Poultry
Frank Reese
Good Shepherd Poultry Ranch - Lindsborg, Kansas
Good Shepherd Poultry Ranch is one of the most important farms in the world. Every morning at sunrise, for more than 50 years — in rain, snow, deep cold and heat — Frank Reese opens the massive doors of the huge barns that house his few thousand birds, starting a trickle, then a wave, of chickens and turkeys who will free range the hundred-acre property for the day, before they are shepherded back indoors at night. These birds are truly free range and spend their time walking, picking the fields for food, naturally reproducing, and flying onto trees and fence tops. And they are truly from old stock — on this farm in Kansas live some of the last chickens and turkeys from a time before factory farming took over our food system. They are all endangered breeds.
Right before our eyes, dozens of our foundational poultry breeds are on the brink of extinction. These strains’ importance to America’s culture, food safety, and biodiversity is incalculable. Their loss would spell disaster for the future of the sustainable food system.
While most remain unaware of the looming extinction of Standardbred poultry breeds in the United States, there is a small community working to combat this crisis. One man on the plains of the Kansas prairie stands out as their greatest champion. Frank, in his seventies, is the sole remaining commercial breeder of Certified Standardbred poultry in the United States.
His Good Shepherd Poultry Ranch stands as the last remaining stronghold for many of America’s most important market breeds of chickens and turkeys with lineages dating back to the 19th and early 20th century including Plymouth Rock, New Hampshire, Rhode Island White, Cornish, Leghorn, Minorca, Bronze, Narragansett, White Holland and Bourbon Red.
Having only one commercial farm left in the country to protect these natural treasures leaves them extremely vulnerable. In order to provide a safe future for these breeds, we must drastically increase their numbers. To address this issue, Frank Reese has started a nationwide conservation effort which will increase 10 breeds’ numbers to 100,000+ birds and spread them out over hundreds of farms throughout the United States. Heritage Foods, together with the Good Shepherd Conservancy, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, are building a center to train farmers, to grow a larger hatchery to produce more birds, and to bring visitors from around the world to learn about this important issue.
The agri-tourism site being built on the farm will allow consumers, chefs, and farmers to visit for themselves the world site that is Good Shepherd Ranch. There is a collage of multicolored feathers on Franks farms, from birds that each boast a unique history, taste, and flavor. The Bronze turkey for example shimmers with its coppery, bronze-colored metallic sheen and has origins in Rhode Island —it is the foundation for all domestic turkeys in the United States and the closest connection we have to the origin of the domesticated turkey.
The Barred Rock chicken, with its beautiful white and black barred feather pattern, is the foundation of the chicken industry and was raised by the millions from 1870 -1950. They remained king of the industry until they were replaced by the industrial Cornish. They say the original Barred Rock has never been beat in a tasting contest. As an animal it is hearty, tough and reliable as well as lovely to look at.
It’s remarkable to think that almost every bird in the United States comes from the same genetic stock, derived from the same two or three industrial hatcheries producing unhealthy birds that cannot fly or survive in nature, and that have been built to die after only two or three years. The baby poults being supplied to farms large and small are a far cry from their healthy ancestors. They have not been genetically modified, like seed companies do, but they have been so overbred for certain traits like large breast size, fast growth, and small legs that they must be fed antibiotics and kept indoors to survive. The technology does not exist to freeze poultry sperm, so rare breeds must continue to reproduce their flocks on the farm, generation to generation, making Frank’s place in the world all the more important.
When Heritage Foods first started we sold only heritage turkeys from Good Shepherd Poultry Ranch. We learned about them through the Slow Food Ark of Taste Project designed to save foods on the brink of extinction. The story of Frank was so compelling to us — his birds came to him from his mentor Norman Kardosh who inherited the birds from his Mother who had received heritage eggs by train from the Bird Brothers Hatchery in the 1860s. The birds Frank raises are essentially descended from stock that have only ever lived on the same two farms for more than 100 years! When we came to understand all these details, and that Frank was the last of his kind, just like so many of the birds on his farm — we had to do something!
Through sales direct to homes and to restaurant chefs, markets, and butchers we have managed to lay a stake in the ground claiming that we will not lose these birds to history and that fast food will not overtake our entire food supply! Thank you to all the buyers who have made this conservation effort a success story, all the while enjoying by far the tastiest birds on the market today!
Pork
David Newman
Newman Farm - Myrtle, Missouri
In 2006 we got a handwritten letter from farmer Mark Newman asking us if Heritage Foods would ever consider selling his pasture raised old school Berkshire pigs. We said yes and a relationship grew that still continues today, now through his son David who has maintained the genetic line of Berkshires which can be traced back to the 17th and 18th century lines that came to these shores by way of the Berkshire region of England.
From the air, Newman Farms, in south central Missouri, in the heart of the Ozarks, looks more like a pioneer settlement or a holiday camp than any sort of pig farm. Wooden huts are scattered across green fields like bungalows, where contented Berkshire pigs live their lives, happily on-pasture. It’s an idyllic image, far from the modern machine that is industrial pig farming.
Pigs on Newman Farm are raised 100% on-pasture. The sows raise their piglets in huts that dot the fields of the farm. The babies live inside the huts until they are old enough to jump over the 6-inch wooden board that blocks the entrance. Once they make the great leap, they have an entire field to run on and they can mingle with the other piglets from the other huts.
