Producer Spotlight: Mi Tierra Tortillas

Have you ever had one of those perfectly warmed corn tortillas? Full of flavor? We have and they’re from Mi Tierra Tortillas. Co-owners, Jorge Sosa and Michael Docter, met an interesting way: Michael, a farmer, was a patron at the Mi Tierra restaurant in Hadley, MA that Jorge and Dora ran. Jorge and Michael came together in 2013 to bring high-quality tortillas that used fresh, local corn to the community. Michael took some time to share more about the business with us. Read more!

What makes your produce/products unique?

We bake our tortillas fresh from local and organic corn that is raised here in the Connecticut River Valley. We utilize the ancient Nixtamalization technique that has been used by the early inhabitants of North and Central America for the last few thousand years. Our recipe has been in Dora and Jorge's family for generations.

What is your favorite recipe to eat with your tortillas? Anything out of the ordinary?

At our house, we put just about anything on a tortilla and call it "Flex-Mex". Butternut squash, sauteed mushrooms, quick-pickled daikon radish. If there is something good in the fridge, it is going to be better on a toasted tortilla. Here is my son Jesse Docter's Chicken Tinga recipe. It's incredible!

Why is selling locally and the local food movement is important to you?

I started the Food Bank Farm in 1990. Since that time, the Hadley farm has donated over 200,000 lbs of organic produce to those in need every year. By localizing the food supply, we help make sure that everybody has access to good, healthy food. Local food also reduces our carbon footprint because it uses only a fraction of the fuel compared to the global food supply chain.

How does working with Food Connects help your business?

Food Connects has been an incredible partner by helping us find customers that love good tortillas and want to support local businesses. Food Connects has gone above and beyond to mesh their distribution system so that customers can get fresh tortillas on the day they are baked. The fact that the Vermont Food Bank is right next door to Food Connects means we can fulfill our mission of getting food to those in need at the same time.

Producer Spotlight: Grateful Greens

Meet one of our newest producers—Grateful Greens! Based in Brattleboro, VT, Grateful Greens is a new business that approaches farming differently. With an all-indoor facility and highly nutrient-rich soil, their greens are out of this world and will be accessible year-round. They are developing their systems to be as self-sufficient as possible and to have the largest positive environmental impact by using solar, energy-efficient GREE heat pumps for climate control, developing a rainwater catchment system to water the plants they grow, using plant-based PLA for all of their packaging, and looking to improve

Owner James Mayer took some time to share about this new business and what makes them stand out!

What makes your produce unique? Grateful Greens uses creative, low impact, indoor farming technology that utilizes solar, rainwater, eco-friendly systems, and Love. We grow in a nutrient-rich organic soil mix with organic seed from High Mowing Seeds to grow healthy, tasty, and extraordinarily sustainable crops, all year long.

What is your favorite product? Our Sunflower Greens! This is the first crop we're growing. The health benefits of sunflower greens are amazing. They're super nutrient-dense, and their flavor and appearance are so unique and pleasant!

Why is selling locally and the local food movement important to you? Strengthening the localization of our food systems is the main purpose of Grateful Greens! It is clear to us that local and proper food production and distribution are vitally important to the health of our selves, our local economies, and the Earth! Indoor farming is a valuable growing technique that can help us to be totally self-sufficient with our food needs, especially in the winter.

How does working with Food Connects help your business and what are you excited about in this new partnership? Partnering with Food Connects was a great accomplishment for Grateful Greens! The work that Food Connects does is so valuable to us all right now, such as their leadership in the Farm to School movement, their immense support of local food producers, and their curbside ordering program. Their vision for "healthy families, thriving farms, and connected communities" aligns greatly with the purpose of Grateful Greens to empower the food system of the Northeast to become healthier and self-sufficient, year-round. Partnering has given us a great opportunity to offer our Sunflower Greens to many retail and food service organizations in New England. I am especially excited to provide our nourishing greens to our schools in the region! Everyone at Food Connects is so kind and helpful and it's clear that they want to help us succeed.

What inspired you to start Grateful Greens? What are some of your hopes for the future? I have always been entrepreneurial and a lover of nature at heart. Before I founded Grateful Greens, I was working on a project that made me money and was helping others but did not have the immense potential impact that I knew I wanted to make. I got the initial inspiration from a YouTube video about indoor farming. Something instantly clicked inside me and I felt "This is it!" Since then, the vision has expanded greatly: from growing some greens in my bedroom closet, to a project that has the support of a very talented team of Vermont innovators (Delta Vermont) and is on the path of providing immense value to the food system and health of the Northeast. My biggest hope for this project is to greatly increase the self-sufficiency and health of the Northeast food system and its people.

Any events coming up or fun facts about your business/products? We are talking with the arts organization Epsilon Spires to collaborate on offering events at their venue, where leaders in the local food movement can visit to educate and provoke thoughts and discussion around improving our food systems, as well as empowering ourselves and communities. We are also composting all the post-harvest root, stem, and used soil material to be reused in community projects that will hopefully unite, heal, and feed our communities. We have no solid plans yet, but I am hoping to create some type of permaculture farm/garden or similar projects in Brattleboro and surrounding areas. If an organization or individual has any ideas or would like to collaborate, please contact us!

