Eating Fresh Publications

On November 11–17, 2004, Princeton, New Jersey, food stores and restaurants honored the farmers who raise their animals on pasture and highlighted their products as part of Grazefest Princeton, a regional awareness campaign that helped spread the word about the culinary, environmental, animal-welfare, and human-health benefits of foods from animals raised on pasture.
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Throughout the weeklong celebration, small world coffee, the Bent Spoon, Mediterra, and the Whole Earth Center made pasture-raised products the centerpiece of their operations with tastings and special menu items. As a part of the town-wide grazing, each business offered free copies of The Great News about Grass—a 12–page booklet that explores the multiple benefits of pasture-based farming—and Alternatives to Factory Farms—a brochure that explores the meanings of different labels such as organic, free-range, and grassfed and lists where area residents can buy pasture-raised foods.

On Monday, November 15, Mediterra hosted the Grassfed Gourmet Wine Dinner—a 5-course wine dinner featuring products from the region’s finest pasture-based farms including grass-fed beef from Simply Grazin’ Organic Farm in Hopewell, pastured eggs from Cherry Grove Farm in Lawrenceville, and dairy products from Natural by Nature, a grass-based organic dairy cooperative from Southeast Pennsylvania. The menu also featured pasture-raised pork and lamb and farmstead cheeses. The Grassfed Gourmet Wine Dinner began with a wine reception. The cost for the event was $85 per person, which included tax and gratuity. Guests also received a complimentary copy of The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook—the nation’s first cookbook devoted to pasture-raised foods.

Grazefest Princeton is a project of Eating Fresh Publications, with sponsorship from the Whole Earth Center in Princeton and The Nature Conservancy in New Jersey. It is one of a series of regional Grazefest events that are taking place across the country. The goal is to highlight regional producers of pasture-raised foods and to promote the multiple benefits that these farmers bring to their communities.

The Nature Conservancy, a global conservation organization, is partnering with New Jersey’s agricultural community and the State Agricultural Development Committee (SADC) to sustain ecologically compatible farming in the Garden State. In the Skylands, the Conservancy has helped protect threatened plant and animal species while also preserving working landscapes. At Tranquility Farms (locale)in Warren and Sussex counties and Valley View Farms in Sussex County, the Conservancy protected more than 800 acres next to ecologically sensitive lands. Recently, the Conservancy received $1.5 million in SADC funds for preservation in the Sourland Mountain region.

Working cooperatively with local family farmers, the Conservancy develops management plans to ensure best agricultural management practices and integrated pest management to make these farms sustainable and compatible with the preservation of rare species.

“Supporting ecologically compatible agriculture is critical to our mission and our community-based approach to land preservation,” said Barbara Brummer, Ph.D., executive director, The Nature Conservancy in New Jersey. “By preserving working family farms, we’re working to protect and enhance nearby natural areas, contribute to the local economy, and support our state’s cultural and natural heritage.”

The mission of The Nature Conservancy is to preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. Active in New Jersey since 1955, the Conservancy established the New Jersey Chapter Office in 1988 to protect the state’s natural heritage.

The Whole Earth Center is a not-for-profit natural foods store that has been a part of the Princeton community since 1970. Located at 360 Nassau Street, the Whole Earth Center added meats to their product line only recently when organic, grassfed meat became available from Hopewell’s Simply Grazin’ Organic Farm.