As they age together, the piggies will get moved to new paddocks, as part of the rotational grazing program that keeps the soil healthy and the pigs clean. As adolescents the pigs move into grow barns where a few dozen of them live together in what seems like an open-air college dormitory where they roll over each other and play all day long.
David Newman is both a farmer and scientist. “The farmer came first,” he laughs. His degrees are in animal science, and he holds a Ph.D in meat science and muscle biology, focused on meat quality. “As I became a scientist and got involved in education, I applied what I was learning to understand what we could do better.”
Berkshires were the favorite breed of British royalty and were first introduced to the New World in 1823. Since then, Berkshire bloodlines have remained exceptionally pure and have become a mainstay favorite of chefs and diners, legendary for their exceptionally bright pork flavor and thick, delicious fat cap. And if anyone were to question their excellence, just ask David. “It’s not a matter of opinion!” he insists, passionately. “It’s a scientific fact, Berkshires are the most marbled hog on the market today.” David is a master breeder and works hard to keep the lines on his farm separate and he is always working to improve the Berkshire breed on his farm.
David lives on the farm with his wife, Kristin, his mom Rita, and his two kids, and teaches animal science at Arkansas State, bringing with him what few teachers ever will: a real-world case study, a not-so-secret double life, professor as farmer, farmer as professor. As he says, “there is nothing better than learning from someone who has some skin in the game. I make a living for our family on the farm, and I bring that with me when I educate my students. It is the real American dream, America at its best.”
“I got my start through my family. My grandfather was a farmer. My parents were hog farmers, but primarily in the commercial pig business. In the 1980s my parents raised pigs in confinement. There were some very challenging economic times for everyone in production, and we realized we were going to have to do something differently.
“In the 1990s my parents decided they wanted to go back to their roots. We were going to have to be very large to be successful in the commercial sector, and my father decided we should focus on quality. We changed our genetic program and our nutrition program. We became Certified Humane®. We never confine any animals — ‘everybody’ has pasture access — and we chose to focus on Berkshire pigs for their quality.”
David is the future of American farming! He sits on the National Pork Board but also runs a small family pig operation. He is young, energetic and strong. He is a great speaker and holds in his brain so many secrets about pigs and pig farming that most of the larger pig operators have forgotten since they raise their pigs in unnatural surroundings: indoors and in confinement. He travels around the world and is a sought out speaker at seminars and events, always promoting the old way of raising pigs but with an understanding of what it takes to be successful in modern times. David works with a team of farmers who raise his Berkshires to supply Heritage Foods and the national network of chefs who rely on his product for their menus.
Larry Sorell
Lazy S. Farms - La Plata, Missouri
We met Larry and Madonna Sorell in 2002, as growers for Frank Reese and the Heritage Turkey Project. As their turkey flock grew in size, so did the Sorell’s importance to Heritage Foods.
When you see Red Wattle pork on a menu, what you are seeing is a five-state, twelve farm network founded by Larry and Madonna, dedicated to raising a storied breed that was once upon a time nearly extinct. Larry and Madonna are the heroes of this story, avatars of the heritage food movement, true believers who were destined to become the Guardians of the Red Wattle. They are proof positive of the ethos that when it comes to endangered livestock, “you have to eat them to save them.”
In the beginning, back in 2004 when the Heritage Foods wholesale business began selling pigs, a market for the Red Wattle pig was built on a handshake agreement with chefs Zach Allen and Mark Ladner, then at Lupa Restaurant in NYC. They recognized the high-quality and undiminished taste that came from a Red Wattle pig humanely raised on-pasture and antibiotic free, using traditional farming methods. The deal with Ladner, and the partnership with Larry and his Lazy S Farms, were part of the origins of Heritage Foods.
“We traveled 18,000 miles to get started,” Larry says matter-of-factly about a Heritage Foods Odyssey whose mission was to search out rare Red Wattle sows and collect a viable genetic lineage of this incredible pig whose American legacy goes back to 18th century New Orleans. "When we began, we had two Red Wattle gilts and a boar, and we had to travel all over the United States to start a herd."
“Now I’ve kinda retired from raising animals, but we have a dozen Amish growers working with us, and I pick up the hogs and pay for them, and then bring them to the processor, Paradise Locker. I drive a tractor trailer and go around picking up three hundred pounders, fifty to eighty head a week. We have farms in Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa... that’s a lot of traveling. We may have four or five pick-ups every week. You wear out a truck pretty fast.”
Larry, now over eighty, does less of the driving, but he still keeps all the relationships going, which isn’t easy considering the Amish don’t have phones inside their homes! “I’ll have to quit sometime but right now it’s going pretty good. The driving is easy. The hard job is you gotta keep Amish families happy, picking up their hogs, coordinating, monitoring the size of the animals, and making sure we have the right amount — each week we round up 50 to 100 pigs. And we’ve been doing it for almost 20 years now.”
Thanks to Larry and Madonna’s work, the Red Wattle was upgraded to Threatened status from Critical on The Livestock Conservancy’s watch list, a great achievement for the cause of biodiversity, one of the most important issues of our time.
Craig Good
Good Farms - Manhattan, Kansas
We met the Goods through a connection at Kansas State University where Craig’s father was a distinguished professor. Craig spent his life in agriculture growing up in the Flint Hills of Kansas, some of the best agricultural land in the world, perfectly adapted to free ranging livestock, which feed on the perennial grasses that grow there naturally.
