Jon McConaughy — co-owner of Double Brook Farm, 20 Long Way in Hopewell Township — will speak at the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce’s monthly membership luncheon, which will be held on March 1 at the Princeton Marriott at Forrestal, from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
His topic will be “Using Corporate Tactics to Build a Sustainable Agricultural Business.”
Mr. McConaughy left his high-profile corporate job to start his own farm in 2004 with his wife, Robin McConaughy. Originally created to raise beef, chicken, and sheep for personal consumption, the farm expanded its reach over the next few years.
After heavily researching local farming, the McConaughys stumbled upon a trend: The more local farmers focused on marketing and distribution, the more product quality suffered.
The duo created a revolutionary farming strategy to simplify how to get sustainable, quality food onto families’ dinner tables while maintaining a thriving business in the farming industry.
The McConaughys have been featured in various publications and were a subject in the 2007 documentary film, “American Meat,” a movie that chronicles the grass-roots revolution in sustainable farming. It was shown in September 2011 at Double Brook Farm.
The film caps a daylong meeting of the American Devon Cattle Association at the McConaughys’ sustainable farm. They raise Devon livestock in pastures on their farm.
Mr. McConaughy, who retired from a Wall Street career to devote most of his time to the farm, is featured in the film as an example of the new farmers who literally are changing the way meat finds its way to the American table.
In addition to Devon cattle, the McConaughys raise sheep, pigs, turkeys and chickens for both meat and eggs, and are developing both a restaurant and a retail store (on the site of the former Malek Chevrolet dealership on East Broad Street) in Hopewell, entirely stocked by products from the farm.
For more information visit www.princetonchamber.org.
— Ruth Luse

