Have Pig, Will Travel

by Tracy Frisch and photographs by Jennifer May, October 29, 2007

Farms and restaurants would seem to be logical partners but, sometime in the mid-20th century, the two entities were pushed far apart by the lengthening chain of food distribution. In 2004, a small group of upper Hudson Valley farmers and New York City chefs launched a unique kind of service that is repairing the chasm that separates their businesses.

The service, Farm to Chef, Inc., has been functioning weekly without a break for more than three years, ferrying meats, eggs, cheeses, fruits, vegetables, and maple products from member farms in Rensselaer, Washington, and Saratoga counties—and beyond—to participating New York City restaurants. Every Tuesday, participating farmers bring their products to a central site in Washington County, about 30 miles north of Albany; there they are sorted by restaurant for Wednesday delivery.

The for-profit Farm to Chef was established to facilitate direct trade between producer and user, as well as to promote the burgeoning local-foods movement. The enterprise was conceived by two unlikely farmers, a young professional couple named Mike Yezzi and Jen Small. In September 2001, Yezzi and Small set up a vendor booth at the world-famous Union Square Greenmarket in Manhattan. This was the first time they had driven the more than 150 miles to sell pork from their Flying Pigs Farm, a nascent operation in Shushan, New York, between Saratoga Springs and the Vermont border.

A few years earlier, the couple had scraped together the funds to purchase the 150-acre hill farm, located next to Small’s family property, when it was threatened with development. They knew they would have to find a way to make the farm pay for itself—and the fixer-upper house that came along with it. In 2000, the former Manhattanites bought three piglets as an experiment in leading an agricultural life.

Chefs looking for fresh and unique foods direct from regional farms have long been regulars at Union Square, the flagship site of the New York City Greenmarkets. So it was not surprising that chef Mary Cleaver, an early proponent of sustainable cuisine and a successful restaurateur and caterer, found the Flying Pigs farmers on the day of their first appearance. Cleaver, now a Farm to Chef board member, says that then it was unusual to see meats at that market. At the same time, Small and Yezzi also became acquainted with another influential supporter of local foods, Savoy chef-owner Peter Hoffman.