My interview with a local farmer, Paulette Satur

If you have been following my blog, you would know that I not only support organic food but locally-grown food as well. I recently ate at a wonderful restaraunt in South Norwalk, CT, Pastra Nostra known for the homestyle Italian meals. All of the food I ate was delicious but one dish in particular struck me…it was their tomato and mozzarella appetizer. This appetizer was one of the best appetizers I have ever eaten in my life. The mozzarella was fresh, and the heirloom tomatoes ranged from organic greens, to reds and oranges. Each type of tomato had it’s own distinct flavor from the next. Fresh cut basil draped and olive oil dripped over each ripe tomato. The tomato was flavorful enough to eat on it’s own as a snack or dessert even.

After this experience, I was provoked to contact the owner and chef of Pastra Nostra, Joe Bruno. Joe chooses to cook with the most fresh ingredients and goes for local and organic when he can. In all of Joe’s food, you can really get a sense for the passion behind the food. Joe keeps his menu attractive by changing the entrees on a daily basis. I will certainly be revisiting Pastra Nostra.

Joe then lead me to a woman by the name of Paulette Satur. Paulette is an organic farmer at Satur Farms in North Fork, LI who is responsible for the lovely tomatoes. She manages the farm with her husband who is a chef and is well known in the food industry for cooking at some of the most prestigious restaurants in NYC. Satur Farms now distributes their fresh produce to various restaurants in the greater New York area. Before I give anything away about the history of her and her husband’s business and other details, continue to read on for the full interview between Paulette and I.

It was a pleasure interviewing Paulette and I thank her for giving me the opportunity to do so. Below is a Q & A giving us great insight into her world of local farming, outlook on farming and the food industry, while getting an inside look into her daily lifestyle.

Paulette Satur and her husband, Eberhard

Q - I know that your interest in farming began as a young girl since you grew up right near a farm. You then became interested in the wine business and from there bought a farm in North Fork, LI with your husband. How many years have you been farming? What makes farming so rewarding to you after these number of years?

A - We bought our farm in 1997, and have been farming for 12 years. Eberhard had started his career as Chef when he began his traditional European apprenticeship at 13 years of age. Even with his incredible success, after 30 years in restaurant kitchens, he found farming to be very compelling. He began spending more time at our farm, and left the restaurant world to farm full-time over 3 years ago. I like to say he gave up the limelight for the sunlight. We love the challenge of farming. Every day is very different from the days prior.  We had no experience growing; it took us 5 years to perfect our wild arugula, but now can say we have the best in the country. We take pride in employing over 60 people, training them, and watching them mature into hard-working responsible people. However, it can be very frustrating when you do everything right to have it ruined by something you cannot control, such as the weather. The challenges and the satisfaction are incredible, but as the phrase goes, ‘ on the wire is life, everything else is just waiting’.

Q – Satur Farms grows organic produce. What are your thoughts on GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms/Foods)?

A - Bluntly, I think a lot of people are afraid of science. If Norman Borlaug had not worked on the problems of disease & lodging in wheat with his genetic research, over a billion people would have starved in this world. What I do take offense with, is that most of the genetic research being done is by the large chemical companies, whose research goal is to increase the use of their chemicals. For example, they develop herbicide- resistant field crops, so that their herbicide becomes invaluable in the production of a particular crop. However, this is where the funding exists, so we must take the good, altruistic research with the ‘bad’.

Q - American agriculture appears to be on the upswing because more people seem to be aware of the industrial farming dangers (i.e. pesticide usage). Do you feel any pressure from the USDA to conform to certain farming practices and how are you battling those pressures?

A - The USDA has not pressured us in any way. There is a large food safety program initiative, but we embrace it. We took the new standards of food safety one step beyond the basis GAPs (Good Agriculture Practices), and have developed our own HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Program) as our standard for food safety. We hire an outside auditor, SCS Scientific, to audit our program yearly, to ensure that our program standards are being met. We feel this has made us better growers and operators, and that our customers we feed can feel assured concerning the safety of our salads and vegetables.

Q - What message(s) would you like to send potential consumers about your farm and produce?

A - Buy locally-grown food as much as possible. This is the best thing you can do for your health, because it will more likely be unprocessed, fresh, and better nutritionally for your body. ‘Know’ your farmer, your butcher, etc. and start to feel the rhythms of the seasons. Cook for yourself and/or family and you will eat healthier and feel an immense satisfaction.

Q - There is a saying that you can tell a lot by a person by what is in their fridge and what is on their bookshelf. What’s in your fridge and what’s on your bookshelf?

A - In our fridge, eggs and yogurt, both from local farms; citrus fruits (since they are in season this time of year), mustards, butter, Mestemacher whole grain bread, muesli, wine and champagne, Pellegrino. Also a head of escarole that I’m using in a pot of bean soup for lunch today, along with a block of Parmesan cheese. That is everything- no kidding. On our bookshelf, Vegetable Production Handbook 2010, and one from Germany 2009, We never have time to read, only January or February- usually we are reading Michael Pollan or Thomas Friedman. Right now, Eberhard is in the middle of ‘Too Big to Fall’, Andrew Ross Sorkin. I was going to buy something on our Kindle last night, but fell asleep before I made a choice! We always read the NY Times.

______________

Thanks again to Paulette. It is like a fresh breath of air after talking with Paulette, and I have even more of an appreciation for the hard work needed to run a farm. Satur Farms is a huge success. I will continue to support locally grown and organic foods. I now leave you with the Satur Farms website. You can order food directly from their farm to your door: http://www.saturfarms.com/