Raising Animals Green: The Stone Barns Way
Apr 22nd, 2008 by Jervey
The Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, just 30 miles north of midtown Manhattan, is something of a sterling example of local, sustainable food production done right.
From their website:
Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture is a farm, a kitchen, a classroom–an exhibit, a laboratory, a campus. The mission of this unique, nonprofit, member-driven collaboration is to celebrate, teach and advance community-based food production and enjoyment, from farm to classroom to table.
Blue Hill, the downtown restaurant, showcases the farm’s work by serving up the field-to-plate fare produced year-round at the Stone Barns Center. The Center’s full mission after the hop.
Where does our food really come from?
How does what we choose to eat affect our health, the health of the land, the community and the environment?
What food systems are we supporting with what we choose to buy?
Helping people make these farm-to-table connections is what the Center is all about.
Stone Barns Center is within a 45-minute drive for the nearly 19 million residents of the New York metropolitan area. The Center’s farm, education center and its partner, Blue Hill at Stone Barns restaurant, work hand-in-hand to provide an unforgettable way to think about food issues, get questions answered, get involved personally or even get dirty (optional but fun).
The four-season and pastured livestock farm grows crop varieties best suited for our locality and raises the types of animals Westchester pastures can support. All our farm products are raised for food. The farmers continually explore the most appropriate breeds, seeds and ecological dynamics for creating a diverse, resilient and reliable food system. The farm is the Center’s core educational resource.
The education center’s rich mix of programs and activities provides an intriguing path for people to participate and learn. For adults that includes cooking classes, tastings, how-to workshops and lectures, in-depth book discussions with noted authors and more. For kids there are school programs, farmer-in-training after-school activities and a summer day camp. There are numerous family activities and volunteer opportunities.
Blue Hill at Stone Barns and Blue Hill Café showcase the farmers’ year-round activities by bringing the field to the plate. The restaurant and café are the biggest customers of the four-season and livestock operations, purchasing products at fair market value. In both the restaurant and the café, menus are dictated by what products are in season and at peak flavor.
Visitors are welcome year-round. The Center is open 10 am-5 pm, Wednesday-Sunday. We are closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Please call ahead to schedule class trips and other group visits. [Stone Barns Center website]