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 grew up on island and started farming in 2009. He was a founding team member at Slip Away Farm on Chappaquidick. Alongside farming, Christian is an accomplished bread baker with a background in professional production baking. He joined the livestock team at Slough Farm in 2022, becoming Farm Manager in 2024. When he’s not wrangling animals, Christian enjoys taking his children to the beach, playing tabletop games, making pizzas and frying up donuts.
Dan Athearn returned to the Vineyard and Morning Glory Farm after receiving a degree in aquaculture from the University of Maine. He quickly became indispensable on the farm as a skilled machine operator and irrigation specialist. Although he spends many hours in the tractor seat working the soil and tending the crops, Daniel still maintains his presence on the water with recreational fishing, lobstering, gathering and sailing.
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.
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