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Thanks to NY Ag Innovation Center, Processor Buying More New York-Grown Produce
Rick Field, a pickle maker in Brooklyn, says he expects his purchases of New York grown produce to increase five to seven times this year. He will buy from 500 to 2,000 lbs. of fresh cucumbers, onions, garlic, beans and such each week from now until frost from Hudson Valley growers. Why?
Well, not to diminish his own ingenuity in reviving pickling as a noble enterprise, but one of the reasons is Field’s work with the NY Ag Innovation Center (NYAIC), an initiative of the New York Farm Viability Institute, Inc. that is interested in growing New York’s agricultural sector and increasing sales of New York farm products.
“Olga, Don, Herb and Judy (NYAIC consultants) were instrumental in the development, refinement and expansion of our professional line,” says Field. “We could not have accomplished that growth without them. The critical components we learned in the test kitchens were important when we returned to the real world. We returned numerous times to refine our recipes for quality and for formulation acceptable to the food industry regulators,” Field says.
To make his line of gourmet pickle products, Fields purchases fresh produce from Hudson Valley growers. He currently buys from about half-a-dozen growers and is looking to double that number as his production increases. Rick is often found selling his finished products side-by-side at New York City Greenmarkets with the growers who supplied him fresh vegetables for processing at a community kitchen in Poughkeepsie.
“We try to spend every dollar we can on New York grown produce. We feel it is important to stay local not only for freshness and quality, but to be part of the regional economy,” Field says.
Field says the NYAIC team of food processing and packaging specialists helped him address the many issues that come with transitioning a home canning recipe into commercial production, noting, “The consultants were patient and mindful of our number one priority – making a crisp pickle. The Ag Innovation Center team helped us find ways to maintain the integrity of our original ideas so that crispness is first and foremost.”
NYAIC is supported by a USDA Rural Business-Cooperative Service grant, with additional support from NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets, the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Cornell Cooperative Extension. For more information about the services available through NYAIC, contact the NY Ag Innovation Center, 150 Warren Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, 607-255-7215, nyaic@cornell.edu, http://nyaic.cornell.edu.