Green before “green” was cool
Huron-based Farmer Lee Jones was recently announced as a “Who’s Who” by the prestigious James Beard Foundation. The award is given to those individuals in the U.S. food and beverage industry who have made significant and lasting achievements and contributions to their profession. The visionary behind The Chef’s Garden, Jones started exploring sustainable farming decades before the green movement began.
Today The Chef’s Garden grows agriculture under such tenets as being environmentally friendly, socially responsible and economically viable. In order to grow foods with optimum quality, flavor and nutrition, The Chef’s Garden is committed to sustainable agricultural practices that replenish nutrients depleted from the soil naturally, not synthetically. Its clients include the best chefs in the world.
CoolCleveland talked to Jones about his impressive award, his innovative farm and the future of agriculture.
CoolCleveland: First of all, congratulations on being named a “Who’s Who.” Why do you think The Chef’s Garden received such an impressive award?
Farmer Lee Jones: It certainly is an honor and is truly, truly humbling. Our sustainable small family farm has been embraced by the culinary industry, and we’re so grateful that they’ve allowed us an existence and to be a small part of the culinary industry by providing boutique and artisanal sustainably grown products. It’s just fantastic for them to recognize our body of work. It’s certainly not anything I have accomplished; it’s more of a team effort. And really it’s not even about us. It’s about the commitment from chefs over the years that have allowed us an existence. We’re really here only because they supported and embraced us and gave us an opportunity to be a part of what they do.
What stands out about The Chef’s Garden is it was exploring sustainable farming methods decades before going organic became so popular.
Absolutely. And I think that group of chefs, particularly European influences, knew there was a better way than the commercial production that was happening in the United States, where it was all about producing cheap food. And in America, we produce food cheaper than any other country in the world, yet we have the highest healthcare. I think many of the chefs knew there were better ways to grow artisanal product grown for flavor and heirloom varieties. It’s quality product rather than quantity product. They really kind of reshaped and molded us and that’s guided our vision in searching for heirloom varieties for flavor. It’s shaped how we farm. We only farm one-third of the acreage in any year. A third of it sits fallow, another third is drawing very specific high-quality inputs for compost. My dad has a saying that all we’re trying to do is get as good as the farmers were 100 years ago, pre-chemical and pre-synthetic fertilizer. We’re rebuilding nutrients naturally rather than chemically, and growing the varieties for the flavor versus the yield.
So, how’s it going?
We don’t consider ourselves successful. We feel like we have so far to go yet. The chefs are only as good as their last plate. And it’s a very competitive business in the culinary world. We’re always recognizing we can improve what we’re doing, so it’s that eternal dissatisfaction thing. You never see a chef who is happy with a plate. We built a facility called the Culinary Vegetable Institute with the help of chefs where we continue to learn and share knowledge. I think if the chef equals one and the farmer equals one, the two working together equals six.
Finally, what makes your vegetables taste so amazing compared to mass-produced vegetables?
It’s through several components. It’s about working in harmony with nature, rather than trying to outsmart it. It’s getting the soils in proper balance. It’s seeking old heirloom varieties grown for flavor rather than the commercial yield. And then it’s about how that product is handled. It’s handled gently, packaged gently and it’s a direct relationship. We don’t go through any middleman. A chef can order the product this morning, we’ll harvest it today and they can have it on a plate tomorrow. And we ship direct to any chef that is interested in sustainably grown. We ship as far as the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong twice a week and to Jonathon Sawyer in Cleveland at the Greenhouse Tavern on a daily basis. So we don’t get wrapped up in a distance, it’s more about a direct relationship with like-minded philosophies of sustainable agriculture.
For more information, visit http://Chefs-Garden.com. Also, click on the home delivery section to have The Chef’s Garden vegetables shipped to your door.
Freelance writer John Benson spends most of his time writing for various papers throughout Northeast Ohio.