Eating Fresh Publications is pleased to announce…
 

This year let the world know you support pasture-raised and grass-fed foods by organizing a GRAZEFEST® event at your farmers market or through your business or organization.

GRAZEFEST® 2007 EVENTS

GRAZEFEST® Documents:

GRAZEFEST® is a national awareness campaign intended to promote the multiple benefits of grass-fed and pasture-raised foods through regional culinary and educational events. Eating Fresh Publications conceived GRAZEFEST® for the purpose of raising awareness of the benefits of pasture-raised foods and to help pasture-based farmers gain markets for their products. Since September 2004, throughout the country, farmers markets and ag-related organizations have been organizing regional GRAZEFESTs, including farmers markets events, on-farm dinners, and town-wide events.

GRAZEFEST® is sponsored by Eating Fresh Publications, the EatWell Guide, GRACE (the Global Resource Action Center for the Environment), and the Weston A. Price Foundation.

What are grass-fed and pasture-raised foods?

Whether it’s cattle or chickens, pigs or bison, animals are meant to eat what they find in the wild. Depending on the animal, this may mean grass, worms, insects, and other nutritionally rich food sources. When animals are raised on pasture, eating what they can find on lush, green grass, the foods they produce are referred to as “grass-fed” or “pasture-raised.”

What are the benefits of pasture-raised and grass-fed foods?

  • Health: Grass-fed meats and dairy contain the proper ratio of Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids, they’re lower in fat and calories than conventionally raised meats, and they’re higher in conjugated lineoleic acid (the cancer-fighting fat) and vitamins than conventionally raised meat products.
  • Environmental: The proper pasturing of animals promotes biodiversity, improves soil fertility and eliminates the waste-management problems associated with confinement-feeding operations.
  • Animal and Human Welfare: Pasture-raised animals are allowed to roam on grass, eating what they’re naturally inclined to eat. They’re able to exercise, play, and retreat into the shade during the heat of the day. They enjoy clean, spacious environments and they are less likely than confined animals to become ill or to contract an array of diseases. In addition, farm workers on grass-based operations enjoy a healthier work environment than those who work on large-scale factory farms. They are less likely to suffer from respiratory problems resulting from the dust, ammonia, and dangerously high levels of carbon dioxide so common in confinement facilities.
  • Culinary: Many of today’s best chefs are discovering the unique flavors and textures of grass-fed and pasture-raised meats and dairy products. Raised properly, animals raised on pasture mean tastier and higher-quality foods.

In order to ensure local support for grass-based farming and the benefits of pasture-raised foods, we encourage you to organize a GRAZEFEST®.

How can your farmers market or organization get involved with GRAZEFEST®?

Choose from a wide range of event ideas that your farmers market or organization can easily implement to promote grass-fed and pasture-raised foods. Plan a GRAZEFEST® day or weekend at your farmers market, throw a GRAZEFEST® wine dinner, or develop a GRAZEFEST® fundraiser. Use one of our GRAZEFEST® plans or create your own. Eating Fresh can help.

By organizing a GRAZEFEST® you will:

  • Bring consumer awareness to the health, community, animal and human welfare, and culinary benefits of pasture-based farms
  • Help encourage farmers who are not already transitioning to pasture see the benefits of choosing pasture over alternative models
  • Help support pasture-based farmers in your region so they can continue to provide clean, healthful foods

Farmers Market GRAZEFESTS

This year put GRAZEFEST® on your farmers market calendar. Set aside a day at your market and organize a GRAZEFEST® based on some or all of the ideas outlined below.