The Good’s hog operation began in earnest in 1981, and they have continuously raised hogs there for the past 37 years. Their Duroc herd started with a few sows from Craig’s former employer who started raising Duroc pigs in the 1940s — with females obtained through Sears and Roebucks! As Craig explains, “I took a job in 1975 working with an outstanding stockman who raised purebred Duroc pigs here in Kansas. His name was Fred Germann, and he was one of the oldest and best Duroc breeders in the U.S. Things sure have changed since then, but the Durocs that we now raise have ancestry that goes back to those Sears females, approximately 85 years ago.”
Duroc is an American breed that was used as the foundational genetics for the entire pig industry in the United States because of their good growth rate, body type, and mothering instincts. But big agriculture continued to overbreed the Duroc for certain traits related to higher profits and they crossed it with other pig breeds. Soon the industrial pig became utterly unrecognizable, and it became almost impossible to tell that it had originally derived from Duroc genetics.
Craig, on the other hand, continued to breed his Durocs to improve their genetics with traits particular to Craig’s preferences, while staying true to the original healthy and hearty breed. Craig always put a lot of thought into which sows he would breed with which boars as he worked to improve meat quality and edibility, as opposed to faster growth. He also selected pigs for the demeanor of the animals, who he treats like members of his own family. Craig bred for strong animals and sought out leaner carcasses (although the Duroc is supremely marbled). He also bred for skeletal size – Craig likes good length of body, for better loin eye size and fat distribution.
Over the years, the Durocs on Good Farm became his own breed, even though they looked like and acted like true old school Durocs. The Goods continue to bring in new lines to avoid inbreeding, but they work with the lines to continue improving their particular version of the Duroc.
Craig and Amy also raise Gloucestershire Old Spots and Tamworths, both considered rare breeds.
Craig's father, Don, was a meat scientist and would eventually have a division of Kansas State University named after him. Together they raised purebred Angus cattle and crops on the farm. “I have had a passion for raising pigs,” says Craig, since taking pigs on as a 4-H project in 1965. Craig studied Animal Science at Kansas State University. “Amy and I were married in 1976 and 5 years later we made the decision to move to the farm that my father and mother had owned since 1961, near Olsburg, Kansas, on 1000 acres of Flint Hills pasture.”
Doug Metzger and his family
Seneca, Kansas
Doug Metzger was truly at the ground zero of our business and the heritage food movement. He was the magic man that first introduced us to our processor Paradise Locker Meats, with whom we have worked and grown ever since and he worked together with Frank Reese raising heritage turkeys from about 2002 to 2013.
At 83-years-old, Doug raises purebred, certified Berkshire and Tamworth pigs on his 1,500 acre farm in Seneca, Kansas, with his wife Betty.
In an era of specialization Doug is an anomaly. Doug is famous for adapting to any moment. In 2001 he took our call and agreed to raise heritage turkeys for us with Frank because he believed that the growing food movement would appreciate the flavor of the birds his grandfather raised. As demand grew for quality meat, Doug got into heritage pigs and transitioned his commodity farm to a pastured farm and haven for the rare Tamworth breed.
Doug has been farming since 1951. As a kid he raised chickens but gave them up when he got into turkeys. As he got older, he broke into the milk cattle game. Then he tried sheep, but he says he couldn’t get them to breed right. He also raised Aylesbury ducks — a rare heritage breed. Over the years the acres on his sprawling farm have been used to grow wheat, corn, oats, barley, sorghum, alfalfa, and rye. He even grew flax one year because he heard it was supposed to help the immune system of the cattle, which he thought it did. “It certainly made their coats look wonderful,” Doug says.
Today farmers are incentivized to grow monocrops of corn and soybean — “that’s all they want us to grow,” Doug explains, “and farmers haul their crops to town instead of using it for something on their own farm.” Doug remembers fondly the days when a diversified farm would grow corn and turn it into whiskey, or when soybeans were grown for the purpose of feeding milk cattle — as Doug did on his farm. “Keep your grain,” Doug insists, “and use it to grow a truly sustainable farm.”
Doug was never one to use chemicals to grow food. He believes any talk of sustainability is not real when you raise only one crop or when you use chemicals to do it. “My buddy and I could clear 100 acres of weeds in a day if we worked through the night, and we did not need any additives to do it. All those chemicals are part of the reason there are so many cancers around, if you ask me.” Doug has amassed generations of farming secrets having grown so many foods naturally, often calling upon experiences from decades ago to solve a problem that presents itself today.
Doug comes from a truly great American farming family — Life Magazine once wrote that Doug’s father, who lived to be 104, had more living descendants than any American – many of them farmers. His is part of the story of immigrants who came to the New World and made good through old-fashioned values, tradition, and hard work.
“We’re here today to save these breeds,” says Doug, who is as down-home as the farm he still works on as he approaches his 84th birthday. “Save the breeds and make a little money. We got a lot of things going on, we have a lot of land. But it’s getting hard to keep up with it all… I need more young people! When I was young, we raised turkeys in spring and sold ‘em all by Christmas. We milked cattle all year round. I want to keep working — my dad was helping me when he was 84!”
