Source: NCDA&CS, 7/5/21


In April 2020, when restaurants were dealing with COVID shutdowns, the annual Chef & Butcher Social went virtual, partnering with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and the N.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association. The virtual version featured education and advice on how to cope with and adjust to the pandemic restrictions and what NCRLA and NCDA&CS was doing to help, as well as cooking demos from Steve Goff (2019 N.C. Chef of the Year) and NCDA&CS’s Chef Chad Blackwelder. The Shipley’s also introduced their plans to launch Watauga Butchery in response to the supply chain challenges stemming form COVID. The USDA inspected plant was opened in July 2020 and has participated in the IMPEC grant program to help expand independent meat processing capacity for local farmers.

Last month, Shipley Farms once again partnered with the NCDA&CS, NC Choices and the NC Cattleman’s Association and resumed their annual live event providing chefs and other end users with perspectives and insights into the local food production system. This in-person event gave restaurant leaders a chance to take a day to get outside, socialize, commiserate, regroup and prepare to move back to normalcy in the near post-COVID world. Some 55 people were on hand to enjoy an afternoon on the 100-year-old Shipley Farm. Having been around that long, Shipley Farms is recognized as a Century Farm in North Carolina.

For more of this story, click here.