  • Involve local farmers. Invite local or regional pasture-based farmers to participate. They’re always looking for ways to promote their products. Have pasture-based farmers bring samples for tasting. Since very few retailers carry pasture-raised foods, farmers markets have a market advantage.
  • Cooking demonstrations. Does your market have a Meet the Chef or similar program? If so, find out which chefs are interested in or actually cooking with pasture-raised foods (often you can find them by talking with the pasture-based farmers in your region). Invite the chef to do a cooking demonstration and have them explain to your customers what makes these foods different, both in flavor and in cooking style. Consider pairing a local chef with a pasture-based farmer for your cooking demonstration.
  • Education programs. If your farm market has an education program, consider conducting talks and lectures by local experts on food, farming, and pasture-raised meats and dairy. Experts can discuss one or all of the many benefits of pasture-raised foods, such as the health benefits, the benefits to animals and farm workers, and the impact of grass-based farming on the environment and wildlife. Eating Fresh has a collection of materials and tools from which information can be drawn.
  • GRAZEFEST® Pasture to the Pit Competition. Eating Fresh launched the first Pasture to the Pit: Southern BBQ with Pasture-Raised Meats with great success at GRAZEFEST® Alabama 2004. Conceived as a friendly competition, Pasture to the Pit features two or more barbecue “pitmasters,” who can grill, on-site, specific cuts of several heritage breeds of pasture-raised pork and beef. Locate an emcee, such as a food writer or someone familiar with pasture-raised foods and heritage breeds, and invite local chefs to serve as judges and have them evaluate the results and discuss their impressions. Eating Fresh can provide information sheets and posters describing the heritage breeds being showcased.
  • GRAZEFEST® Pasture to the Spit. If a competition doesn’t fit the bill, consider throwing a GRAZEFEST® Pasture to the Spit Pastured Pig Roast at your market and invite your customers to taste the difference pasture-raised pork can make. Be sure to let your customers know about the health benefits of pasture-raised meats and the importance of protecting heritage breeds, and let them know where they can find pasture-raised pork products in their region.
  • Hand-outs. Don’t let your customers leave empty handed. Distribute information and literature (your own or those provided by Eating Fresh, see below) promoting the multiple benefits of pasture-based foods and expressing support for pasture-based farms in the region. Create a list of the pasture-based farmers at your market and distribute to your customers.
  • Press attention. Contact local media and invite them to attend your GRAZEFEST®.
    Plan, organize, repeat. Plan to throw a GRAZEFEST® one or more times during the season, particularly when pasture-raised foods are in season in your area.

Ag-Related and Nonprofit Organizations

  • GRAZEFEST® Fund Raisers. Throwing a GRAZEFEST® means creating an effective context for promoting the ideals of your organization. Whether yours is a farming organization or an organization devoted to protecting the environment, wildlife, worker rights, or animal welfare, or a business that supports the ideals of locally grown and raised foods, GRAZEFEST® helps you promote your goals.
  • GRAZEFEST® Dinners. Work with a local restaurant or use your own facility. Find a pasture-based farmer in your region who can supply ingredients and a chef who knows how to prepare grass-fed and pasture-raised meats. Arrange for local experts—farmers, health professionals, chefs—to speak during your GRAZEFEST® dinner. Purchase copies of The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook from Eating Fresh at wholesale rates and give or sell copies of the book to attendees. Use recipes from the book. Pair courses with wines. Create a yummy cheesecake dessert using grass-fed milk and cream. GRAZEFEST® dinners make terrific fundraisers and they create awareness of the pasture-raised foods in your region.
  • Member Incentives. Looking for new members for your organization? Interested in having existing members renew? Throw a GRAZEFEST® dinner or tasting and sign up new members on-site. Or build the price of membership into the event fee. Consider giving away a copy of The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook to new members as a gift.

Town-wide GRAZEFEST® Events

In November 2004, GRAZEFEST® Princeton in Princeton, New Jersey, brought together retailers, farmers, restaurants, and the public library for a weeklong celebration of grass-fed and pasture-raised foods. The events were sponsored by the Whole Earth Center, the town’s only nonprofit natural foods store, and the Nature Conservancy of New Jersey.

How did it work? During a single week in November, several local food retailers agreed to use grass-fed ingredients in their menu items and to display posters promoting those foods. The town’s only nonprofit natural foods store created a complete in-store GRAZEFEST® display. A local restaurant threw a GRAZEFEST® wine dinner. The week capped off with a screening at the public library of a documentary about the dangers of factory farming, followed by a discussion by a local pasture-based farmer. Snacks made with pasture-raised ingredients were donated by a participating retailer.

All events were covered by sponsorships and the wine dinner sold out within days of being promoted. To find out more about how Princeton pulled together a local GRAZEFEST®, see http://www.eatingfresh.com/gfprinceton.html.

How Can Eating Fresh Support Your Local GRAZEFEST®?

Eating Fresh Publications is dedicated to putting GRAZEFEST® and the benefits of pasture-raised foods on the national radar. If your farmers market or organization plans to throw a GRAZEFEST®, Eating Fresh offers a package of materials and support for your efforts.

