Two advocates for building local food systems talked to our class: Jessica Applestone (co-founder of Fleisher’s Grass-Fed & Organic Meats) and Don Lewis (baker/miller at Wild Hive Farm).

Some references in this conversation:
01:42 how Jessica Applestone and her husband Joshua started Fleisher’s
02:12 the state of the Hudson Valley’s food system 10 years ago
03:53 most chefs and butchers don’t know how to cut meat
04:45 the value of marketing and publicity in managing farm business
05:36 Tom Schneller of Culinary Institute of America and Schneller’s Meats (Kingston, NY)
05:48 Fleisher’s butcher school and apprentice system
07:28 influence of Michael Pollan’s “Power Steer” (2002)
08:29 why Fleisher’s located in Kingston, NY
10:15 why Fleisher’s got out of wholesale sales to restaurants
11:42 Flying Pig Farm (Shusah, NY)
12:00 influence of Union Square Greenmarket
13:02 starting up an organic slaughterhouse, Applestone Meat Company (Accord, NY)
15:37 charcuterie and value-added meat products
18:18 opening a 2nd Fleisher’s butcher shop in Park Slope, Brooklyn
20:05 how Don Lewis started Wild Hive Farm
21:03 Union Square Greenmarket’s influence on his baking business
22:03 Daniel Leader (Bread Alone) and rustic European baking
22:45 how Wild Hive began using Hudson Valley-grown grain
23:50 Hudson Valley’s history as “breadbasket” of United States
24:59 stone-milled flour vs. roller-milled flour
29:00 politics of accessibility of local foods in the food system
29:28 “put food by/up”
33:15 evolution of consumer interest in goods baked with local flour
36:03 selling to Eataly New York (Mario Batali, Lydia and Joe Bastianich, Oscar Farineti)
38:57 expanding acreage for Hudson Valley grains
40:22 local grain system “removed from commodity structure”
41:29 supplying Eataly Chicago
43:22 promoting regional grain-based food systems elsewhere
45:23 the operation at Wild Hive Farm in Clinton Corners
46:13 organizing growers down the food-system value chain
47:40 what is a steer? where does veal come from?
52:09 what gets valued (and what doesn’t) in the food system
53:33 how old are other meat animals when they’re slaughtered?
55:56 can organic food become less expensive?
59:59 heritage grains and regional grain variety
1:05:53 how the Hudson Valley contributes to their operations