Can small farmers survive the COVID-19 pandemic? NYC’s Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns chef and co-owner Dan Barber joins Billy Shore to discuss how the farm-to-table movement is especially vulnerable right now. “There’s a network of farmers that we’re connected to, whether you know it or not. That network has been shattered,” laments Barber. Left without a way to generate revenue, he fears many of these small, organic farms will declare bankruptcy. “These are the farmers that I most want to protect because if they leave us, a generation of knowledge leaves us, and I don’t think they come back,” he says.
Barber and Stone Barns recently started resourcED, selling food in boxes to give the 120 farmers that supply his restaurants a revenue stream. “We started resourcED in part to create a consciousness through education about the kind of people that produce our food… It’s an opportunity to build a kind of system that is more resilient,” he explains.
Listen to a critical discussion about the importance of supporting the small farmers who have been building a healthier food system.
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