“People need something different than anonymous meat,” Cole Mannix of the Mannix Ranch in Helmville said during the Old Salt Festival on June 23-25. “Old Salt is primarily a meat company, and we’re borrowing a model from the breweries that have sprouted up. People go to breweries to have a good time and build relationships. That’s what Old Salt is trying to do with the festival, and have it focused on great wood-fired cooking, music and relationships.”
Authentic connections with people rather than anonymous food was modeled throughout the festival with ready access to the cooking area, time for visiting with producers, cooks, makers and community space to connect on a bale of straw under the big tent.
“We’re frustrated with industrial agriculture and how it can take away from the soil, the land, the water, the people working the land and the communities, your health and the nation’s health and well-being,” said Cooper Hibbard, Sieben Livestock Manager and member of Old Salt Co-op. “We’re going to take that model and flip it on its head and try our hardest to create something where everything that agriculture touches will be better off. It’s a bold move, it takes faith and people.”
More than 1,600 people - paying guests, volunteers, speakers and vendors - came to the festival, which made its debut in a cow pasture on the ranch. Three large tents and a stage were erected to house the kitchen, seating for spectators at the stage and general store tent of vendors highlighting products made from plant and animal sources.
Placed in the middle of the festival grounds were two 40-foot long cinder block fire pits aligned with similar sized piles of cherry and apple wood. Surrounded only with a ring of straw bales, guests were able to see the preparation and cooking taking place. Cooking teams answered questions as they worked.
“Food is at the center of our business and might as well be at the center of the festival,” Cole Mannix said. “We wanted people to be able to engage with the cooking experience. I thought the food itself and the cooking format was the most special part of the festival.”
Cooking teams stayed up 24-36 hours to oversee the meat that was cooked in the pits and tended the overnight fires before the final preparation process each day before serving. Each Grand Meal spotlighted a different chef or group of chefs. Altogether 3,200 pounds of Montana beef, lamb, goat and pork was served.
Friday night’s meal was a hog roast, prepared by Elias Cairo of Portland and Jeremy Charles of Newfoundland. Saturday’s beef and lamb with chili was prepared by Jaret Foster, Mona Johnson and cooks from Tournant in Portland. Sunday’s brunch Barbacoa with goat meat was prepared by Eduardo Garcia and his Montana Mex team from the Bozeman area.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Park management teams were on site to oversee food waste disposal and monitor for bears. Every scrap of food including dishwater was taken off site each night for disposal. All the plates and cups were compostable and collected by 406 Composting of Helena. Libations were provided by Lewis and Clark Brewing and coffee by Valler Roasting of Lincoln.
“The hardest part of the festival was that I really wanted to be able to engage with people,” Cole Mannix said. “But it was a sprint of logistics to keep everything running smoothly. At the end of the day, we still felt the festival was worth it for building relationships.”
Speakers on regenerative issues in agriculture included Nicolette Hahn Niman on ‘Why Animals are Essential to a Sustainable Food System.” Niman, a vegetarian and cattle rancher from Northern California, is the author of “The Righteous Pork Chop.”
“Shifting the Anti-Meat Narrative” was a lecture and Q and A by Diana Rodgers, author of Sacred Cow and “The Case for (Better) Meat.” Rodgers is a dietitian and worldwide advocate for sustainable living, food and the environment, showing scientific evidence that reducing meat does not increase health.
Panel discussions included the Blackfoot Challenge on partnerships in conservation, ‘Cows Not Condos’ by Montana Land Reliance and Ed Roberson of Mountain and Prairie podcast posing the question of how to rebuild a resilient, regional meat supply chain.
Author David James Duncan was interviewed for a podcast by Roberson and read from one of his books. Indigenous ghost stories were told Friday night by Debra Magpie Earling of the Mission Valley. Folk music was interpreted between speakers by 14 different bands.
The Saturday morning pasture walk to Eagle Point provided The Lucky Valentines playing at the valley overlook and a panel discussion by Montana Land Reliance, “Cows Not Condos.”
“It was definitely more than just a party,” Cole Mannix said. “I think that there was some inspiration to build on for agriculture and conservation through really important relationships. People seem to be going away energized rather than just tired; that’s definitely part of our goal.”
“We’ve been planning the Festival for 10 months. It’s a really intense three weeks leading up to the festival, and cleanup,” Cole Mannix said. “It’s hard to drop everything else. It puts wear and tear on our team. We’ve got a really big decision on whether or not to hold it in the future.”
“I’d like to say a thank you to Helmville and the Blackfoot Valley community for allowing it to happen, and supporting the festival and all the volunteers,” Cole Mannix said. “We just are grateful for everybody who helped, everybody who showed up.”
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