Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennie Sartwell.
Hi Jennie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Where to start? I’m a butcher and chef by trade and a livestock grazer in most recent years.
I spent my early childhood in New Mexico and moved to Athens in 1988-ish. After finishing high school, I moved to Maine, had a couple kids, and ended up eventually attending culinary school in Portland. I bopped around at different restaurants and did private chef work in central Maine. My kids and I moved back to Athens about 15 years ago, and I’ve been in food for most of this time.
I currently run the kitchen at Little Fish Brewing Company in Athens. Sustainability and local sourcing are central to our mission in both the beer and food sides of the business. We work with many area farms for our proteins, grains, and vegetables, and source occasionally from outside of the state for some unique ingredients – always, though, considering the sourcing and ethics of anyone we purchase from. I’ve always cared a great deal about the conditions in which we raise our food animals, their impact upon the earth, and the subsequent nutritional and flavor differences that result from good livestock practices.
In 2020, my husband and I bought a long-fallow farm in Albany and got goats to help us manage the overgrowth and invasive plants on the property. Since then, I’ve built up my herd and made a deep dive into regenerative grazing practices. In the summer of 2025, I traveled out to Cheney, WA to attend New Cowgirl Camp, a week-long crash course in all things holistic livestock and grazing management. Since then I’ve applied those practices to my operation and seen massive improvements in both my pasture and my animals’ health and body condition.
Next year is going to see some growth and new projects with food, adding sheep to my farm, and the beginning of a targeted grazing operation – bringing my livestock to other folks’ properties to assist them with invasive removal and brush clearing.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Life is always bumpy, and mine has been no different. Being a woman chef and having small kids was a challenge. This industry is well-known for having poor work/life balance and folks generally have to play the game to climb the ladder.
I’ve been fortunate to work with some fantastic chefs that believe as I do in making this industry work for the people within it, especially women and parents. I’ve definitely butchered animals and done prep work in the wee hours of the night because that was when my kids’ dad was home and the nursing baby was asleep. Through that I’ve learned a lot from and been supported by a lot of outstanding people and been able to craft my career in a way that largely works for me and my family.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
In the food side of my life, I’m proud of my relationships with local food producers and the trust that many of our diners have in my work. I am a huge spreadsheet person and track food costs religiously – I can say with absolute certainty that Little Fish’s kitchen exceeds one third and often up to half of our annual spending within our own community. Considering the amount of olive oil and other things that we can’t grow here that we go through, that’s a percentage that I’m really proud of. It’s a fun challenge to work within the seasons and with what our producers are growing.
If forced to describe my cooking style, I’d say it’s something akin to elevated Appalachian. I love using grits, less-popular cuts of meat, smoke, and foraged and seasonal ingredients but with professional cooking methods. Because of that and our really bountiful region and farms, we have the opportunity to create beautiful and creative dishes that honor our traditional food ways, leave people satiated, and are nutritious for body, soul, and community (but occasionally decadent – I am a chef after all). I believe that food can be beautifully-presented and well-prepared without being pretentious and fussy, and it’s what I always aim for.
I’m pretty lucky to have some really great mentors and community in the grazing world, and I’m really excited to show people what these animals can do to improve their land and soil health. There are a lot of names for this style of livestock management (AMP, regenerative, rotational, holistic, etc) but they all share the common goals of animal health, increased meat nutrition, and carbon sequestration for climate and soil health. Having a tiny part in that with my herd feels like an opportunity to contribute to the greater good of our community and planet.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I reckon my parents would’ve called me “challenging”.
I’ve always been independent, insatiably curious and loved learning new skills. When I was a kid in NM I spent as much time as I could running around the desert catching lizards and checking out plants. Once transplanted to Appalachia, I switched to poking around in the woods and fishing.
I always had an affinity for animals and the outdoors and feel really lucky to have grown up with access to beautiful natural places everywhere that I have lived.
I’ve always been an avid reader and pursuer of whatever interests me. If I want to learn a thing, I go for it. I still fish and am learning fly fishing, and camp and backpack as much as I can.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @woodsie.chef.jennie (personal), @littlefishbrewing (Little Fish Brewing Company)