His conversational style always brings insight and interesting thoughts to bear. We hope Doug and Betty work with us for many years to come and that their beliefs of diversified farming continue. Today, his farm is supported through the work of his daughter Marilyn and her husband Stan, and their children Simon and Joel.
Baker Farm - Kiron, Iowa
Meyer Farm - Lawson, Missouri
Johnson Farm - Oldsburg, Kansas
Heritage Foods is also proud to have developed relationships with local producers outside the Kansas City area where most of our meats are processed. These include Kenneth Johnson who started with us as a 4-H student and kept his line going after that, a line he originally sourced from Craig Good. We also work with Sharon Meyer and Trent and Troy Baker (the Baker boys) who raise some of the largest and nicest Berkshire pigs in the nation.
Lamb
Tamarack Sheep Farm
Corinth, Vermont
Ben Machin and Grace Bowmer raise three breeds of heritage breed sheep on their beautiful Tamarack Sheep Farm located on the rolling hills and green pastures of Vermont.
As Ben explains, “Grass, it is at the heart of our operation, and restoring grassland and soil is one of the reasons that we scaled up our operation.” All of the animals on Tamarack Farm have access to grass 100% of the time. In the summer, this means grass growing in the field, in the winter, or for animals that are housed in the barn, this means hay.
Ben and Grace make all their own hay, managing about 120 acres of hay land. They have four old John Deere tractors, and all the equipment to make round bales. They fertilize the fields and cut them three or four times each year to keep the quality high. Supplements for the lamb include whole grains as opposed to ground or pellet feed.
Most of the more successful commercial breeds of lamb are a mix of quite a few other breeds — hybrid vigor is a really big deal in the industry. But Ben and Grace are 100% committed to heritage breeds, both because they have a family tradition that’s almost 100 years old, and because they feel that the genetics are potentially quite important to the future.
The fastest growing sheep breed worldwide is the hybrid White Dorper and it would not exist if not for the foundational Horned Dorset genetics that were used to create it, the kind currently grown on Tamarack Farm. Dopers are proving essential to allowing sheep farmers to adapt to climate change in various parts of the world, and it’s the heritage breed in them that allows them to be so resistant and strong. Ben and Grace have participated in a program with the Swiss Village Foundation and the Smithsonian, who collected eggs and semen from 80 of their animals over a 10-year period to store in cryogenic freezers.
There are incredible challenges to raising heritage breed animals. Heritage breeds are inherently less productive, in general, than the modern breeds. But for Ben and Grace it’s worth it: Ben’s great-grandfather started a Tunis flock in the 1920s. Years later, Ben's grandfather, Herb, began to work with Dorset Horn sheep for a 4-H project. In 2006, in Herb’s last days, Ben made the monumental and wonderful decision to dedicate himself to revitalizing the family flock. Grace joined Ben in 2008. Grace came with a background in architecture, site design, landscaping, and gardening, and together they purchased the land and built a barn.
Today with a fifth generation in the mix, there is even more reason to continue their efforts on the farm despite new challenges. Many of their local restaurant customers have taken a beating with recent global events, but sunny days on grassy pastures look to be in the future, which is good news for chefs and lovers of lamb! Ben and Grace have increased production on Hogget (1-2 year old sheep) and mutton (2+ year old sheep) on their farm because of increased demand.
According to Ben, the Tunis breed is lean but has the richest taste of all. He remembers the Navajo Churro as being a bit drier but still delicious and succulent. The Dorset Horn is very moist and mild flavored. Ben especially loves the Horned Dorset, “because both males and females grow horns!” Amazingly the taste and flavor of all three breeds becomes more subtle and mild as the animal ages on the hoof.
Shannon Creek Farm
Manhattan, Kansas
Joseph Hubbard is one of the youngest farmers in the Heritage Foods network. Joseph learned the art of farming from his family and raises sheep and goats on the vast Flint Hill pastures around Manhattan, Kansas.
The Flint Hills, a band of hills in eastern Kansas stretching into North Central Oklahoma, is a region that is not good for plant agriculture, but ideal for pasture raised animals. This ecological region is where the most dense coverage of intact tallgrass prairie can be found in North America including Big Bluestem, Little Bluestem, Indiangrass, Switchgrass, Prairie Dropseed, and Sideoats Grama. These tallgrass varieties are responsible for producing the tastiest grass fed animals on the planet.
Joseph raises multiple breeds of lamb for different reasons: Katahdin for their multiple birth and high growth rate, St. Croix for the natural tannin in their gut that wards off parasites and White Dorper for their muscling. Joseph is also a major producer for our Goatober Project.
Beef
Long Meadow Ranch
Napa Valley, California
Long Meadow Ranch Cattle Company is the owner of more than 350 outstanding Highland cattle with bloodlines that include the 2000 Grand and Reserve Champion cows and the 1999 Champion Cow/Calf Pair.
The growing operation is based at Long Meadow Ranch's Mayacamas Estate where they maintain bulls and selected cows. The 500-acre farm in Tomales (in Marin County) is home to the mother cow herd. The weaned calves and yearlings enjoy lush Carneros grasses on the 157-acre Di Rosa Preserve along Highway 121 in southern Napa County.
Long Meadow is also famous for their delicious wines and fantastic restaurant Farmstead headed by chef Stephen Barber. Housed in a former nursery barn, the restaurant is centered around an open kitchen, family-style dining, a full bar and an authentic farm-to-table menu.
