Andrew Lindberg - Founder of MeatME, workshop instructor and designer-
Andy has been in the food service industry since 2000, when he first started line cooking. Since then his journey has included cooking for gastropubs and breakfast joints, running a special needs camp kitchen in Washington state, and waiting tables and bar tending throughout New England. Building his skills as a chef and bartender, Andy moved to Portland, Maine to start the next leg of his journey in 2010.
Shortly after moving to Portland, Andy was invited to the farm, where Iggy was living and raising pigs, to participate in a pig slaughter and butcher weekend. As well as slaughtering a pig that was raised on the farm, and learning how to butcher the whole animal, Andrew was shown the “meat room”, an improvised curing chamber that was hung with several prosciuttos, coppas, and shoulders, built in to the back of the pantry, and hidden behind a “false wall”. It was then that Andy was introduced first-hand to local food, whole animal butchery, and charcuterie. Andy left the farm with a new vision for how food would play a role in his life.
In the beginning of 2011, a year after arriving in Portland, Andy was hired as a chef for Nosh Kitchen Bar. At Nosh, he was given the freedom to learn and to make new foods he had not seen before, and choose the direction that the learning would take. He chose charcuterie. Sausages, terrines, and pates were soon being turned out by the Nosh kitchen, as Andy “played with his food”, and taught himself the basics of charcuterie, while working full time on the line.
During the next year Andy and Iggy collaborated on more farm slaughters and began discussing sharing these skills with others and the potential to turn the entire experience into a workshop. Andy ventured into teaching food workshops. He started with lacto-fermentation and home bacon curing, and after teaching several shorter workshops, he was ready to go bigger. He continued working for Nosh full time until the fall of 2012, when he cut back to part time to start Resilient Roots, a permaculture education collective. At the same time Iggy and Andy announced their first Hog Butchery and Dry Curing Workshop. This workshop sold it out in just a couple of weeks. Since then, they have taught several more classes and have modeled them so that each one is unique and tailored to the needs of the participants.
Andy's passion for good, local food has driven him to rediscover the lost arts of curing and drying meat. "With the advent of refrigeration and modern agribusiness, our communities have turned away from thousands of years of heritage surrounding food, and look instead towards convenience and efficiency. We must reclaim this heritage if we are to maintain healthy relationships within our communities and secure reliable food sources for the future. The first step, is to spread the word about local food movements, and to show people the skills that will help them localize their own food systems", said Andy, when asked why he teaches these workshops.
In addition to teaching these workshops, Andrew offers consulting services to small local food businesses trying to navigate the tricky world of food regulations. Andrew is also the production manager for Turtle Rock Farm, a small Specialty food producer in Brunswick, ME that focuses on craft pickles,fruit spreads, and condiments. Andy hopes to see the food movement in Maine continue to become more localized and focused on growing and raising our own food. To that end, Andy started MeatME, in 2014. With MeatME, Andy will bring positive awareness about local meat, and the people who raise it, to our communities..
Shortly after moving to Portland, Andy was invited to the farm, where Iggy was living and raising pigs, to participate in a pig slaughter and butcher weekend. As well as slaughtering a pig that was raised on the farm, and learning how to butcher the whole animal, Andrew was shown the “meat room”, an improvised curing chamber that was hung with several prosciuttos, coppas, and shoulders, built in to the back of the pantry, and hidden behind a “false wall”. It was then that Andy was introduced first-hand to local food, whole animal butchery, and charcuterie. Andy left the farm with a new vision for how food would play a role in his life.
In the beginning of 2011, a year after arriving in Portland, Andy was hired as a chef for Nosh Kitchen Bar. At Nosh, he was given the freedom to learn and to make new foods he had not seen before, and choose the direction that the learning would take. He chose charcuterie. Sausages, terrines, and pates were soon being turned out by the Nosh kitchen, as Andy “played with his food”, and taught himself the basics of charcuterie, while working full time on the line.
During the next year Andy and Iggy collaborated on more farm slaughters and began discussing sharing these skills with others and the potential to turn the entire experience into a workshop. Andy ventured into teaching food workshops. He started with lacto-fermentation and home bacon curing, and after teaching several shorter workshops, he was ready to go bigger. He continued working for Nosh full time until the fall of 2012, when he cut back to part time to start Resilient Roots, a permaculture education collective. At the same time Iggy and Andy announced their first Hog Butchery and Dry Curing Workshop. This workshop sold it out in just a couple of weeks. Since then, they have taught several more classes and have modeled them so that each one is unique and tailored to the needs of the participants.
Andy's passion for good, local food has driven him to rediscover the lost arts of curing and drying meat. "With the advent of refrigeration and modern agribusiness, our communities have turned away from thousands of years of heritage surrounding food, and look instead towards convenience and efficiency. We must reclaim this heritage if we are to maintain healthy relationships within our communities and secure reliable food sources for the future. The first step, is to spread the word about local food movements, and to show people the skills that will help them localize their own food systems", said Andy, when asked why he teaches these workshops.
In addition to teaching these workshops, Andrew offers consulting services to small local food businesses trying to navigate the tricky world of food regulations. Andrew is also the production manager for Turtle Rock Farm, a small Specialty food producer in Brunswick, ME that focuses on craft pickles,fruit spreads, and condiments. Andy hopes to see the food movement in Maine continue to become more localized and focused on growing and raising our own food. To that end, Andy started MeatME, in 2014. With MeatME, Andy will bring positive awareness about local meat, and the people who raise it, to our communities..