2011
info@HeritageFoodsUSA.com
info@HeritageRadioNetwork.com
718-389-0985
Heritage Foods USA was founded ten years ago as a response to dwindling options in the marketplace for high-quality,
humanely raised meat products grown by small and medium sized independent farmers. This segment of the agricultural
population is being squeezed out of business by a government in harness with trade organizations that support high
volume production at grotesquely low prices. As a result of US farm policies, thousands of family farms have gone under,
and the loss of cultivated land has put our future domestic food supply at risk. Thanks to the support of our partners,
Heritage Foods USA has managed to pump $20 million into small agriculture-related business, slowly but surely helping
to reverse this trend.
We now enter 2011 with a new Heritage Foods USA Manifesto! We will continue to build on our milestone triumphs in
reviving heritage breeds, increasing awareness of the food supply in the consumer mainstream, and offering farmers a
chance to work their farms in a way that best serves the land, the animals, the consumer, and themselves. In addition, we
are adding some radical new projects that will continue to change our food landscape for the better:
A SOCIAL BUY of seafood from various regions including the South, where the fishing industry is staggering from natural
and unnatural disasters. With the commitment of over 250 restaurant chefs and 30,000 mail order customers, we will
organize a Fresh Catch Social Buy, offering a significant influx of cash to seafaring populations. Spearheaded by our
Director of Special Projects, Dan Honig, major shipment days will take place on docks across America in the revolutionary
sprit of the Slow Food Presidium. The most important aspect to remember here is that the more people that buy, the
cheaper each individual order becomes.
NO GOAT LEFT BEHIND: In dairies across America, most male goats are slaughtered and sold for next to nothing while
only a few are kept on as breeders. As a result, male goats end up being a burden on dairy farms despite the fact that
they descend from some of the best genetics in the world. Led by Communications Director Katy Keiffer, No Goat Left
Behind is a project designed to sell every male dairy goat destined for meat use into the mainstream food chain in the
New England and Atlantic State region to augment the revenue of dairy farms. No more low commodity pricing!
A CREAMERY in NEW YORK STATE: In New York State over the past two years, thousands of dairy cows have been
slaughtered for meat, and dozens of farms shuttered because commodity milk prices are so low farmers cannot afford
their cows. Working with Saxelby Cheesemongers, local politicians, and non-profit foundations, we will produce and sell
an affordable cheese intended for sandwiches and everyday use, while paying farmers significantly more than commodity
pricing for their milk. The goal of this project is that no dairy farmer living close to New York will ever be paid an unfair
price for milk.
THE FOOD MUSEUM: Dave Arnold, Director of Culinary Technology at the French Culinary Institute and weekly host of
Cooking Issues on Heritage Radio Network, has already launched the concept for a major Food Museum. The project
sprang from discussions with the late and much lamented Michael Batterberry of Food Arts Magazine who saw this
museum as a critical way to educate and entertain the public about their food supply. Permanent and traveling exhibitions
will be modest at first but the eventual goal is that the Food Museum will one day rival the Museum of Natural History as a
social force. Stay tuned for information regarding the first fundraising event in spring of 2011.
MAPLE SYRUP: In March, the Heritage team, led by the Director of Mail Order Operations, Andrea Trabucco- Campos,
will head to Vermont to work with the Cantor family of Deep Mountain Maple Syrup during the frenetic three-week season
when sap runs. The Heritage team will bring needed hands to the harvest, produce informational videos on the true and
time-tested art of producing maple syrup, and of course organize a sales campaign to restaurants, home chefs, cure
masters, and everyone who just loves maple syrup.
Box 198 402 Graham Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11211 – www.HeritageFoodsUSA.com
The mission at Heritage Foods USA will always be to support “good, clean, and fair” foods and pricing, as articulated by
Carlo Petrini, founder of Slow Food International. As we approach our tenth anniversary and review the success of our
mission, we remain steadfast in this commitment.
Heritage Foods USA has been the engine that has helped to revive endangered breeds of poultry and enabled farmers
such as Frank Reese to build major new infrastructure and grow his company to include other farmers as passionate as
he is about heritage livestock. Many breeds have been upgraded to more stable status on conservation lists. In 2010 we
introduced a kosher line of Heritage Turkeys raised on Leaping Waters Farm in Virginia.
We have mobilized farming groups for Berkshire, Red Wattle, Tamworth, and Duroc breeds. We are proud to announce
monthly Large Black and Gloucestershire Old Spot supplies starting in Spring 2011. Heritage Foods USA works to make
small farms bigger and big farms better. For example Lazy Farm has recently doubled its size to include hundreds of
Animal Welfare Approved Six-Spotted Berkshires. Meanwhile Holthaus Farm applied for and received Certified Humane
status for its Berkshire supply to comply with our standards. And the Norton family in Missouri has strengthened the
Berkshire line on its farm in an effort to achieve 100% Berkshire genetics.
Our wholesale business has given Paradise Locker Meats the opportunity to expand tenfold over the last five years,
offering better processing facilities to their region in Missouri as well as new employment opportunities. We sell 200
specialty pigs each and every week, come rain, snow, or national holiday, offering distribution and sales services to
American farmers who comply with our standards on genetics and husbandry protocols.
This past year, the Hearst Ranch in California and S. Wallace Edwards and Sons in Virginia allowed us to accomplish
major infrastructure changes in our distribution network, thus reducing prices for over 30,000 mail order clients. In the
summer of 2011 we will again sell eighth cattle from the Hearst Ranch, the largest grassfed cattle operation in the United
States. Sam Edwards is for the fourth year producing European quality prosciutto style hams, from Heritage breed pigs
including some raised on peanuts, milk and cranberries.
Perhaps the greatest accomplishments of 2010 has been the growth of HeritageRadioNetwork.com (HRN), a media outlet
located in the back garden of Roberta’s Restaurant in Brooklyn, NY. HRN was inspired by Carlo Petrini’s radio station of
the 1970s, Radio Bra Onde Rosse. Led by Executive Producer Jack Inslee, HRN offers programming on our food supply
and environment, with guest appearances from the top echelon of talent from multiple disciplines. At years end, we count
21 weekly shows on our Network, which saw its birth in April of 2009. Our newest show, Speakeasy, will focus on the
history of the American cocktail hosted by Damon Boelte, bartender at Prime Meats.
Other shows include Dave Arnold’s Cooking Issues which discusses new and innovative techniques, equipment, and
ingredients, Beer Sessions, an exploration of craft beers from around the world, and Michael Harlan Turkell’s, The Food
Seen: a nexus of art, photography and the culinary scene. No broadband or internet radio commands the nitty-gritty of
food issues, interests, or market trends that HRN routinely explores. Our shows go literally from farm to table, and art to
architecture. What’s even more impressive is that these shows broadcast weekly thanks to the selfless investment of our
hosts and guests who welcome the opportunity to offer more than a three-minute sound byte while investigating complex
issues. Discussions are in depth, and totally different from the typical radio experience. HRN is designed as a search
engine: just type in a word and find every time it has been tagged as a theme.
We are immensely proud of our staff, our farmers and our radio partners. We will continue to work hard to meet the
challenges that lie ahead in our next decade. For more information please contact us at 718-389-0985,
info@HeritageFoodsUSA.com or info@HeritageRadioNetwork.com.
Box 198 402 Graham Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11211 – www.HeritageFoodsUSA.com