Markristo Farm
The Markristo Farm in Hillsdale, NY, is owned by Martin and Christa Stosiek . (www.markristofarm.com)
INTERVIEW
Martin: Farming is our way of life. What I value most is working with my wife and having our children around me. They know what I do for a living; they're part of my everyday life. They are learning by doing and watching and seeing, by watching us.
Christa: We've been a member of Berkshire Grown since its inception 10-15 years ago, and they've done an enormous job of linking farmers to buyers, educating the public and making it an in-vogue thing to be supporting (local food) … along with Michael Pollan and all the other wonderful advocates for it. But, I think Berkshire Grown has been the number one advocate for it where we are in the Berkshires.
Martin: The chefs have been very receptive. Originally, they were interested in the quality we could deliver … the freshness. And then, over time, it became more important that they know where the food comes from. It's now important that they have a connection to the grower, to the farmer – there's a story behind the food and it's important that it's organic now. So it's all changed. And 20 years ago they were buying it for quality and freshness alone – now they're buying it for many more reasons; being local, being fresh, knowing the grower, supporting local agriculture.
Martin: We sell through our local farmers' markets as well as the more regional markets, Great Barrington up to Pittsfield and all the way down to Rhinebeck.
Christa: Most of our accounts between GB and Pittsfield are on the smaller side, but there are many of them one after the other so it makes it a worthwhile route. The one-hour drive down to Rhinebeck offers us only a few stops, but they are large, dedicated accounts which also makes this viable.
Martin: And then we have a 3rd (wholesale) market which is even farther away, and goes through our distributor all the way to New York City .
Christa: But, mostly we work with Angello's because they're not your average wholesale distributor. They uphold a set of values similar to our own, selling regional organic produce from small sustainable farms and helping to educate their customers about the importance of local food.
Martin: The newest development of a market over the last few years has been processors. There's Winter Sun Farms in Poughkeepsie that's freezing our green beans, and there's Hawthorne Valley Farm (Ghent , NY ) that's making sauerkraut and kim chee. So, that's the new avenue for some of these crops – through processors, which is a great market because, of course, they are able to sell their products all year round.
