You’re invited: Niman Ranch Hog Farmer Appreciation Celebration

In the mid-aughts we did some work on the Niman Ranch website. We were guests of famed pig farmer and natural husbandry advocate Paul Willis in Thorton, IA. We toured his grounds, ate at his favorite coffee shop, even got to stay in his guest house. But the one thing we were not offered was an invite to the annual Farmer Appreciation dinner, where legendary chefs consider it an honor to be asked to travel to Iowa to cook for local hog producers as the community breaks bread together.

This year, with the pandemic, the 22^nd Annual Hog Farmer Appreciation Celebration is going virtual. To quote the website, “we are inviting YOU to this special dinner, with a virtual cooking class taught by seven-time Michelin award winner and farmer advocate Chef Thomas Keller.  With your ticket, you will receive a meal kit shipped to your home that includes a recipe, the proteins needed for the dish and special additions hand-curated by Chef Keller. You will then be able to join for a LIVE virtual cooking class to participate in an interactive demonstration with Chef Keller himself.” The class/dinner will take place on Thursday, September 10, from 7:00 to 8:15 Central Time. The cost is $204.99 per person including meal kit and Fedex shipping. Register here.

And that’s not all. On August 20, you can learn to build masterful charcuterie boards with James Beard-nominated Chef Kelly Whitaker during a live virtual demonstration. The cost is $76.86 and includes a Fedex shipment of a variety of Niman Ranch charcuterie products which will be used during the demo as well as live access to an interactive class with Chef Kelley. Register here. All proceeds from both events benefit young farmers through the Niman Ranch Next Generation Foundation.

There are also a number of online forums which are free as far as I can tell. You can sit in on the keynote by renowned animal welfare expert Dr. Temple Grandin, which happens just after the Farmer Appreciation Dinner on September 10. On September 11, you can take a virtual tour of a Niman Ranch hog farm. There are also educational panels on a range of topics including improving farm animal welfare and how to achieve resilience throughout the food system in the time of COVID-19.

It’s quite a smorgasbord and, judging from the quality of other interactions we’ve had with the Niman Ranch team, everything is likely to be of the highest quality. And we’re all invited, so take some time to check out the schedule and learn about Niman Ranch here.