Congratulations to our 2019 Local Hero Winners!
Every autumn, readers of Edible Rhody are invited to vote for their local food heroes, as a way to honor the people who bring us our food and drink. We extend our thanks to all of you who voted for the chefs who feed us; the artisans who tempt us; the farmers who produce flavorful foods; the food, wine and retail stores that inspire us; and the nonprofits that effect change in our food community. Here are this year’s winners!
FARMER/FARM: Martha Neale, Windmist Farm, Jamestown
The vistas at Jamestown’s Windmist Farm are among the most memorable in southern Rhode Island, because the “Oreo” cows (Belted Galloways) grace open pastures, with the Newport Bridge rising in the distance. Martha Neale is the face of the farm, at the Mt. Hope Farmers Market in Bristol and at their farm stand (open Friday, Saturday and Sunday). But the farm work is done alongside her husband, George, on land his father owned. After two school-teaching stints and home daycare while their children were small, Martha turned her full-time attention to the farm in 2008. With help from the kids and good friends, she and George began to concentrate on selling meat, with an emphasis on grass-fed beef, pastured pigs and lambs and eggs. They also produce seasonal vegetables and flowers. During autumn their nephew draws additional fans to the farm with his fresh cider and donuts. As members of the Rhode Island Raised Livestock Association for more than 10 years, the Neales were instrumental in getting local systems in place for processing local livestock.
“This is what I always wanted to do when I grew up,” she proclaims. “I love being a farmer!”
71 Weeden Ln., Jamestown. 401.423.9767; WindmistFarm.com
CHEF/RESTAURANT: Jennifer Backman, The Mooring, Newport
After eight years with Ocean House Management Group (including four as executive chef at the Weekapaug Inn, one year at Spicer Mansion then back to the Ocean House to launch their new restaurant, Coast), Jennifer Backman is back in Newport, where she began her career after graduating from Johnson & Wales. She worked for the Castle Hill Inn for six years and she’s now at The Mooring, both members of the Newport Restaurant Group.
“It’s a change from fine dining to fast-paced, upscale casual,” says Executive Chef Backman. “There are dishes we keep on the menu for what long-time customers are expecting, but we’re in a position to reinvent some of those things, too.” She also can introduce many more local foods because of her long-term connections with area farmers and food producers, such as Hopkins Southdowns Farm, Rose Hill Heirlooms, Wright’s Dairy Farm, plus many New England cheesemakers.
Backman has found that the clientele at The Mooring has “a different flow,” with guests changing from summer into winter, but also includes a core of regulars. “Newport is electric and the energy is undeniable. I love it and I’m so excited to be back!”
1 Sayers Wharf, Newport. 401.846.2260; MooringRestaurant.com
FOOD ARTISANS: Laura Haverland and Andrew Morley, Sweet & Salty Farm, Little Compton
When Laura Haverland and Andrew Morley moved to Little Compton eight years ago, they wanted something different than their fast-paced New York City life. They found land to lease from a family who’d owned it for 300 years, and they named it Sweet & Salty Farm. After a fallow two decades, it is once again a dairy farm, with 20 cows currently being milked. That milk reflects the pastures where the cows graze, with Laura and Andrew moving them twice a day during the warmer seasons.
“We make cheeses that wouldn’t taste the same with other milk,” says Laura.
They make eight cheeses consistently, others seasonally. Four are soft, similar to Brie or goat cheese, aged only 10 days to eight weeks. And four are more aged cheeses (all from original recipes), including a taleggio-like product and a “farmhouse cheese.” The cheeses have imaginative names like Little Mermaid and Peach Fizz. They also make a cream-topped yogurt (ah, those Jersey cows!) and they humanely raise a small amount of veal for summer sales. (See Page 7 for more information on our cheese making class with Laura and Andrew in May.)
68 Shaw Rd., Little Compton. 917.941.5898; SweetAndSaltyFarm.com
BEVERAGE ARTISANS: Matt and Kara Richardson, Tilted Barn Brewery, Exeter
Small-batch breweries are a big hit all over Rhode Island, but Tilted Barn Brewery has a different twist: Their beer is 100% made and sold at their Exeter farm. In 2007, Matt and Kara Richardson founded Ocean State Hops, Rhode Island’s first commercial hop farm, mostly on land owned by Kara’s parents. The two started the brewery on their nearby farm in 2014 (they use their own hops and purchase additional hops to keep up with demand for the beer). They also use farm-grown pumpkins, spruce tree tips, blackberries, maple syrup and strains of wild yeast.
The Richardsons have turned out more than five dozen brews, including IPAs and double IPAs; wheat, blonde, brown, red and pumpkin ales; oatmeal stout; and a coffee porter. As packed with hops as their double IPAs are, Matt says: “Our beers don’t have bitterness; they have fruitiness. We balance with different timing and differing temperatures.” Matt and Kara (shown here with two of their four children) have a loyal following. Their fans watch for postings of the weekly brews and visit the barn on Fridays and Saturdays during limited open hours.
1 Hemsley Pl., Exeter. 401.500.6765; TiltedBarnBrewery.com
FOOD, WINE OR RETAIL SHOP: Harvest Kitchen, Pawtucket
Harvest Kitchen is Farm Fresh RI’s culinary job training program for youth, aged 16–19, involved with the RI Department of Children, Youth and Families, as well as a local foods café and corner store. Program Director Jennifer Stott notes that the program has graduated more than 130 trainees since its start in 2009. The 20- week program includes farm visits, cooking essentials, food safety, a five-week paid internship and assistance in job placement.
From local produce, the students process stewed tomatoes, peaches, different types of applesauce, various veggie pickles, plus apple and zucchini chips. Shoppers can support the program by purchasing these items and others from local Rhode Island purveyors at the Harvest Kitchen Café in Pawtucket or at local farmers markets.
Trainees also work in the café alongside Food Service Manager Sean Kontos, who keeps the menu fresh with house-made breakfast and lunch items, like breakfast burritos, wraps, salads, sandwiches and daily soups prepared with local ingredients. (Left to right: Stanley Zean, production associate; Carroll Webb, chef educator; Mo Camacho, production associate; Lyza Baum, Harvest Kitchen associate; Jennifer Stott, Harvest Kitchen program director; Sean Kontos, food service manager.)
Harvest Kitchen, 2 Bayley St., Pawtucket (corner of Main and Bayley streets). 401.335.3766; FarmFreshRI.org/harvestkitchen
FOOD-RELATED NONPROFIT: Aquidneck Community Table
In January 2016, three Aquidneck Island groups—Aquidneck Growers Market, Island Commons and Sustainable Aquidneck— came together to form Aquidneck Community Table (ACT). The lead staff person is Bevan Linsley, who brought 10 years of managing farmers markets to the table, as well as a devotion to making healthy food accessible to all Aquidneck residents.
“The only way to survive the future is to source our own food and make it healthy,” she says. “The most important thing is to connect the parts of the food system and get people thinking about where their food comes from.”
Thus, three farmers markets are part of ACT, and Linsley started a “Food Explorers Program” for kids, with passports and stickers for each veggie they try at the market. ACT community gardens are spread across the island, along with gardens at schools like Pell Elementary, where garden produce is incorporated into school meals. ACT also sponsors a week-long Aquidneck Food Challenge, which encourages participants to eat only food grown on the island. ACT’s food scrap collection program recently became part of Healthy Soils, Healthy Seas RI, in an effort to create an island-wide composting program. (Bevan Linsley standing on right, with Annie Guinan, Nikki Vazquez, Monique Bosch at Pell Elementary.)
401.256.7077; info@AquidneckCommunityTable.org ; AquidneckCommunityTable.org
