Ag Brunch unveils ‘Columbia County Bounty'

Hudson, NY - The concept of “food miles” captures the essence of eating locally produced foods. Does your apple come from Washington state or Kinderhook? Does your spinach come from a huge commercial farm in California or an organic grower in Claverack? Does your steak come from Omaha or a farm just north of Hudson ? How many miles does your food travel, from field to table?

The Farm to Chef initiative is working to keep those distances purely local, by connecting restaurateurs and caterers with growers and livestock producers in the immediate area. The hot pepper in your dish at Mexican Radio on Warren Street might come from Holmquest Farms in Claverack. The greens in Lippera's chicken roulade come from Little Seed Gardens in Chatham , while Bezalel Gables catering in Spencertown makes a vanilla bean ice cream from Gumaer Dairy Farms' cream from Stuyvesant Falls .

It is not only that locally grown fresh food is tastier. It is also potentially safer. “Eating a meal that hasn't traveled very far doesn't assure that it won't be infected with E. coli, but the odds are better,” writes Kim Severson in the New York Times . “And it saves having to wait around while the FDA searches through thousands of acres of lettuce fields and tests tons of manure at large-scale cattle ranches.”

Consumers, farmers and chefs are invited to learn more about the newly created Columbia County Bounty program, whose mission is to promote and support networking connections between local producers and culinary businesses. This Farm to Chef project will be unveiled at the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce's annual Agricultural Brunch Wednesday, March 14 at 11 a.m. at Bridges restaurant.

The underpinning for Columbia County Bounty is a guide to all the farms who want to sell locally and all the chefs who want to buy local product. Compiled under the auspices of the Chamber and the new Hudson Valley Agri-business Development Corp. based at the Columbia Hudson Partnership, the cost to collect and disseminate the guide was underwritten by the Hudson Bank & Trust Foundation. The database will be uploaded to a new website, www.columbiacountybounty.com , for all to access.

As diners eat at the March brunch, they can practically tally their “food miles.” Bridges expects to serve a meal that is almost 100% locally grown, with those providing the ingredients displaying information about their product.

A panel at the brunch will discuss the project, with Bezalel Gables caterer David Robinson detailing what Columbia County Bounty is all about; Martin Stosiek of Markristo Farm describing how the new guide will help farmers; and Lori Selden of Mexican Radio explaining the potential impacts of the guide to the retail food trade.

Then, Derek Grout and Tom Crowell of Harvest Spirits will talk about their new venture: hand-made, batch-distilled vodka. The vodka distillery is a way to use the extra apples produced at the Grout family's Golden Harvest Farms in Kinderhook. Since vodka is now the most popular distilled alcoholic beverage in the U.S. , the pair expects a fair market for their new product.

Supporting a wide variety of agricultural initiatives, both in Columbia and Orange counties, is the newly created Hudson Valley Agri-Business Development Corp. Its executive director, Todd Erling, will talk about this new effort to support and promote the business of agriculture in the Valley.

Describing the economic importance of agriculture, which pumps $80 million a year into the Columbia County economy, and moderating the brunch panel is Phil Gottwals, founder of Agricultural & Community Development Services. He brings the perspective of having not only done consulting work here in the county but elsewhere in the U.S.

The Farm to Chef project is an outgrowth of last year's Chamber Agricultural Brunch, in which several farmers shared their experiences trying to market to local chefs. From that session, a Farm to Chef Steering Committee was formed by the Chamber, headed by Lori Selden of Mexican Radio and David Robinson of Bezalel Gables Catering. The committee is a mix of chefs and farmers, working to foster communication and business connections.

In addition to the Brunch, the Steering Committee has also slated a Chefs to Farms tour in May and then a Farms to Chef tour in the fall, as well as a Bounty of the County Supper in August.

Restaurants and farms that sign on to participate in the Columbia County Bounty program will not only receive a printed copy of the guide but also a decal to display in their window, signifying they use or produce local product. Individual supporters are also welcome to join the effort.

The Bridges is at the St. Charles Hotel, 16-18 Park Place , Hudson . The cost of the brunch is $15. Call the Chamber at (518) 828-4417 for reservations by March 9.

First Niagara Bank and National Union Bank of Kinderhook are Major Sponsors. Midhudsonmedia and The Register-Star/Chatham Courier are Media Sponsors. First Pioneer Farm Credit and Hawthorne Valley Association are Supporting Sponsors.

The Columbia County Chamber of Commerce, with its 850 members, is the leading voice of business in Columbia County, providing advocacy, promotional and benefit solutions for its members. Those seeking more information concerning the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce and membership can contact the Chamber at (518) 828-4417 or visit the website at www.columbiachamber-ny.com.

This column will appear on Thursday, March 8 in the Business Section of the Register Star.