The Buffalo farm-to-table movement is making waves at The Atlantic Cities, with its coverage of former Buffalo Rising food editor Christa Glennie Seychew and her account of the rise of the grassroots culinary scene in a city that is typically known for its killer wings. Writer Christine Sismondo, takes us from Christa's first meet-up with me (the founder of an online publication dedicated to local issues) to her first encounter with farmers at a local food terminal, to her eventual role in helping to develop relationships between the farms and the restaurants. Check it out...
How did you get into the Buffalo food scene?
I went to culinary school, although I didn't exactly excel. I also wondered how easy it would be for a woman to move up in the kitchen, so I worked front of house. After I had my kids, I was looking for part-time work and just happened to meet the founder of an online publication dedicated to local issues - very forward thinking for that time. I told him I knew a chef who was working hard to use only local ingredients and suggested he write a story on him. He countered I should write the story. And so I did my PTA-mom-best, worked really hard and wrote the best story I could. Then he started assigning me more Buffalo food stories. Read more.
This story is one worth telling. Buffalo is taking the lead and we are a model for other cities.
My sister told me that apparently one of those Food Network channels wanted to do a serious about Buffalo's chefs and this whole movement on the condition that Buffalo can never be mentioned. Apparently, the thought that something progressive coming out of Buffalo would be incredulous to the average viewer, in their opinion. So the chefs said, no, we won't cooperate if those are the terms.
Does anyone know if this story is true? I'm glad the chefs stood firm against such idiocy, if true.
Sounds fishy to me.
Consider that "Diners Drive Ins and Dives" has been here more than once. Generally people watching such a program would want to know where such things are happening... so they can actually go there themselves.
I'd say that story is patently false. Had such a thing happened, can you imagine the chefs they spoke with keeping quiet about such an outrage?
Taking the lead in what? Farm to table? Sweetheart, this movement has been hot in other cities for years now. We are merely catching up.
Agreed... This article is 15 years too late to the game.
Now if the article was talking about public schools integrating farm elements into their school lunches and raising awareness about how food is produced and the importance of fruits, vegetables, etc... that might be worth something.
Agreed... This article is 15 years too late to the game.
Now if the article was talking about public schools integrating farm elements into their school lunches and raising awareness about how food is produced and the importance of fruits, vegetables, etc... that might be worth something.
Dude, get out of the beltway every now and then and see what is happening in the real world.
In the Washington area, I am not aware of much of a farm to table movement, if any exists. And I do read plenty of local articles about food and such.
One of the problems larger cities have is that they aren't always surrounded by lots of farmland. Boston and NY, for instance, have ocean on one side of them, and endless suburbs on the other. You have to go pretty far to find a sizeable number of farms. So the farm to restaurant ratio is so skewed that it simply isn't doable very much. In smaller cities, the opposite problem happens -- lots of farmland, but a lot of that farmland is dedicated to single profit crops, such as soybeans or corn, and in any case, there isn't much of a demand in terms of restaurants.
So Buffalo is, like porridge, just about right. large enough that there are plenty of restaurants and other eateries to ask for local food, and lots of farms that are growing regular edible crops for sale.
I'm no expert in this, and I'm just putting together what I have read and observed over the years. Even if Buffalo is late to the race, it's nonetheless good to be in the race nonetheless. We don't have to be the first or even the biggest, but we should at least strive to be the best that we can be at it.
"One of the problems larger cities have is that they aren't always surrounded by lots of farmland. Boston and NY, for instance, have ocean on one side of them, and endless suburbs on the other. You have to go pretty far to find a sizeable number of farms"..... That is why farmers go the restaurants instead of the other way around. Farmers from as far as Ithaca drive weekly to Manhattan to sell thier goods, not to mention the bounty coming from the lush Hudson Valley, just over 90 minutes from NYC.
the east end of Long Island also has several organic farms serving the NY metro area.
in Milwaukee Will Allens' Growing Power has been at it since 1993. http://www.growingpower.org/index.htm
Go to Eastern Market.
I do, as it's just two blocks from my house. However, the food stalls in the Market merely resell the same stuff you can get at any supermarket, albeit at higher prices.
On the weekends, there is a "farmer's market." It's pretty darn funny to see a "farmer" selling carrots wrapped in the same cello you see at the Giant or Safeway, or kiwis from NZ.
Of all the so-called farmers, only a few of them actually sell any produce from the Shenendoah valley or W. Va areas, which is where the farms are located. The prices? EVerything, from tomatoes, to apples, peaches,and pears are $2.49 a pound. I bought three apples there today and it cost me almost four dollars. Three heads of garlic cost me eight dollars. Sure, they were good, but how often can you do that? They price themselves out of the market for most Washingtonians, so I hardly think its' much of a farm to table movement.
Try going on weekends, or Tuesdays. Farmers or their representatives bring in their produce to the market and sell them outside on 8th Street, SE, not inside the market. Your comment about cello bags is just plain incorrect, you are misinformed.
If you live two blocks away I don't really need to inform you of this. I would find it hard to believe the Amish and other folks from Virginia in their farmer garb and hats selling their loose produce are buying it from the same place the UnSafeway is. Ask them and they will tell you exactly where they are bringing them in from. As to price, since you live on Capital Hill where the average price of a house is $650k, you guys can afford it, it is a market based principal. The place is always packed, they certainly have not priced themselves out of the market, otherwise they would have never rebuilt the market after the fire.
Also, Nora in DC pretty much invented the whole concept. I remember this happening even being us regulars were bothered by Hill and Bill and their entourage regularly there in the mid 90s