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A few weeks ago contributor Courtney Bajdas and I headed over to the industrial food district in the wee hours of the morning. We were hoping to spend some time talking to the farmers that supply our city with much of its fresh produce for the October issue of BRM. Most of the businesses located within a few blocks of where Clinton and Bailey meet are responsible for a good portion of the fresh food that hits our plates, both homegrown and imported.
Our visit led us to the Clinton-Bailey's Wholesale Farmers Market where we watched farmers haggle with business owners and other farmers over the price of peaches, apples and peppers.
Across the street at the Niagara Frontier Food Terminal (NFFT), we spent an hour or so at Lenny Perry's Produce chatting with the folks who run the business, as well as those who frequent it. Lenny Perry's, like all of the businesses at the NFFT, buy and sell products wholesale. It is unlike the Clinton-Bailey Market across the street in the sense that they carry locally grown goods along with imported items like pineapples and citrus fruit. The service they offer appeals to small grocery stores, restaurateurs and farmers. Why farmers? Well, in today's world farmers make a good living off of the produce they sell at their own farm stands, while purchasing items from other farmers gives them the opportunity to offer their customers a wide selection of choices.
While at Lenny Perry's we met farmer Tom Tower. Often seen by media outlets as a spokesman for WNY agriculture and the concept of eating locally, Mr. Tower agreed to spend some time with BR on camera discussing the economics of owning a farm in the Niagara region. Mr. Tower is a frank man that likes to keep things simple, the absence of a cell phone and a home computer mark his sincerity in this belief. That doesn't, however, stop him from coming into the city for a fine meal at his favorite restaurant--Hutch's.
Check out the October issue of Buffalo Rising Magazine for a stories about our visit to the Clinton-Bailey Market, local CSAs and the locavore phenomenon.
Tower Farms
1680 Lake Road, Youngstown , 14174
716.791.4765
Lenny Perry's Produce, Inc.
173 Niagara Frontier Food Terminal, Buffalo, 14206
716.821.0166