Heartbrand Beef
Texas
There is a long history to the Akaushi breed that originated in Japan and that is now raised in Texas. The breed was originally free ranged on Mount Aso, the largest active volcano in Japan, which stands in Aso Kuju National Park in Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyush. Its peak is 1,592 meters (5,223 ft) above sea level.
The Japanese Association of Akaushi was founded in 1944 with the goal of researching breeding techniques to produce the best tasting beef in the world. This data has been used in the selection of every Akaushi dam and sire over the last half-century. Hard work, coupled with the discerning palates of Japanese consumers, has led the Association to accomplish its mission!
Through a loophole in the Trade Act of 1994, three bulls and eight Akaushi cows were able to leave Japan in a custom equipped Boeing 747 for the Texas heartland where they are still treated like a treasure to this day. Our Akaushi are sourced by HeartBrand Ranch, the very same family of farms that first brought the breed to the States.
HeartBrand Ranch is headquartered in Harwood, Texas with cooperating ranches located around the U.S. HeartBrand’s Certified Akaushi beef is supplied through their own herd of nearly 16,000 Akaushi full-blood or half-blood cattle, cooperating producers and through a buyback program. Their lineage of the American Akaushi can be traced back over 30 generations to the origin of the breed. The animals are raised humanely with no antibiotics or hormones.
Heritage Foods beef is all cut by our abattoir partners outside Kansas City, Paradise Locker Meats.
Mario and Teresa purchased the business in 1995 and ran the locker, still in Paradise, providing custom processing for local farmers and hunters in the area. They also started a retail side of the business, offering various cuts of meat to local shoppers! Mario started with a team of around 3-5 employees and was processing roughly 10 beef and 10 hogs a week.
After a fire, Mario and Teresa found land just down the road in Trimble, MO and set out building the growing business! In January of 2003, they broke ground and in September they reopened the doors to the new Paradise Locker Meats. Starting with the same crew, they quickly started growing with more capabilities in the new building.
Growing was never easy, but Mario and Teresa were determined to continue what they started in Paradise, and build a company that could make a difference in the food world. Through wonderful support by the local community, and establishing amazing relationships with clients locally and nationally, Paradise Locker Meats currently employs 50 plus employees and processes 350-400 local animals on a weekly basis! Paradise is now run by Lou Fantasma along with his parents and brother Nick.
Paradise Locker Meats exists to support and serve patrons and families in a sustainable manner by processing meats from small family farms; building awareness of local, natural food; and providing quality, wholesome products with dedication, integrity and honesty!
Abattoir
Paradise Locker Meats
Kansas City, Missouri
Mario and Teresa Fantasma are the founders of Paradise Locker Meats. Mario worked in the commodity meat industry for decades before deciding that he wanted something better. So he went to the bank and got a loan to purchase an existing slaughterhouse in Paradise, Missouri, just outside Kansas City. The old plant, which had frequently been used as a local election headquarters, eventually burned down during a curing accident and the Fantasma family was at a crossroads. Would they open a new plant or call it quits and go back to working for the big guys? Thanks to prompting from their two sons, Lou and Nick, who both work there now, Mario and Teresa decided to invest in a new building a few miles away.
We first met the Fantasmas in 2005 and they immediately became USDA inspected (from state inspection) allowing them to ship across state lines for Heritage Foods accounts. Today their operation has expanded from 6 employees to 46, they recently doubled in size, and they are now a Certified Humane facility.
Paradise Locker processes most of the steak and hamburger we sell, but most importantly, they process, cut, cure and ship over 200 pigs a week for hundreds of Heritage accounts from coast to coast. WE speak with them numerous times a day as they work with us to improve the quality of meat in fine restaurants, cure houses, meat counters and homes around the country.
Paradise Locker has won numerous awards for their injection-curing program, are a fixture of the BBQ circuit locally and are growing their retail store as well. Heritage is honored to have grown with them and looks forward to growing more in the future.
Goat
Highwood Farm
New York
Luce Guanzini and Mark Baustian have been raising Boer crosses on their farm since 1994. While neither come from farming backgrounds, Mark and Luce connected years ago over their shared love of animals while pursuing degrees in Biology and Animal Science at Cornell, respectively. Luce now works at Cornell as a Veterinary Technologist.
Breeding at Highwood takes place in November so that kidding occurs mid-April to May. Although Boers are meat goats, Mark and Luce like to keep some dairy genetics in their herd, such as Nubian and Alpine, because they feel the increased milk production is good for the kids. The herd helps maintain the farm’s forest and pastures which would otherwise be seriously threatened by invasive woody shrubs. The goats are pastured during warm months and fed on hay throughout the winter.
Miz-inka Farm
New York
Ruth and Jim Sickler run Miz-inka Farm, which has been in the Sickler family since 1929. Both Ruth and Jim grew up on dairy farms helping their families with the farm chores for as long as they can remember. For the past 25 years Ruth and Jim have maintained the farm’s dairy business. In 2008 they began raising Boer meat goats.
The Sicklers originally looked to goats as a tool for making the farm more sustainable, but have grown to love the fun and excitement the herd brings their grandkids. Their diverse herd, which now boasts 75 goats of all ages, includes La Mancha dairy goats, a source of milk and cheese for the family.
