Organizations and Non-Profits We Support
Niman Ranch is committed to working collaboratively with organizations that demonstrate a dedication and track record of supporting U.S. family farmers, sustainable agriculture and/or humane animal welfare practices. We are proud to support the following organizations and non-profits:
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
The ASPCA’s Shop With Your Heart program was launched in 2016 to empower everyday shoppers with information and resources to identify and find farmers and food brands that assure more humane treatment of farm animals. Niman Ranch is certified by Certified Humane for all of its pork products and is featured on the program’s distinguished grocery list. The ASPCA was the first animal welfare organization to be established in North America and today serves as the nation’s leading voice for vulnerable and victimized animals. The ASPCA’s mission, as stated by founder Henry Bergh in 1866, is “to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States.”
Certified Humane
Certified Humane is nonprofit certification organization dedicated to improving the lives of farm animals in food production from birth through slaughter.
The goal of the program is to improve the lives of farm animals by expanding consumer awareness, driving the demand for kinder and more responsible farm animal practices.
When you see the Certified Humane Raised and Handled® label on a product you can be assured that the food products have come from operations that meet precise, objective standards for farm animal treatment. The Certified Humane certification has been endorsed by 70 different humane organizations.
Chefs Collaborative
Chefs Collaborative is the leading nonprofit network of chefs that is changing the sustainable food landscape using the power of connections, education and responsible buying decisions. It works with chefs and the greater food community to celebrate local foods and foster a more sustainable food supply. The Collaborative inspires action by translating information about our food into tools for making knowledgeable purchasing decisions. Through these actions, our members embrace seasonality, preserve diversity and traditional practices, and support local economies.
Civil Eats
Civil Eats is a daily news source for critical thought about the American food system. We publish stories that shift the conversation around sustainable agriculture in an effort to build economically and socially just communities. Founded in January 2009, Civil Eats is a community resource of over 100 contributors who are active participants in the evolving food landscape from Capitol Hill to Main Street.
Edible Communities
Edible Communities, winner of the 2011 James Beard Foundation Award of Excellence for Publication of the Year, is a publishing and information services company that creates editorially rich, community-based, local-foods publications in distinct culinary regions throughout the United States and Canada. Through its publications, supporting websites, and events, it connects consumers with family farmers, growers, chefs, and food artisans of all kinds.
“Our partnership and collaboration with Niman Ranch is one of the most inspiring, exciting, and important relationships we’ve enjoyed to date. We deeply appreciate their commitment of bringing high-quality and sustainably raised products to the marketplace, as well as to the family farmers they work with!”
– Tracey Ryder, co-founder Edible Communities
Food Tank
Food Tank‘s mission is building a global community for safe, healthy, nourished eaters. We aim to educate, inspire, advocate, and create change. They spotlight and support environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable ways of alleviating hunger, obesity, and poverty and create networks of people, organizations, and content to push for food system change.
George Washington University Antibiotic Resistant Action Center, School of Public Health
George Washington University Antibiotic Resistant Action Center, School of Public Health‘s mission is to bring epidemiologists, microbiologists, communications experts, and policy experts together under a single roof, working day in and day out to curb these superbugs and to protect antibiotics.
Global Animal Partnership
Global Animal Partnership, a nonprofit charitable organization founded in 2008, brings together farmers, scientists, ranchers, retailers, and animal advocates – a diverse group with the common goal of wanting to improve the welfare of animals in agriculture. Its signature program, the 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating Standards, recognizes and rewards producers for their welfare practices, promotes and facilitates continuous improvement, and better informs consumers about the production systems they choose to support.
“Niman Ranch has been a true leader in promoting ever-higher welfare for farm animals and providing a market for the many farmers who share their commitment to improving animal agriculture.”
– Miyun Park, President, Executive Director of Global Animal Partnership
Good Food 100
The Good Food 100 Restaurants™ is an annual, highly-esteemed list of restaurants—fast casual to fine dining to food service businesses— and corresponding industry impact report that seeks to redefine how chefs, restaurants, and food service businesses are viewed and valued. Curated based on an annual survey of chefs’ business and purchasing practices, the Good Food 100 Restaurants™ spotlights the restaurants that are working to build a better food system by positively impacting every link in the food chain: the environment; plants and animals; farmers, ranchers, and fishermen; purveyors; restaurants; and eaters.
Humane Society of the United States
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is an American nonprofit organization that focuses on animal welfare and opposes animal-related cruelties of national scope. It uses strategies that are beyond the abilities of local organizations.
International Association of Culinary Professionals
For over four decades, the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) has been an invaluable resource for culinary professionals who are telling the story of food. Their mission is to empower, educate, and engage culinary professionals around the globe.
Whether you’re new to the food business or a culinary communications veteran, IACP is an essential tool for staying connected and competitive in today’s culinary world.
James Beard Foundation
The James Beard Foundation’s mission is to celebrate, nurture, and honor chefs and other leaders making America’s food culture more delicious, diverse, and sustainable for everyone.
Mercy for Animals
Mercy for Animals is an international nonprofit animal protection organization founded in 1999. Their mission is to construct a compassionate food system by reducing suffering and ending the exploitation of animals for food.
Imagine a world free of cruelty, a world in which we nurture our bodies, minds, and spirits with wholesome, healthy food that is kind to animals and sustainable for our planet. Mercy For Animals believes that world is possible. In fact, it is inevitable if we work together to elevate humanity to its fullest potential.
National Young Farmers Association
The National Young Farmers Coalition is a national advocacy network of young farmers fighting for the future of agriculture. Their mission is to change policy, build networks, and provide business services to ensure all young farmers have the chance to succeed.
Niman Ranch Next Generation Foundation
The Niman Ranch Next Generation Foundation helps support young farmers who are committed to sustainability and helping rural communities thrive.
As the Next Generation Foundation Scholarship has grown in size and importance to our chef and culinary community, we founded the Niman Ranch Next Generation Foundation Scholarship to bring this message beyond our business community to those who care about who and how our food is produced.
Initiatives like the Niman Ranch Next Generation Foundation Scholarship with the Niman Ranch farm community are part of our overall commitment to the hard-working farmers and ranchers. We are proud to work with many different companies and individuals who help fund the Niman Ranch Next Generation Foundation Scholarship to support this next generation of farmers. These students use to funds to help defray the costs of getting a higher education and give traditional farming and ranches practices the prominence it deserves.
Practical Farmers of Iowa
Practical Farmers of Iowa is an inclusive organization representing a diversity of farmers. Farmers in our network raise corn and soybeans, hay, livestock large and small, horticultural crops from fruits and vegetables to cut flowers and herbs, and more. Our members have conventional and organic systems; employ diverse management practices; run operations of all sizes; and come from a range of backgrounds. These farmers come together, however, because they believe in nature as the model for agriculture and they are committed to moving their operations toward sustainability.
The Pew Charitable Trusts
The Pew Charitable Trusts is driven by the power of knowledge to solve today’s most challenging problems. They are an independent nonprofit organization – the sole beneficiary of seven individual trusts established between 1948 and 1979 by two sons and two daughters of Sun Oil Company founder Joseph N. Pew and his wife, Mary Anderson Pew.
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