Sterling Terrain V02 - Flipbook - Page 25
Sterling College | 23
Farmers’ relationships with restaurants changed with the pandemic as well. In 2020
their restaurant accounts dried up overnight and they needed to figure out different
ways to sell their product. Many farmers I know hustled hard in that first season to
fill that restaurant void with the super high demand of the at-home customer. I saw
some pretty miraculous sales systems spring up very fast with little resources. In
Rhode Island we have one of the highest rates of direct farm-to-consumer sales in
the country. It really showed in 2020. Farmers markets did exceptionally well, as did
online ordering, deliveries, and direct farm pickups.
The farmers in my network report that their relationships with chefs never went away
during the pandemic even though their sales might have. Chefs and farmers are two
groups of pretty resilient folk with a lot of mutual respect for the other’s profession.
I think this held them close together and the demand for local products has come
back even stronger than before. Our kitchen still purchases from farms every week.
These relationships are not going away. What is fading is the way we have held them
in higher regard than relationships that are nurtured inside the building, one service
after another.
Restaurant sustainability is a big picture. To lean into my Sterling education, it is a
whole system. It starts when the doors are closed, before the customers arrive, and
builds from the ground up with a whole team. It is my hope that as we move forward,
the photo op of the celebrated chef harvesting ingredients in the fields won’t take
precedence over the prep cook who needs a day off and that the customer will equally
see this value, and be willing to pay for it. It all matters. This is real sustainability.
EMERGENCY
TO EMERGENCE
PODCAST
Season 2
Coming Soon!
The Emergency to Emergence
podcast intends to engage
in spirited, heart-centered
dialogue about intersecting
eco-social emergencies
featuring the voices and
perspectives of people
purposefully engaging in
ecological thinking and
action while fostering active,
community-engaged
responses that offer hope.
Scan to subscribe
& listen now:
Leigh Vincola ‘00
Leigh lives in Providence, Rhode Island,
and is the co-owner of Troop, a lively,
community-focused restaurant in the
Olneyville neighborhood. She also works
part time at Farm Fresh Rhode Island
and has built lasting relationships with
farmers across the state.
Photo: Compliments of Leigh Vincola