Jim and Jean Bright
New York
Jim and Jean Bright work with their grandchildren, who are avid 4-Hers, to show their goats around central New York State. The Brights have a dual purpose herd with Boers, Alpines and crosses. They have a registered Boer buck and registered Alpine buck in the herd. They milk their does by hand and have become especially skilled at making fresh cheeses. Their three-acre farm is home to 32 goats. Recently they have begun work on new property that will eventually house a larger farm. Plans are to expand to approximately 75 meat goats and 25 dairy goats with a milking parlor and cheese processing facility.
4 Tin Fish Farm
New York
4 Tin Fish Farm is a family owned and operated micro goat dairy located in Central New York. The farm initially started out as a hobby for the Fish family, but as their passion grew they began to shift their thinking as to how they could turn the hobby into a family business. Their goal is to provide farmstead cheese to local restaurants and consumers and to raise quality Alpine dairy goats.
The Fish family learned of Heritage Foods through the Cornell Cooperative Extensions list serve that posted a request for more goats for our annual Goatober Project. Since responding the Fishes have produced goats for some of New York City's best restaurants.
We are are big fans of the Fishes, especially after a recent visit where we got a chance to taste their chèvre and feta.
Curemasters and Artisans
S. Wallace Edwards and Sons
Surry, Virginia
We first met Sam Edwards when he placed a call into Heritage Foods in 2006 to inquire about our pasture-raised, Certified Humane, Berkshire hams for his 80-year old family business (now 92 years old). As we researched we discovered that S. Wallace Edwards and Sons was an American treasure that supplied ham, bacon and sausage to thousands of restaurants, butchers and shops across the South. Indeed Edwards was a household name to millions, but in New York where Heritage Foods is based, only a few pioneering establishments like Momofuku Ssam Bar featured his meats on their menu.
Sam is always trying to improve the products coming out of his facility in Surry, Virginia and he believed that the Berkshire breed, raised outdoors, was the best way to do that, especially when it came to long-aged hams which need to stand up to 400 or more days of curing. Our first test load was sent in the autumn of 2006 and then we waited…and waited…until just over a year later when Sam called us again to say that the hams we had sent him came out tasting exquisite. We were ecstatic. That ham, which took on the name Surryano, is now considered the premiere American (meaning smoked) prosciutto-style ham being produced on these shores.
S. Wallace Edwards and Sons facility burned down in a terrible fire in 2016 but that has not stopped the Edwards Family. As they are going through the rebuilding process, they continue to cure ham, bacon and sausage, including the Surryano, at other locations.
Casella's by Cesare Casella
Sullivan County, New York
Few chefs are more loved by respected chefs than Cesare Casella. Cesare is known for his skills in the kitchen and on the farm — he is the very definition of an eco-gastronomist, someone who knows about great food but also understands that each ingredient and its source is of utmost importance. No wonder his favorite quote comes from Leonardo Da Vinci who said, “Simplicity, is the ultimate sophistication.”
Recognized for his charismatic smile and by the sprigs of rosemary springing from his breast pocket, Cesare exudes conviviality. Cesare is often out and about, trying new restaurants to support his colleagues, and attending events where he can be found slicing up his famed domestically produced prosciutto which uses heritage breeds as the only ingredient (besides salt!). He can single handedly mesmerize a room as he hand slices his Casella’s Heritage Prosciutto.
Cesare has done many things in his career, including opening restaurants, starting an heirloom bean business, importing a rare breed of Tuscan cattle, and introducing Canestrino tomatoes to chefs and home cooks in the U.S. But we know him best for his rescue operation of many of the farms we work with. In 2016, when famed country ham producer Sam Edwards’ plant burned down in a terrible fire, Cesare stepped up and immediately began production on a heritage prosciutto line. These 18-24 month aged hams sourced from a few dozen heritage farms in the Midwest, would go on to become one of the most respected prosciutto in the world and a fixture at hundreds of America’s best restaurants from coast-to-coast.
But Cesare’s greatest contribution comes from his work at The Center for Discovery® which is improving the local and state economy, the fields of education, healthcare and research, and most of all, the lives of individuals with complex conditions, such as autism. The Center has become a magnet institution where individuals from around the region and world travel to receive highly advanced care and access to groundbreaking research.
Cesare understands botany and genetics, he’s a physicist and a chemist, and an expert on agriculture and ecology. He’s an anthropologist through food, and also a sociologist. He gets cooking and physiology, meaning he knows how to determine quality. He understands that food is medicine, and he knows about technology and industry. These are many of the reasons why he is the Chief of D.N.A., the Department of Nourishment Arts, at The Center for Discovery. Cesare’s staff — some 50 farmers, chefs, bakers, and nutritionists — feed not only the 350 full-time residents and 150 day students, but also the 1,600 people who care for them. His team has their own farm, bakery, herb shop, and a CSA where they sell the farm’s vegetables, dried herbs, vinegar, herbal teas, pickles, honey, and granola. And most recently they launched Acetaia Del Sole, a craft vinegar workshop in Hurleyville, New York that creates innovative balsamic-style vinegars using the traditional techniques of Italy’s vinegar masters.
