Making “Buy Local” A Delicious Reality | SMALL BUSINESS
Confreda Farms
Bacaro:
Making “Buy Local” a Delicious Reality by Aileen McDonough
When Vinny Confreda added a Farmers Market to his family’s acreage in Western *YHUZ[VU IHJR PU OL LU]PZPVULK H place where people could buy produce while enjoying the family farm experience. This season, the family farm experience has expanded to include something new— artisan cuisine, deli, and pastries designed by chefs from Bacaro, a Providence restaurant owned by Brian Kingsford and Jennifer Matta. “Confreda’s, along with other area farms, has been supplying Bacaro with farm-fresh produce for years,” says Vinny Confreda, “this is just our way of bringing Bacaro to our neck of the woods.” The partnership combines the power of “Eat Local” and “Buy Local” trends, and Confreda and Bacaro believe that other farms and restaurants will soon follow suit. After all, [OL ILULÄ[Z VM NVPUN SVJHS HYL U\TLYV\Z· fresher food, lower transportation costs, smaller carbon footprint.
But what does it take for a restaurant to go local? “Well, I won’t kid you—it takes a lot of commitment,” says Chef Brian Kingsford, “It’s idyllic to think of a chef toiling in the gardens to grow the food,
farms as the ideal place to advertise. Branding a restaurant with a farm is the natural way to make the ‘locavore’ movement less of a trend and more of a reality that will continue to blossom.”
it’s idyllic to think of a chef toiling in the gardens to grow the food, then cook it then cook it. But that’s impractical. It is not the chef’s job to farm...nor is it the farmer’s job to chef. We let the farmers do their job, then we simply go out and harvest. It allows us to gain awareness of the produce yields and quality. Mother Nature writes the menu.” Bacaro has promoted Confreda Farms on their menu. Now, Confreda promotes the restaurant’s role in cooking classes, events, and inspiration through in-store promotions, website, and social media. Jennifer Matta, Bacaro general manager,
Small and startup businesses, as well as advertisers, are jumping on the “Buy Local” [YLUK [V Z\Y]P]L [OLZL KPMÄJ\S[ LJVUVTPJ times. With 90 years of history behind [OLT *VUMYLKH .YLLUOV\ZLZ -HYTZ shows us that it works. As Confreda heads into the next generation of family farming, bringing past and future full circle, what do they think of their role at the intersection of the “Buy Local” and “Eat Local” movements? “Eating local to survive and succeed isn’t anything new to us,” says Vinny Confreda,
Aileen McDonough | 3am Writers | www.3amwriters.com