Natalie Veres and Cassie Parsons
Denver, NC
Pork, Chicken, Duck, Eggs, Mushrooms

Grateful Growers started 4 years ago. Natalie and Cassie came to farming because they were tired of food they were afraid to eat and wanted to have more control over how their food was produced. They were alarmed and discouraged at the prevalence of industrial-scale and vertically-integrated agribusiness. Grateful Growers was named after Cassie and Natalie walked around the place, feeling blessed to have the will and ability to grow amazing food.

Natalie and Cassie farm full time, supplying their own farm labor, with the assistance of one part-time person that helps on the farm occasionally. The duo makes Grateful Growers special. The love of the laborers and the passion they have for great food conscientiously produced makes a huge difference. They also have the unique benefit of having Cassie's training as a former executive chef. This allows Grateful Growers to blend a strong culinary aspect into their farming. Additionally, Grateful Growers is very active in cultivating the ‘local food community’; hosting & sponsoring events, doing lots of workshops and fundraisers, etc.

Grateful Growers was nominated for NC “Small Farm of the Year” in 2007. Their pork chops were finalists in the 2008 Gallo Family Artisinal Food award. Their pork has been used by five chefs for events they’ve cooked at the James Beard House: a prestigious recognition of our food quality! Natalie and Cassie have been selected as delegates to attend Slow Food’s 2008 Terra Madre conference in Italy. They are responsible for Alice Waters’ visit to Charlotte in Sept 2007.

Grateful Growers' long-term vision is to be a multi-million dollar working farm that builds community through the sustainable production and enjoyment of extraordinary food.

Pork

Grateful Growers keeps an average of 60-80 pigs at a time, in various stages of development. They do some breeding on the farm, but not much any more because they don’t really have the space to maintain a breeding herd. For the animals not born here, they purchase from other farmers here in NC that raise pigs like they do. Most pigs they purchase are 8 weeks old, but they do buy some that are older (up to 6 months). Buying pigs from other farmers allows them to keep farming and helps Grateful Growers keep a continuous supply of meat for their customers.

These pigs are raised outdoors on pasture, 24 hours a day, every day. They are fed feed from mills in Statesville and Taylorsville (corn, soy + barley + mineral supplement); whey from goat milk (Bosky Acres in Waxhaw); spent brewer’s grains (from Hops brewery in Matthews). Grateful Growers cannot get organic feed, but what they use is as clean as is available in our area.

The pigs are given antibiotics only when acutely ill and when natural remedies are ineffective or impractical. To Grateful Growers, not treating a sick animal is inhumane, so if they have to resort to pharmaceuticals, they will, but will then remove that animal from the population for sale as “antibiotic free”. Hormones and feed additives are never given to these animals.

Poultry

As for poultry, Grateful Growers raises 1400 broilers per year. They start as day-old chicks from Shook Poultry in Claremont, NC. The chickens are raised on pasture, 24/7, in pens that we move at least once a day to offer them fresh forage & a clean place to hang out. The pens serve to protect them from predators.

The chickens are fed a commercial “starter-grower” feed made of grains and vegetable protein. The farm cannot get organic feed, but what they use is as clean as is available in our area. The feed is supplemented with a Vitamin/electrolyte pack and apple cider vinegar. The chickens are never given antibiotics, hormones, steroids, or growth promoters.

Eggs

Grateful Growers keeps about 100-180 hens and 1 rooster at a time. These birds start as day-old chicks from Shook Poultry in Claremont, NC. They are in a henhouse overnight and until about noon. Every afternoon they are let out into the farmyard and pasture and they forage for the rest of the day – at sundown they put themselves back to bed in the henhouse and Natalie or Cassie shuts the door to keep predators out.

Grateful Growers does not force molt, nor do they use artificial light to avoid molt/slow laying during short daylength. The hens are fed laying mash (corn + soy + alfalfa meal) from a mill in Taylorsville. The farm cannot get organic feed, but use feed that is as clean as is available in our area. Supplements to the feed include oyster shell, kelp meal, and apple cider vinegar. The birds are never given antibiotics and remain within the flock for 2-3 years or when they quit earning their keep.

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Grateful Growers Farm