Natural beef: in a Downeast Beantown.

• Author: Waterman, Melissa
• Position: Freeport, Maine

There is a hidden face to Freeport, Maine. Located approximately 30 miles northeast of Port land, the town of 7,800 has long been known as the home of L.L. Bean, that venerable marketer of all things outdoors; more recently, for its tourist-bus mecca of outlet stores. But less than five miles sea-ward of Ralph Lauren's logo-embroidered underpants and Bean's "Original, Trusted" boots, and hard by the peaceful Harraseeket River, 600-acre Wolfe's Neck Farm is successfully producing and selling a very different kind of product--natural beef.

It's September as these words are being written, and the saltwater farm's herd of Angus-Hereford cattle is typically scattered across the landscape. Where the Harraseeket enters Casco Bay, brightly colored tents are strung along the edge of the farm's main pasture at Recompense Shores, a seasonal campground run by Wolfe's Neck that emphasizes low-impact camping. It's low tide, and a few clammers are plying the ebony-colored mud. Just down the road past the calving barn lies Wolfe's Neck State Park, full of rocky trails and dramatic coastal overlooks. The blend of open farm fields, blue water, and dark fir forests--the archetypal landscape of coastal Maine--reflects the vision and public spiritedness of two people, Eleanor and Lawrence Smith of Philadelphia.

The Smiths' shared interest in conservation and working landscapes led to the creation of Wolfe's Neck Farm. In 1946, they began to purchase the lands that would someday comprise it. The farm began operation in 1959, the Smiths' intent being to preserve and protect open space, by making the land productive. Included in that vision was a desire--continued to this day--to abstain from using synthetic chemicals, either on its land or in its cattle feed.

In 1984, after the death of her husband, Eleanor Smith donated the farm to Portland's University of Southern Maine. In 1997, the university turned it over to the Wolfe's Neck Farm Foundation, a nonprofit begun in 1984 to support the farm; the foundation's goal has evolved into educating the public about farming, and assisting farmers in maintaining their land in agricultural production. Peter Cox, a member of CLF's Maine Advisory Board, was chair of the Farm Foundation for five years, and he continues to serve on the board.

Cox says, "I call what we do at the farm `market-based environmentalism.' We're trying to answer a question: How do you get the premium price for your product while allowing the producer...