Cesare grew up in Lucca, Italy and was raised inside Vipore, his parents' trattoria that he later made famous. It was there that he gained an intimate knowledge of nature and of the oldest recipes from nonna's (grandmothers) and Norcini (traveling butchers). The tradition of the Norcino started in the town of Norcia in Umbria, high in the Apennine mountains, a place famous for its cured meats. Farming conditions were poor in the mountains, so Norcians ate what they had plenty of, which was the cinghiale, or wild boar, that roamed the forests. They also raised their own pigs, then cured the meat so it would keep for long periods, an art that evolved over the centuries.
In time, the Norcini became so expert, their art was recognized both by the state and by the Catholic Church. After the trade group, the Confraternita Norcina was founded in 1615, it received the blessing of Pope Paul V. The Norcini were considered so skilled, they were allowed to practice surgery, dentistry and bone setting!
The original Norcini typically traveled in pairs. There was the butcher who cut up the meat and broke it down, and the Salumiere, who turned that meat into salumi. Together, the Norcini made the salumi for every season, from fresh sausage for the next day, to prosciutto for the following year. Each duo had its own routes and loyal farmers that it serviced year after year, and as the men crisscrossed Italy, they carried with them the secret recipes and processes for creating prosciutto and salumi. There were generations of Norcini who passed along their secrets to their apprentices who in turn cared for the same family farms decade after decade.
After World War II, as pig farming became industrialized, the Norcini began to fade from the Italian countryside, and the visits made to the Casella Family and Vipore grew more and more rare. Eventually Cesare took on some of the butchering and salumi-making and also worked with local butchers to get the flavors he wanted for Vipore. His platters of cacciatorini, finocchiona and sopressata became one of the restaurant’s trademarks.
The tradition of the Norcini and the flavors and smells of salumi-making in the Italian countryside are what Cesare is drawing on with Casalla’s Salumi Speciali. He is working with farmers dedicated to raising pork as the Norcians did for centuries. Their pigs, he likes to say, are happy pigs. They roam pastures freely. They run around and they roll in the mud. They loll. They’re not dosed with antibiotics. When Cesare makes prosciutto, he cures it on the bone, just as the Norcians did, for that deep, authentic nutty flavor. And just like the Norcini, Cesare has his own special recipe for the spices to make his salami and prosciutto.
Cesare's generosity is part of his personality. Cesare will remain a legend within the Heritage Foods walls and outside of them for a long time to come. We also have him to thank for introducing us to Emily Pearson, our Director of Wholesale, who spent years working at his side.
Volpi Fine Foods
St. Louis, Missouri
Tucked away in the heart of the Midwest, Volpi Foods has been handcrafting authentic, premium prosciutto and salame products since 1902. Today, Volpi is expanding their lineup of charcuterie to include heritage-breed, slow-aged prosciutto. Fifteen months in the making, the first batch of air-dried prosciutti are ready for tasting.
Volpi’s heritage prosciutto boasts an unparalleled blend of salty lean muscle marbled with deliciously creamy fat, creating a complex, layered taste experience.
“This is the taste of history,” says Lorenza Pasetti, a third-generation artisanal curemaster, now the CEO of Volpi Foods. “’Heritage’ brings us back to a simpler time, before industrial farming, and we are honored to work directly with the farmers rebuilding this line of livestock.
Nduja Artisans
Chicago, Illinois
Antonio Fiasche from ’Nduja Artisans continues a great tradition of Italian charcuterie. His family has run Ristorante Agostino in Chicago for over thirty years, and Antonio has led the charge towards expanding a curing business anchored by a wide variety of salamis and their family specialty, ’nduja, a spreadable, spicy, Calabrian pâté, which they have been making for five generations.
Antonio recently opened a butcher shop in Chicago, as he continues to expand his product line in restaurants and shops from coast to coast.
Colonel Bill Newsom's Aged Kentucky Country Ham
Princeton, Kentucky
Benton's Smoky Mountain Country Hams
Madisonville, Tennessee
Broadbent's Ham
Kuttawa, Kentucky
Heritage Foods is so honored to work with these three members of the Mt. Rushmore of cured meats in the United States.
Twenty years ago, the bulk of American charcuterie was cheap, commodity product. You could get a domestic prosciutto in a supermarket for half the price of Prosciutto di Parma.
More recently, charcuterie in the United States is following the same trend we have seen with wine, beer, cheese, and bread. The talent pool is expanding and quality ingredients are becoming more accessible.
Says Patrick Martins, founder of Heritage Foods USA: “Two decades ago, if you wanted to buy an imported beer, you paid a premium. American beer was cheap. Now the most expensive and sought-after beer is domestic, handcrafted beer, made in smaller quantities, with the best ingredients.
“The same thing is happening with high-quality charcuterie. The domestic version will be the sought after product. Imports will dwindle. We’ll still love our Italian and Spanish hams, but they won’t be nearly as prevalent, they’ll be nostalgia. The market is changing right before our eyes.”
We are very proud to work with these great curemasters who produce amazing charcuterie and long aged hams using our heritage breed pasture-raised pork."
Broadbent Hams, under the direction of Ronny and Beth Drennan, in Kuttawa, Kentucky, have won championships from the National Country Ham Association. They have recently added a new line of heritage breed, pasture-raised hams to their existing line of Southern Style hams, which goes back 100 years. They represent a new American style of prosciutto — lighter, with a uniquely sweet and salty flavor.
