…

In three days, people in all 50 states will sit down to share a meal and bend the direction of history just a little bit. Together, we are publicly rejecting the notion that our schools can’t afford to feed kids anything but the bad food that makes them sick.

And the way we’re making this statement is by bringing neighbors together in the spirit of good will and for the joy of sharing good food. That is the heart of our movement.

Attend an Eat-In on Labor Day.

Join Joan Gussow and hundreds of other leaders of the local and organic food movement in Santa Fe at this ground-breaking event. Folks from all around the U.S. and five other countries are coming. Be part of the launch of the Slow Money Alliance which is organizing a million members to begin fixing America’s economy…from the ground up.

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 [...]

This past Thursday, Animal Welfare Approved staff attended a special farm-to-table dinner at the Local Roots Cafe in Roanoke, Virginia. The menu featured pasture raised lamb supplied by Animal Welfare Approved Border Springs Farm, artfully prepared by Chef Josh Smith. Josh, Craig & Joan Rogers of Border Springs Farm and Local Roots Cafe owner Diane [...]

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.

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 [...]

This past Thursday, Animal Welfare Approved and NC Choices teamed up to host a panel on the regional supply chain for pastured meat, dairy and eggs. This panel mirrored our recent summit at New York’s Alfred State College, and brought together farmers, processors and retailers in an effort to start a dialogue on a sustainable, [...]

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 land grant universities: NC A&T & NC State. Notable speakers included Mary McNeil, USDA Deputy [...]

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.