Break out the Grill!
Grilling for friends and family is a relaxing and lively way to entertain, and with the help of our Barbecue Grill your dinner is a guaranteed stress-free success. This category is filled with new Grill Kits, all your favorite all-natural meats, hearty and healthy power sides, and flavorful marinades - everything that you need to throw a simple, tasty barbecue to celebrate grill season with famliy and friends.
Who Are We?
Who Are We?
We are sustainable. We are reliable. We are convenient.
We are farmers. We are families. We are community.
We are healthy. We are delicious.
We are…. FOOD AS IT SHOULD BE.
Our Mission
Graze creates a partnership between Vermont farmers and producers and families who are committed establishing a sustainable regional food system. Through weekly deliveries of dairy, meat, produce and prepared foods, Graze offers a bridge between the family farmers and the busy families. We understand that ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat solutions made with the finest local and organic ingredients allows busy families to satisfy the daily need to feed their families farm fresh goodness without all the work. Food as it should be is local, convenient and easy to prepare.Meet the Team
As the principals of Graze, Allen Freund, Julianna Doherty and Aaron Harris came together because of their shared passion for sustainable local agriculture. Coming together from diverse backgrounds they have a shared vision to re-engage families with farmers and create a relationship where people can truely feel comfortable knowing the origin of their food. Julianna is a mother of 4 busy children, Allen has spent 30-years promoting and distributing local agriculture and is the current President of Vermont Fresh Network, and Aaron was raised in Middlebury, spent many years away and is now back to raise his kids on Monument Farms Chocolate milk.
Founder Julianna Doherty's passion for food started with her Italian-American grandparents (Nonnie and Boom). She would spend afternoons after school rolling fresh pasta, making ravioli and pasta fagioli. Julianna a was raised outside Boston and after graduating from college worked for Acceture as a process consultant on projects in North America and Europe. After getting married she and her husband moved to Brasil where they had 3 of their 4 children over 5 years. When her family moved back from Brasil they moved to Bristol, Vermont, where they chose to raise their children. When Julianna was pregnant with her 4th child, friends from Connecticut came to Vermont to visit and returned home with full coolers of meat, cheese and dairy. Julianna's wheels started turning....why couldn't we deliver these farm fresh products that are simple staples here in Vermont to people who love them in Connecticut and Boston. Graze was born; on a simple mission to deliver farm-fresh-food direct-to-consumers. After a short time, it became apparent that customers not only wanted fresh produce, meats and dairy, but they wanted it to be easy to use; chopped, prepared, and delivered with sauce and recipes to make farm fresh cooking easy and convenient for real life.
After providing customers with solutions for meal-time, Julianna began to receive many requests from current Graze customer for help with kid’s lunch-time solutions. After gaining a better understanding of the existing market in lunch kits, Julianna determined that the current options do not meet the demands of many parents to provide their children with a healthy, convenient lunch option. Bundles were born and share the Graze mission to provide real food to power healthy kids. As a working mother of 4 children under 10-years-old, the mission to provide convenient, healthy solutions is very personal.
Aaron Harris (CEO): Ever since he left Vermont to earn his Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University, Aaron has travelled and invested in dynamic companies around the world. Mr. Harris now helps drive Graze's mission and passion which is to promote Vermont Food Companies and Farmers. Mr. Harris was raised drinking Monument Farms Milk and eating Maple Meadow Farm Eggs and is glad to be passing along this tradition to his children.
Allen Freund (COO) owned and operated Squash Valley Produce from 1980 until 2009. As a successful distributor of local produce, artisan cheeses and value added regional products, Squash Valley became an integral part of the support system for Vermont’s agricultural community. In 2002, Squash Valley opened a retail outlet in Waterbury offering a diverse range of local products to the residents of Central Vermont. Squash Valley provided logistical support for area farmers and food processors transporting their goods from nearby Quebec and Vermont to destinations throughout New England. In 2012, Allen was appointed president of the Board of the Vermont Fresh Network. Allen along with family members own and operate a vineyard in Castleton, Vermont. He is a passionate supporter of local sustainable agricultural initiatives and remains immersed in the regional food distribution network.
Annie Denny (General Manager) was raised in Bristol, VT where she currently resides with her two children. After earning a degree from Champlain College and working as a computer teacher and IT manager for 12 years, she found her place at Graze. Annie is passionate about our mission and says one of her favorite parts of the job is talking to customers every day. Her other favorite? The taste testing of course!