Al Benton speaks with an unerring southern twang that is like catnip to New Yawkers. And even though he teases at himself for being a hillbilly, he can’t hide his business acumen or old-school good looks — his smile is half Robert Redford and half Jimmy Carter, equal parts star power and earnest American. Speaking to him about his business is a powerful lesson in pride, good taste, modesty, respect for history, and the providence of good timing — Al was lucky enough to catch the rising tide of foodies and enlightened chefs who recognized the soaring quality of their country hams just as cosmopolitan foodie culture was exploding.
Nancy Newsom’s Old Mill Store was opened in 1917, and although it burned down and was rebuilt next door to the original locale, it doesn’t feel like much has changed. The poplar floor creeks like an ancient symphony, even the door whistles like a bluegrass concerto when it swings shut. Outside on the sidewalk, there are a dozen varieties of tomato plants for sale, and pretty much everything you might want for your garden. Inside, are every manner of beans and corn, and jars of country condiments, from Hot Chow Chow to Appalachian Piccallili. In the back corner, past the buckets of penny candy, is where they slice the ham.
Parma Foods
New York City
This is third generation greatness from a no-nonsense artisan, Pepe Giocoli, who wears his white butcher’s smock like a coat of armor. New York has its own regional cuisine, and Parma products are true classics, the genuine taste of New York City. Lightly seasoned and crafted his sausages have an outstanding flavor and an incredibly snappy texture.
Back in 1950 the patriarch known in the Industry as Jimmy (Vincenzo Giocoli) founded Parma Sausage Co. His desire to deliver a high quality product at an affordable price was at the forefront of his mission. Born in Italy he migrated to America to seek the American dream, using his hands to make sausage the old fashioned way was what he knew.
Starting on foot and store by store, his passion and perseverance delivered a 60 year old company that people have come to love and trust for delivering consistency and quality. His son and our friend Pepe now runs the company.
Fatted Calf
San Francisco, California
Fatted Calf Charcuterie was one of Heritage Foods’ first customers on the West Coast. Owned and operated by husband-and-wife team, Taylor Boetticher and Toponia Miller, Fatted Calf is more than a butcher shop. With locations in Napa and San Francisco, Fatted Calf offers meaty goods and services that are varied and unique. Pick out a slab of ribs and they'll cook it up for you! Want your heritage pork tenderloin seasoned and packed to go? You got it! Interested in learning how to butcher a whole hog and make your own charcuterie? No problem! The Fatted Calf also produces house-made sausage, pâtés, terrines and in 2017 they officially launched a line of USDA certified old-fashioned dry cured bacon and breed specific charcuterie.
Pantry
Wild Rice
The meaning of Anishnaabeg is "First-" or "Original-Peoples". Another definition refers to "the good humans", or good people, meaning those who are on the right road/path given to them by the Creator (Great Spirit). Our friend and a Heritage Foods USA Advisory Board member Winona La Duke introduced us to the delicious products of the Northern Minnesota Lake regions. This is one of the few rice varieties that is truly wild. Winona is working to protect the wild label for producers that truly raise the grain on open lakes.
Salt
We are proud to offer this new seasoning salt from Angelo Garro. This is the only savory seasoning your meat will ever need. If you don't believe us, see what Alice Waters, Michael Pollan, and Werner Herzog are saying about this seasoning. In the words of Angelo himself, "I created a salt mix that for years I have used for cooking meat, fish, and vegetables. Many of my friends are chefs, restaurateurs, and artists, and for years I have been giving my salt to them. They loved it and urged me to share it with the community and with food lovers everywhere. So here it is, my Omnivore Salt. You can use it everyday, on whatever you love to cook."
Pasta
Baia Pasta is an Oakland-based artisan food company founded by Renato Sardo. Renato was born and raised in Piemonte, a region in Northwestern Italy. The seed for Baia Pasta started when Renato learned that most Italian pasta is made from American and Canadian wheat that is shipped to Italy, made into pasta, and then shipped back. After a few years of study, Renato extracted enough wisdom from the Italian maestri to start extruding his own pastasciutta made from a variety of grains from local farms. This organic pasta is made from American-grown ingredients in Oakland, CA and is perfect for pairing with heritage meats to create exceptionally flavorful dishes.
Maple Syrup
Maple syrup is only made in certain snowy forests when spring breaks. Our syrup comes from 100-year-old trees in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont — it is the sweetest stuff nature produces. The Cantor family boils and bottles all of their syrup right on their farm. They tap their trees and the maple sap flows down to the Sugarhouse where it is boiled gently over a wood fire, just as it has been for generations. Just a few days later this Grade A Amber Syrup is poured into beautiful glass jugs. Use for pancakes, waffles, desserts, glazing hams, or just drinking by the spoonful!
Wheat Berries
The legend goes that in 1868, Charles Hayden was making his way up North when he was waylaid by dangerously high waters on the Salt River. While waiting for the waters to subside, he stood on top of Tempe Butte and looked out on the fertile land surrounding him, envisioning an ideal spot to establish Hayden Flour Mills. More than 100 years later Hayden Mills is re-creating Mr. Hayden’s vision. By growing the same heritage grains on the same land, they are bringing back a time when flour was non-hybridized, minimally processed and flavorful. Today Hayden Mills grinds heritage and ancient grains sourced from small farms in Arizona on an Austrian stone mill.