How are you responding to the COVID-19 Crisis? We are participating in the CARES Act's "Everyone Eats" program, donating to the Vermont Foodbank regularly, and hope to supply Sunflower Greens for the Farmers To Families Food Box program.

Anything else you would like to share? We will be expanding soon (creating another location) to grow several other crops to be locally available year-round. Let us know what crops you'd like to be locally available and fresh year-round!

Producer Spotlight: Scott Farm Orchard

If you’re traveling along Kipling Road in Dummerston, VT you may happen upon Scott Farm Orchard. The picturesque views of the orchard and farm buildings seem to take you back in time. And rightfully so. Scott Farm is owned by the Landmark Trust USA and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places—farmers have actively farmed the land there since 1791. We chatted with Simon Renault, Scott Farm Orchard’s new General Manager, who was very excited to share with us what’s been happening on the farm this season.

If you didn’t already know, the orchard boasts 130 different varieties of heirloom apples. It is incredible to imagine 130 different types of apples when our typical grocery stores may only carry up to 15 varieties! They also grow all kinds of interesting fruits like gooseberries, pawpaws, persimmons, delicious Japanese plums, peaches, pears, medlars—you name it! Their dedication to biodiversity and care for these heirloom varieties makes them stand apart.

And we can’t imagine having to pick a favorite, either for cooking or eating! “Calville Blanc is a favorite cooking apple, made famous by Julia Child's who recommended it in her Tarte Tatin (a french apple tart),” says Simon. “Reinne de Reinette is also a favorite. The delights of a Blue Pearmain were described with such poetry by Thoreau. Black Oxford is an old Maine heirloom with a mild flavor, hard as rock which helps it store well; its flavors enhance over the winter. “ There are just too many to choose from!

And we know that our community loves their heirloom products. “More than 80% of our crop stays with a 75 miles radius,'“ says Simon. “Scott Farm has a deep commitment to our local community. Providing our neighbors with healthy fruit is our main concern and motivation. Food Connects helps us by distributing some of our fruit and getting us in touch with many local institutions with whom we do not already have a working relationship.”

With new leadership, the farm is focusing on a few new initiatives. “One of the very interesting things we have been working on is taking a closer look at is the antioxidant properties of heirloom apples. Apples have been found to have very strong antioxidant activity, inhibit cancer cell proliferation, decrease lipid oxidation, and lower cholesterol. Apples contain a variety of phytochemicals, including quercetin, catechin, phloridzin and chlorogenic acid, all of which are strong antioxidants. We have sent some of our oldest heirloom apples to labs to try to show the particular health properties of some of our apples. Particularly in this time of health crisis, it is very relevant for us to take a health lens on the work we do and consider that our number one priority.”

Not only are they expanding on their research efforts but their farm store is growing as well. “Our Farm Market has a much wider range of products this year. The current COVID-19 crisis pushed us to understand our market as a real service to our local community and we are delighted to be meeting that need.” Scott Farm Orchard, like many other farms we work with at Food Connects, is responding to the community need and demand for fresh, local food.

And they expanded their fall fruit CSA offering. “For 13 weeks, from Labor Day to Thanksgiving, CSA members will go home with a half peck of heirloom apples and other fruits. Every week they get to discover 2 different varieties of heirloom apples. Picking up a basket directly from the orchard (or at our other two pick up locations in Brattleboro and Putney) is a great way for people to shop for healthy nutritious food while staying safe.”

Scott Farm Orchard Is participating in Dig In Vermont’s Open Farm Week. Join them on August 13 and 15 for a virtual Hard Cider Tasting They are partnering with Eden Cider, a cidery based in Newport, Vermont that gets a lot of heirloom apples from us to make its harvest artisanal ciders.

So how do you do a virtual tasting? The way it works is that guests order a tasting kit from Eden Specialty Ciders (3 375ml bottles and a Scott farm glass) on their website and register for the tasting, then a zoom link will be sent via email. They encourage people to invite some friends or family and make it an event. The tasting will be guided by Eleanore, owner of Eden Specialty Ciders. Tastings include their dry cider (Brut Nature), an ice cider, and Siren Song Demi-sec. It promises to be really fun and a great voyage into the world of hard cider, for both the novice and the connoisseur.

Introducing Our Cheese Catalog

Our Food Hub team works hard to bring you a wide variety of delicious, local food. And what is one this New England is known for? Dairy! So check out our brand new cheese catalog highlighting delicious products made by seven different producers in Vermont and Massachusetts!

Producer Spotlight: Grafton Village Cheese

Nestled in the quiet towns of Grafton and Brattleboro, Vermont, Grafton Village Cheese is a longstanding business within our community. Founded in 1892 by a cooperative of dairy farmers as a means to utilize surplus raw milk, Grafton Village Cheese remains a vital part of Vermont’s dairy industry. President and CEO, Ruth Anne Flore, took some time to answer our questions and teach us more about this great local business.