The GRAZEFEST® package includes

  • Permission to use the GRAZEFEST® name and brand.
  • A GRAZEFEST® logo to use on all marketing materials
  • Up to 250 copies of THE GREAT NEWS ABOUT GRASS to distribute at your event. This 12-page, full-color, consumer-friendly pamphlet details the multiple benefits of pasture-raised foods. The pamphlet features space where you can stamp your farmers market’s or organization’s contact information.
  • A GRAZEFEST® banner and posters to use as signage at your event
  • Downloadable template of a press release you can use to promote your GRAZEFEST®
  • Downloadable recipes for pasture-raised meats and dairy products
  • Wholesale discounts on bulk quantities of The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook, by Shannon Hayes (Eating Fresh Publications 2004), the first-ever cookbook and guide to finding, preparing, and cooking pasture-based foods to be sold at your market. You can review wholesale prices by downloading the Eating Fresh Wholesale Schedule and Order Form from www.eatingfresh.com. Discounts start on as few as 3 copies of The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook.
  • An announcement of your GRAZEFEST® on the Eating Fresh Web site

The Eating Fresh staff is happy to talk to you personally about ideas for generating sponsorship to offset costs. Don’t hesitate to call us at 609-466-1700.

Have a great idea for a GRAZEFEST®?

Eating Fresh Publications is looking to regional farmers markets and organizations to help us develop winning ideas for GRAZEFEST® that can be carried into the future. If you decide to organize a GRAZEFEST®, let us know what you’re doing and how you’re doing it, and we’ll use that information (with credit to your market or organization) to build a list of ideas and tips for other GRAZEFEST® organizers. We may even feature a description of your GRAZEFEST® on a link from our home page.

Today, developing markets for pasture-based farmers and ensuring high-quality supply are essential to the future of good food and farming. It also means healthier communities and better local economies.

Requirements for Organizing and Running a GRAZEFEST®

Farm markets and organizations planning to organize and run a GRAZEFEST® will agree to:
  • Obtain permission from Eating Fresh Publications to organize and run a GRAZEFEST® (use of the GRAZEFEST® name or likeness prior to permission being granted is prohibited)
  • Use and represent the GRAZEFEST® logo and likeness according to requirements set forth by Eating Fresh Publications
  • Credit national sponsors on all banners, posters, press releases, Web pages, and other promotional materials (both prior to and at the event)
  • Credit Eating Fresh Publications as the trademark holder of the GRAZEFEST® name and concept
  • Sign a GRAZEFEST® Agreement form

GRAZEFEST® Fees

  • Farmers Markets and Farms: No charge for organizing a GRAZEFEST® and using the GRAZEFEST® name and materials. However, in lieu of a fee, we ask (but do not require) farmers markets to purchase 10 or more copies of The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook at the wholesale price (plus shipping) for resale or distribution at your event.
  • Nonprofit Organizations: No charge for organizing a GRAZEFEST® and using the GRAZEFEST® name and materials. However, in lieu of a fee, we ask (but do not require) organizers to purchase 10 or more copies of The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook at the wholesale price (plus shipping) for resale or distribution at your event.
  • For-profit organizations and retailers: Eating Fresh welcomes participation by for-profit companies and retailers, either as organizers of regional GRAZEFESTs or as sponsors. Please contact Eating Fresh for more information.

NOTE: Regional farmers, farmers markets, and nonprofit organizations are encouraged to work together to organize a GRAZEFEST®. See how one town generated sponsorship and distributed costs for a successful GRAZEFEST® Princeton at www.eatingfresh.com/gfprinceton.html.

Sponsorship Opportunities

Businesses and organizations interested in supporting grass- and pasture-based farming and that want to get their names in front of thousands of consumers are encouraged to contact Eating Fresh Publications for more information.

For more information and a description of sponsorship opportunities and benefits, call Wendy Rickard at Eating Fresh Publication’s at 609-466-1700, send e-mail to rickard@eatingfresh.com, or download a copy of GRAZEFEST®: A Sponsorship Opportunity.

GRAZEFEST®, From the Pasture to the Pit, and From the Pasture to the Spit are service marks of Eating Fresh Publications, LLC, and may be used only with permission. Contact Eating Fresh at 609-466-1700 or grazefest@eatingfresh.com.

Many thanks to GRACE, originators of the hit animated film The Meatrix, and the Eat Well Guide, an online directory of sustainably raised meat, poultry, dairy, and eggs, and the Weston A. Price Foundation for their generous contribution to GRAZEFEST® America 2005 and 2006.

 
 


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