Thursday, May 21st from 5:30–7 PM at the Ag Hall

Join us for this panel with Ridge Shinn, the executive director of the Northeast Grass-Fed Beef Initiative, and four island farmers about the past, present, and future of island-raised meat!

Ridge Shinn is the Executive Director of Northeast Grass-Fed Beef Initiative (NGBI). NGBI recently received a Henry P. Kendall Foundation grant to support their collaborative work at Vermont State University in establishing a grass-fed beef supply chain for VTSU cafeterias. NGBI has also submitted a 24-credit Regenerative Grazing curriculum to VTSU. Ridge has been a leader in the shift from feedlot production to raising cattle on a diet of 100% grass and forages. His work has been recognized in Time Magazine, Atlantic Monthly, New York Times, Wine Spectator, and Smithsonian.

Christian Walkis

Dan Athearn

Jo Douglas runs two farming enterprises: Fork to Pork and Leaf to Beef. With Fork to Pork, she raises 31 pigs entirely on food scraps collected from restaurants, grocery stores, and other food establishments. And with Leaf to Beef, she raises 10 grass-fed beef cattle on a dozen leased pastures across the island.

When Mitch Allen-Posin came to the Vineyard fifty-one years ago, he was lucky enough to meet Clarissa Allen, who had inherited her family farm in Chilmark. The farm had been in her family since 1762 and together they began Allen Farm Sheep and Wool Company. Researching sheep farming, he learned of a different way of fencing that had originated in New Zealand. This led him to learn the importance of grass-based farming, rotational grazing, compost tea, and how important the microbiome is to grass-based agriculture.

COST: FREE and open to all, registration helpful. Sign up below!