Being put out to pasture sounds like a bad thing. But there's a growing, grass-is-greener movement to put livestock back outside for what proponents say is the good of more humane and healthier meat.

"I don't want to go into confinement feedlots -- because we're eating," Carrie Hahn told a crowd of 35 who gathered for a talk and a tasting last Thursday.

	Bill Wade, Post-Gazette Bill Brownlee of Wil-Den Family Farms in Mercer County serves up some pork samples for Metha Hillard of Butler at the program on "pasture-raised" meat. Click photo for larger image. Foundation promotes its health program

This was at the new Mojoe coffeehouse in the residential Sunset Hills neighborhood of Mt. Lebanon, but people came from as far away as Butler and California, Pa., for the free event. It was sponsored by the Weston A. Price Foundation's Pittsburgh chapter, which Hahn leads, and the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture.

The groups, which support locally and sustainably grown foods, presented three local producers of "pastured" products: poultry, pork and beef allowed to graze at least a bit in pastures.

The farmers came with coolers, slow cookers, pans and plates full of food. As PASA's regional director David Eson quipped, "There's going to be more than nibbling going on here."

Hahn gave the audience a taste of the arguments for pasturing vs. grain-feeding of confined livestock. She said not only are the animals happier and healthier, their meat is healthier, too: higher in nutrients ranging from vitamin E to Omega 3 fatty acids and lower in fat, calories and contaminants, such as pesticides and hormones.

"There's also a lot of environmental aspects to this," she said, touching on problems such as waste with "factory farming."

By contrast, the invited producers run small family farms.

First up was Townline Farm Poultry Reserve in Linesville, Crawford County, where, since 1991, Bill Yockey and Dayna Bridgen have naturally bred, hatched and pasture-grazed rare "heritage" turkeys, chickens and geese.

Yockey's sister Peggy Morycz roasted two chickens and a turkey that her husband, Rick, carved. "These are much slimmer," she said of Townline turkeys. "They have somewhat more dark meat because they don't have that exaggerated breast meat" of big brands.

She also brought a basket of brown eggs, one of which Hahn cracked open with a store-bought one to show their more golden yolks and firmer whites.

After the crowd got its chance to graze on this first course, Denise and Bill Brownlee gave a pitch for their Wil-Den Family Farms in Jackson Center, Mercer County, where they humanely raise and sell "Fresh Air" pork products with no preservatives or MSG.

The pigs are bred and raised in their own huts and have some access to outdoor wallowing and grazing, but Bill Brownlee acknowledged that they're still fed corn and soybeans (but not antibiotics unless they're sick).

"We're hoping to utilize pasture more," the cowboy-hat-wearing Brownlee said as he helped serve up samples of his wife's pork barbecue, ham salad and pork burgers.

Pigs can't live on grazing alone, as can the cattle raised by Ron Gargasz, who runs three organic farms around Volant in Butler County.

Gargasz is a well-known pioneer in sustainable agriculture, having written the eco-agriculture curriculum at Slippery Rock State University and helped develop national standards for organic certification.

He explained how raising an interconnected mix of small grains, legumes and livestock (that recycle crop residues) sustains his farm. That translates into "healthy, viable" food.

Consumers play a key role by buying the products at a higher price. But, as Gargasz pointed out, mainstream agriculture is highly subsidized and, "This country is getting fictitiously low food prices."

As more farmers go out of business, America's food production and distribution is getting monopolized by very few corporations, he said. "If you want local, fresh food, you need the local farmer to stay viable."

It was a lot of food for thought.

Attendees came from a variety of perspectives but seemed to share one strong interest:

"Just eating better," said Barbara Steen of Mt. Lebanon. "I'm kind of concerned about all these antibiotics and hormones." She enjoyed herself sitting near a window that her husband, Jim, recalled breaking (and having to pay $3 to fix) decades ago when he was attending neighboring Howe Elementary and this building was, of all things, a grocery and meat market.

Their table mates, Butler's Metha and Bob Hillard, belong to Slow Food Pittsburgh, which is dedicated to good eating. The couple already were fans of the turkey and pork and were eager to try Gargasz's beef.

"We don't really get weird about this [natural] stuff," Metha Hillard said as she stood in line, but they do believe in trying to get the best food possible.

It's an issue that concerns lots of Americans, who are expressing themselves with their pocketbooks at outlets such as Whole Foods.

"I'm willing to pay more for good quality stuff," said Suzie, who didn't want to give her last name. She came from Moon because she wanted to learn about local sources for natural products and said she planned to order some of the pork and beef.

All three farmers sell at their farms and at other locations. Eson said PASA will continue working to connect producers and consumers; hence, his pouring from glass jars white and chocolate milk from Beaver County's Green Valley Dairy. As he told the crowd, "You've made the first step tonight in the support of local farms."

For more information:

Weston A. Price Foundation, www.westonaprice.org

Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, www.pasafarming.org

Mojoe coffeehouse, www.mojoeinfo.com or 412-343-6656

Townline Farm Poultry Reserve, www.townlinefarm.com or 1-877-632-9242

Wil-Den Family Farms, 1-814-786-7438

Ron Gargasz, 724-530-7220