Agriculture began with humans saving and planting seeds and keeping animals. Communities selected traits over generations based on the needs of the culture and landscape. These animals and plants were passed down through generations, continuously improving as mutual dependence between the culture and food deepened.
At the heart of Good Shepherd Poultry Ranch is Frank Reese, a fourth-generation farmer on a 100-year-old farm in central Kansas with more than 60 years of experience in breeding and farming heritage poultry. This year we are proud to announce the development of The Good Shepherd Institute, a 501c3 non-profit dedicated to supporting the health of our national food system by educating agricultural experts, farmers, and students about techniques for preserving rare and heritage livestock. Course content will include both hands-on and lecture-style training. The curriculum is being developed in conjunction with Kansas Wesleyan University as an extension of their Environmental Studies Bachelor’s degree program.
As we’ve mentioned before, Heritage Foods USA is a proud promoter of biodiversity and food security. We are pleased to share the work of Wholesome Wave, which has had a tremendous impact on our nation’s access to fresh and quality foods by pioneering the National Nutrition Incentive Network. Visit Wholesome Wave’s website to see initiatives in your area.
Every morning it’s the same routine for poultry farmer Frank Reese. Frank walks several thousand turkeys from their barn out to pasture, where they spend the day foraging in the rolling Kansas plains. In the evening he opens the large barn doors, cuing the flock to head indoors where they can roost safely for the night.
A vegan, a butcher and a cow walk into a room… And started talking. From Thursday, June 4th through Saturday, June 6th over 200 delegates from 40 states and 12 nations gathered in Denver for roundtable discussions aimed at progressively revitalizing a meat system that is currently wasteful, inhumane, and… well, not as delicious as it could be.
To celebrate our anniversary, Lupa Osteria Romana is host a four-course family-style meat tasting highlighting twelve different heritage breeds. Guests will be seated throughout Lupa’s main dining room. The meat will be prepared simply with sea salt, black pepper and extra virgin olive oil. No brines, no rubs— the objective is for the meat to be as unadulterated as possible, so that diners can taste the difference between the breeds and the livestock.
Heritage Foods USA is headed to Denver this week to participate in the Slow Meat Symposium, engaging with over 200 stakeholders in the American meat supply chain. The event runs June 4th through 6th with a number of events designed to push the boundaries in how we think about raising, processing, and consuming meat.
In 2014 the team at S. Wallace Edwards & Sons invited us to co-host a tasting of exquisite long aged prosciutto style hams. The kind of hams Parma, Italy has made famous, but these hams were not from Europe. They came from all over the US, from producers who have been practicing traditional curing techniques for many generations.
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