Farm-To-Fork With STOGROW
This is part of a series of briefs that I wrote documenting Bon Appétit Management Company's Farm-To-Fork program.STOGROW - Bon Appétit Farm Brief
Day Burtness, student at St. Olaf’s College in Northfield, Minnesota, had a formative agricultural experience in the summer of 2004 during her internship at Foxtail Farm. The process of producing food at the organic vegetable CSA (community supported agriculture) located in rural Wisconsin was something of a revelation to her, so she decided to find a way to share that same experience with the St. Olaf’s community at large.
After some discussion, Day, along with her friend, Dan Borek, decided to start a farm on St. Olaf’s campus in the fall of 2004. The two wanted to give their fellow students a chance to connect with their food in a tangible fashion. “We wanted them get their hands dirty,” she explains, “And also provide fresh, local, organic produce for the St. Olaf’s community. Dan and I are both passionate about increasing the sustainability of the St. Olaf’s campus. We wanted to provide the college with an agricultural education. Starting a student-run, working farm was really the best way to do that.”
The two found a perfect location for their nascent project, STOGROW in a field behind the historic James Farmhouse, which had once served as a horse corral. Day and Dan mustered a dedicated band of volunteers to prepare the site, which was badly overgrown with grasses, vines, and small trees. As they readied to plant their first crops, they focused their attention toward developing a sales channel for their produce.
“One of us decided that we should approach Bon Appétit,” Burtness explains. “We actually just approached General Manager Hays Atkins and Chef Peter with our idea. I was really nervous about being able to predict our yields or deliveries, but Hays and Peter said that Bon Appétit would purchase 100% of whatever we could deliver: a guaranteed market is every farmer's dream.”
With their sales prospects in order, STOWGROW worked toward their first harvest. “We planted a whole range of crops the first season,” Burtness explains, “ From early brassicas and lettuce mixes to later season crops like squash and tomatoes. It wasn't a good summer for brassicas and I don't think we got a single head of broccoli or more than a few bunches of kale!”
However, St. Olaf’s Bon Appétit chefs encouraged the STOGROW farmers to keep up their hard work.
“The BAMCO partnership gave us the freedom to really concentrate on farming organically instead of technical details about what we'd have for them and when. The chefs kept us working until our summer squash, eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes came on; they flourished and they were amazing.”
By the winter of 2005, the STOGROW-BAMCO relationship was in full bloom. “We ran into some hurdles that first season: a nasty invasion of squash bugs that killed off our winter squash, a hail scare, and the occasional Colorado potato beetle. But none of those things set us back all that much. The food that we have delivered was really good.”
“We love working with, fresh local produce; that is our thing,” explains Peter Abrahamson, Executive Chef at the Café at St. Olaf’s. “STOWGROW is the quintessential Farm-To-Fork situation. We are giving the students outstandingly fresh and flavorful, food grown by their peers, less than a mile away from the café. We are also composting the food scraps from the Café for STOGROW to use at the farm. So we have begun to make the STOGROW-Café relationship a self-contained loop.”
As it nears its two-year anniversary, the positive impact that STOGROW has made on the St. Olaf’s environment is clearly apparent. “Most students know that St. Olaf’s has an organic farm,” Burtness says, “and while they might not know the finer details of what it means to be organic and why local foods are better for the environment, words like "organic" and "local" are entering the dialogue on campus. I know one student who even decided to stick with college because STOGROW gave him the opportunity to maintain a connection with the land and gave him something to be hopeful about.”
Although St. Olaf’s Faculty and Administration have both played vital roles in its success, STOGROW continues to be student-driven. “Currently there are four main STOGROW student farmers,” Burtness relates, “Dan and I are training two younger students. Although, our volunteer base is always changing we are never wanting for help. Whenever we ask for help, at least 20 students reply. This summer we’re focusing on crops that we can deliver while school is still in session, like eggplants, peppers, tomatoes, and squash. In the future, we might also include edible and decorative flowers; the sky’s the limit.”
By agreeing to purchase all of STOGROW’s produce, Bon Appétit has provided the community at St. Olaf’s College with the ultimate Farm-to-Fork experience. For Day Burtness, STOGROW has been a life-shaping experience. “I plan to work on farms all over the country to gain more experience,” she says. “Then I hope to either start my own organic farm or continue my education and work on agricultural policy and food security issues. I will definitely be involved in agriculture in some way for the rest of my life.”
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posted by Brian J. Kenny @ 5:33 PM
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