Cheers to the Chefs!

There is a part of building a local food system that most people never see.

It isn't just the farmers.

It's the people who choose to buy from them.

If you've followed along for any length of time, you've probably heard me say that growing food is only half the battle. A farm can grow the most beautiful vegetables in the world, but if no one chooses to buy them, that farm will not last. Period.

That's where chefs and local restaurants come in.

I genuinely believe chefs are some of the most important advocates a local food system can have.

Chefs create demand. Farmers can grow incredible food, but chefs decide whether local produce ends up on hundreds or thousands of plates.

Chefs introduce people to local food. Many people eat a vegetable for the first time because a chef prepared it beautifully. A great meal changes perceptions.

Chefs give farmers confidence. Knowing there's a committed customer allows a farmer to plant more, experiment with new crops, and invest in the future.

Chefs influence culture. They normalize seasonality. They teach people that tomatoes don't belong on menus in February and that peaches has a season worth celebrating.

Chefs multiply impact. One family buying a bag of salad mix every week is impactful and really important, and the impact of one restaurant buying twenty pounds of salad mix every week really helps to pay the bills for the farm.

Chefs tell the story. When they mention the farm on the menu or talk to guests about where ingredients came from, they connect people to the landscape that feeds them.

Every season we sit down with the restaurants we work with. We talk about what worked, what didn't, what vegetables they wish they had more of, what varieties they loved, and what they want us to grow next year. Those conversations shape what ends up in our fields.

They're our partners.

We are incredibly fortunate to work with people who believe in this enough to make it part of the way they run their kitchens. Corrie and Dustin from Looney Bean, Amy and Steve from Rock Creek Lakes Resort, Dennis from Cloudripper, Liane from Coachwhip, and Jason and Hillary from Mono Inn have all made the intentional decision to source from local farms whenever they can, and I want to make sure they get recognized and celebrated. We are so dang grateful for these people.

Because, truthfully, it would be so much easier for them not to order from us. The vast majority of restaurants buy through large distributors. One order. One truck. Multiple deliveries each week. Nearly everything a kitchen needs arrives at the back door. It's efficient. It's predictable. And it's significantly less expensive.

Working with a local farm is different.

Our vegetables cost more. We don't grow everything. Nature doesn't always cooperate with the menu. Sometimes the tomatoes ripen a week later than everyone hoped. Sometimes a heat wave changes what we're able to harvest.

We're only in our second season. We're still learning. Still refining our systems. Still figuring out how to grow the highest quality produce as consistently as we possibly can in a place where farming has never been easy.

And yet these chefs keep showing up.

They choose to add another vendor. Another ordering system. Another delivery day. They choose to pay more because they believe the quality is worth it.

We know the truth, restaurant margins are already razor thin. Every purchasing decision matters. So when a chef or owner intentionally spends more money to buy from a local farm instead of choosing the cheapest available option, that decision isn't just about vegetables. It's an investment. An investment in keeping agriculture alive here. In healthier soils, local jobs, and preserving farmland.

If this feels important to you, try this. The next time you sit down at a local restaurant, ask a simple question:

"Do you source any ingredients from any local farmers or ranchers?"

Every time a customer asks that question, it tells chefs and restaurant owners that people care about where their food comes from. It shows them there is demand for local food. And that matters more than you might realize.

If they do source locally, please, pass along how grateful we are.

If they don’t, maybe mention you'd love to see some local ingredients on the menu. And if this feels right to you, that you'd gladly pay a little more for a meal that supports the people growing food right here in the Eastern Sierra.

Because that's the reality of local food. It costs more to produce. It's grown on a smaller scale. It's harvested by hand. It’s washed by hand, often by a really small dedicated crew.

Building a resilient local food system isn't about finding the cheapest option. It's about deciding that quality, stewardship, and community are worth investing in.

As customers, your voice carries far more weight than you probably realize. The questions you ask shape menus and purchasing decisions. And those purchasing decisions shape whether farms like ours have the opportunity to keep growing.

To every chef, kitchen crew, café owner, and restaurant that has chosen to walk this road with us, we see you. Truly, thank you. Thank you for believing that local food belongs on the plate. Thank you for believing that this valley is worth investing in.