Their Products Aren’t Spoiled Enough For The Picky Chefs. But They Give


MECHANICSVILLE, Pa. — Steve Tomlinson is proud of the details on Carversville Farm, the 388-acre certified organic farm he manages here in idyllic Bucks County.

There’s the high-tech poultry barn where an automated system ensures that the wobbly weekly chickens get just the right amount of light, heat, ventilation and food. There’s a 10-foot-long steel barrel washer that gently polishes a freshly dug pile. potatoand an acre of Bolero carrots emerging from the dark topsoil that Mr. Tomlinson took almost half a decade to restore.

Mr. Tomlinson, 40, loves carrots that are flavored with fall frosts, stay crispy in cold storage and are the perfect size for his customers’ mirepoix. “It’s all about consistency in the kitchen, so chefs don’t have to work hard,” he said.

Carversville Farm is like many other things that cater to the discerning chef. But Mr. Tomlinson’s clients don’t work in restaurants: they work in Philadelphia-area soup kitchens and food pantries, and receive every piece of perfectly grown food for free.

Officially named non-profit farm Carversville Farm Foundationwas started seven years ago by entrepreneurs husband and wife Tony and Amy D’Orazio. Featuring a herd of lazily grazing Angus cattle and a beamed Bourbon Red turkey, the farm donates 90 percent of its produce and meat. (The other 10 percent—Mr. Tomlinson tracks down by weight—goes to a stand that’s open weekly and neighbors beg the foundation to work on.)

lots of farms to give food. And since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, federal and state programs have even started paying them to do just that. newly created Pennsylvania Agricultural Surplus Systemfor example, it helps divert food that would not normally be used to residents of states who are at risk of starvation. But Carversville Farm functions more like a dedicated supplier for chefs at half a dozen emergency food providers who collaborate with the farm to decide which crops to grow.

Instead of waiting for donations, nonprofits order what they want each week. These orders are professionally processed, packaged and delivered to their doorstep by a special team of 17 people consisting of two former livestock specialists from Turkey. Stone Barn Food and Agriculture Center in Pocantico Hills, NY; a former rooftop gardener for a chef-run restaurant Tom Colicyo; and Mr. Tomlinson, a vegetable farmer agricola restaurant in Princeton, NJ

The Carversville Farm Foundation is funded almost entirely by D’Orazios, who has been in business for 32 years. Vertical Screen, a Bucks County business that does background checks of job applicants for companies.

The couple did what many philanthropic owners of successful businesses do: They wrote big checks and gave their time voluntarily. Now these efforts go to the farm and foundation where they are co-managers.

Mr. D’Orazio, 60, who grew up in South Philadelphia, says the farm’s first seeds were planted in the 1980s, when he and his wife were attending college in the city. It was then that they first noticed extent of poverty In Philadelphia, where 24.5 percent of the population still has incomes below the poverty level, according to the City Council—the highest percentage of any major city in the United States.

They bought most of the land and established the foundation in 2013, after city officials spent hours arranging for a local nonprofit, Mr. D’Orazio. He remembered telling his wife, “I’m not sure this is the best use of my time.” “Let’s consider doing something more direct.”

A farm to donate what he grew up on seemed obvious: Mr. D’Orazio had volunteered at soup kitchens and added a community garden to the LEED-certified campus he had built for Vertical Screen, where he is still managing director. (Miss D’Orazio is a vice president.)

The couple worked on soup kitchens that struggled to manage donations and often spent their small budgets on the lowest-priced products and proteins. They’ve also discovered that organizations with missions similar to the one they follow make it a point to treat those they serve. reputation — a term of interest among those working in the emergency food industry.

“I don’t believe in anything like ‘Hey, I have money, I can eat and eat well and I can choose what I want to eat and everyone else gets the $1 menu at McDonald’s,'” said Mr. D’Orazio. said.

The foundation now focuses on this notion of reputation, as does the nonprofits it supports. NS Face to faceAt a community center in Philadelphia’s Germantown neighborhood, the team offers tablecloths in a formal dining room and serves hot-from-scratch meals five days a week with the help of volunteer servers. They used melamine plates and silverware before switching to disposable items during the pandemic.

Last Saturday, Winifred Lenoir-Jones came by for a barbecued organic chicken, roasted red potatoes, sweet corn on the cob, and cucumber-cherry tomato salad. Miss Lenoir-Jones, 90, has been in Face to Face for years.

“It’s great to come to a place to eat and know that what you’re getting is healthy, fresh and nutritious,” she said. “It has been a lifesaver for me. I get $15 a month as a meal coupon. When I get bread and eggs, that’s all.”

Mary Kay Meeks-Hank, executive director of Face to Face, said Carversville Farm comes at a time when the chef is trying to rid his kitchen of canned food and embrace more flavorful fare. The center’s relationship with the foundation – which also provides a market stand outside the center and factory starts for the community garden – makes this financially feasible.

Ms. Meeks-Hank recalled the day D’Orazios first came to deliver what he assumed was just another surplus food donation. “I don’t mean to be a signal, but I thought, ‘Oh yeah, great. “I had no idea what it could be – I had no imagination,” he said.

Carversville Farm also Cathedral Kitchen“We can now make a restaurant-quality meal,” said John Peralta, a chef there, a nonprofit food provider in nearby Camden, NJ. “We can have garlic stalks, fresh turmeric, and cauliflower in different colors – which makes the dish that much nicer.” Mr. Peralta once ordered a whole side of Angus steak to teach butchery at Cathedral Kitchen’s cookery training program.

For CEO Laure Biron Broad Street Ministry In Philadelphia, the high quality of the food it now receives is the ultimate expression of its organization’s mission. Biron said serving a delicious meal builds trust and can be an entry point for all the other social services the ministry offers. “Food is the most critical resource we have,” he said.

These organizations are the reason why D’Orazios invested so much in infrastructure for the farm, but to an observer it may seem like overkill. “That’s the level we want to deliver – there’s no stress about running out of food,” said Mr D’Orazio.

He wants the farm to be productive and self-sustaining, and from his perspective, that includes raising animals, collecting seeds, tending the land, and raising apprentices. (There are now seven of them living in a large 18th-century house on the farm.)

Mr D’Orazio said the foundation spends about $1.5 million a year running the farm. D’Orazios plans to raise an endowment fund to support the foundation, and he and his two adult children are working on a succession plan.

Mr. D’Orazio realizes that a single farm is unlikely to solve the complex problems of hunger and poverty in the region, but says that at this stage of his life, he is taking action to do something different than has been done before.

“The idea that people are still starving in Philadelphia is unacceptable,” he said. “We’re just trying to do something small.”



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