What makes your products unique? 

Grafton Village Cheese is considered one of a handful of legacy cheese companies in the country. Grafton never wavered from its handmade, small batch production and its commitment to producing a traditional New England style cheddar; a cheddar with "bite." Our flavor profile remains distinctive. All of our milk comes from Vermont family farms. 

What is your favorite product? 

Tough question...I love our 1 and 2 year-aged cheddars for their versatility and Grafton's signature "bite." For grilled cheese sandwiches, mac 'n cheese dishes, burgers… the Truffle cheddar or Smoked Chili cheddar absolutely elevate the experience! Our cave-aged cheeses, Clothbound, Shepsog (mixed milk - cow & sheep), and Bear Hill (washed rind 100% sheep's milk), are incredibly special and shine on any cheeseboard. 

Why is selling locally and the local food movement is important to you? 

As a Windham Foundation-owned enterprise, Grafton Village Cheese communicates a sense of place. When buying locally produced cheese, you are supporting not only the teams that make it happen, but the dairies from whom we purchase our milk, and the local retailers, country stores, inns, and restaurants who include locally produced cheese on the shelves and menus.

How does working with Food Connects help your business? 

The choices we make have a direct impact on our communities. Working with Food Connects enhances our ability to educate not only students but teachers, health care, and food service professionals of the importance of using local, sustainable foods produced in our regional community. 

Could you share with us some of the new business changes at Grafton? What are some of your hopes for the future? 

In early April, as a result of COVID-19, we experienced a significant drop in volume and made the decision to move our block cheddar production from our Brattleboro location to the original Grafton facility. We continue to operate our cut and wrap operations, as well as our retail store and logistics from Brattleboro. Over the years, our volume and growth ambitions for the plant have unfortunately never been realized. The Retreat Farm's interest in acquiring the property to further its mission around local food production, agricultural products, job creation, and outdoor recreation would allow us to become an anchor tenant—relieving us of long term debt and enabling Grafton Village Cheese to become financially sustainable. In May, at our Grafton facility, we completed a months' long project of building new caves which will give us running room to increase production of our award-winning cave-aged cheeses. Combining our block cheddar and cave-aged production in Grafton, a much smaller facility, will allow us to re-focus our efforts to right-size the company. 

Any events coming up or fun fact about your business/products? 

• Our new branding is working its way into the marketplace. It's bold. It's bright. It's exciting. We are CHEESE ON A MISSION!

• Our most important "ingredient" is our cheesemaking team, led by Mariano Gonzalez, our head cheesemaker. Mariano is one of the country's best award-winning cheddar makers. Dedicated to his craft, Mariano's cheesemaking skills are recognized worldwide. 

• Our cave-aged Shepsog is the Algonquin word for “sheep”, which once covered Vermont’s hillsides during the booming wool industry of the 19th century. 

• Our sheep's milk cheese, Bear Hill is named for the scenic bluff overlooking the Village of Grafton.

Producer Spotlight: Kitchen Garden Farm

If you’re looking for incredible produce and local srirachas and salsas, look no further than Kitchen Garden Farm in Sunderland, MA. The farm is local on 50 acres of rich river bottom soil on both sides of the Connecticut River, in Sunderland and Whately. Owners Tim Wilcox and Caroline Pam are dedicated to keeping their farm certified organic and growing healthy soils by cultivating a wide range of biodiverse crops, improving crop rotation and cover cropping. 

And this is what really makes the farm unique. “We are one of few farms growing such a diverse array of crops at such a large scale,” says Lilly Israel, Sales Manager at the Kitchen Garden Farm. “We also are one of few producers making organic shelf-stable products from ingredients we grow on our own farm.” On top of all of that… they grow over 100 varieties of peppers on their farm. We can’t even name more than 15 different varieties! Holy smokes!

And their value-added products are out of this world. Our Marketing Manager may have overdone it on the Giardiniera one too many times! Lilly said it’s hard to choose her favorite. “Each season brings new crops that we can't wait to cook and eat with friends and family. We have a special interest in Italian specialties like radicchio and broccoli rabe, and of course, we love hot peppers! Our original sriracha is a testament to our farm and community's love for flavorful spicy food.” We always keep a bottle or two of the sriracha in the Food Connects staff fridge!

“We started farming because of our love of food and the way it brings people together. Growing and producing food for our local community makes our hard work feel especially rewarding.” And we couldn’t agree more and that is why we are so proud to work with such a mission-aligned farm. We brought the Kitchen Garden Farm on in early 2019 and haven’t looked back since! “Food Connects helps link us with buyers in Northern New England who we previously had no way to work with,” says Lilly. “We love creating new partnerships and adding to our list of restaurants and stores to visit!”

Every September, Kitchen Garden Farm hosts a hot pepper festival called Chilifest. “This weekend celebrating all things spicy features a chili cook-off, a hot sauce competition, spicy food, local beer, and great live music! The fate of this year's festival is unclear due to COVID-19, but we look forward to celebrating hot peppers in the future.” And we hope so too!

June 2019 Food Hub Flyer

June 2019 Flyer