Farmer Tom Tower on WNY Agriculture
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A few weeks ago contributor Courtney Bajdas and I headed over to the industrial food district in the wee hours of the morning. We were hoping to spend some time talking to the farmers that supply our city with much of its fresh produce for the October issue of BRM. Most of the businesses located within a few blocks of where Clinton and Bailey meet are responsible for a good portion of the fresh food that hits our plates, both homegrown and imported.
Our visit led us to the Clinton-Bailey's Wholesale Farmers Market where we watched farmers haggle with business owners and other farmers over the price of peaches, apples and peppers.
Across the street at the Niagara Frontier Food Terminal (NFFT), we spent an hour or so at Lenny Perry's Produce chatting with the folks who run the business, as well as those who frequent it. Lenny Perry's, like all of the businesses at the NFFT, buy and sell products wholesale. It is unlike the Clinton-Bailey Market across the street in the sense that they carry locally grown goods along with imported items like pineapples and citrus fruit. The service they offer appeals to small grocery stores, restaurateurs and farmers. Why farmers? Well, in today's world farmers make a good living off of the produce they sell at their own farm stands, while purchasing items from other farmers gives them the opportunity to offer their customers a wide selection of choices.
While at Lenny Perry's we met farmer Tom Tower. Often seen by media outlets as a spokesman for WNY agriculture and the concept of eating locally, Mr. Tower agreed to spend some time with BR on camera discussing the economics of owning a farm in the Niagara region. Mr. Tower is a frank man that likes to keep things simple, the absence of a cell phone and a home computer mark his sincerity in this belief. That doesn't, however, stop him from coming into the city for a fine meal at his favorite restaurant--Hutch's.
Check out the October issue of Buffalo Rising Magazine for a stories about our visit to the Clinton-Bailey Market, local CSAs and the locavore phenomenon.
Tower Farms
1680 Lake Road, Youngstown , 14174
716.791.4765
Lenny Perry's Produce, Inc.
173 Niagara Frontier Food Terminal, Buffalo, 14206
716.821.0166
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viking
Hutch's is a great restaurant, but what does Tower's endorsement have to do with this article or for that matter relevant. Hutch's and Tower may have a business relationship but I actually believe Hutch's gets their produce from Guercio's, what's up. Although Tower gets a of coverage, I think that most local farm operations both small and big take exception to Tower being portrayed as a " WNY Spokesman for Agriculture" as self serving. I know this because I had a discussion with a few, Tower has a good operation but there are many others and they all compete. Tower is one of many farmers who supply Guercio's with product ask Sam who are the others their comments may be relevant also and revealing.
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ChristaSeychew
Sorry to have rubbed you the wrong way, Viking. I don't feel it necessary to defend myself and this piece, but I do feel it wise to address some of the comments that you've made here.
We spent a lot of time researching this article and the rest of the farming series. This included speaking to other farmers like Tony Weiss and Glenn Sanger. Both Glenn and Tony sell to Sam at the Clinton-Bailey Market, as opposed to Lenny Perry's where this piece comes from. Tony told us that he's growing small sweet peppers for Hutch, and another farmer there told us that he grows poblanos at Hutch's request. All of this is most easily demonstrated by a quick read through the many farm/harvest related articles featured in the October issue of Buffalo Rising. . Referring to Tom Tower as a spokesman was my doing, and certainly something that would cause Mr. Tower to blush. Based on the number of interviews he's done in print and for documentaries (PBS just visited the market and Lenny Perry's a few weeks ago), it seemed a reasonable title to me. I wouldn't intentionally offend any of the friendly and engaging farmers that I met at Clinton-Bailey (again, this interview happened at Lenny Perry's). Additionally, Mr. Tower was the man that many people in integral positions referred us to while making general inquiries as we began this series of articles, therefore I assume I am not the first to see him as such.
And lastly, as for the reference to Mr. Tower eating at Hutch's, I thought it was a nice twist to the story, a way to show people that the hardworking farmers who live miles outside the city, and in this case living a life free of technology and the like, make an effort to come into Buffalo and eat at one of its best restaurants. I like the thought of Mr. Tower selling Hutch something he's grown and then venturing into the city from his farm many miles away to enjoy it at Hutch's restaurant. Maybe you find it irrelevant, what can I say?
As always, Viking, I appreciate your readership and the fact that you are engaged enough to comment on the YUM boards. I'd say "Happy Eating", but based on the fact that you own a restaurant specializing in lobster, I think it's safe to say you do that every day.
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viking
I like the fact that Christa, mentioned some of the other farm operations that supply restaurants directly and thru outlets like Guercio's and Perry's. I think Tower's has fine products, in fact thru my suppliers I'm sure we use some of his produce also. There are many farm operations that need to be publicized that do not enjoy the exposure that Tower gets, but need it more. I like Hutch's also, and I'm sure there are many more really good restaurants within the reach of BR that uses Tower produce that he also patronizes. When talking about suppling restaurants with local produce I believe the playing field should be level, give them all a chance and that goes for restaurants also. I pay for the advertising we do, one way or another, read my posts, we plug other restaurants and businesses not ourselves, that catch our fancy, . Yes I do eat well, but usually at places recommended by BR and others and certainly not lobster every day. .
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benfranklin
I'd be interested to know the spread between the price Mr. Tower receives for an item, vs. what consumers see at a large supermarket. As a software developer, I've often thought it would be an interesting application (not just a web site) to allow consumers to order directly from a selected set of farmers.
I think people would be surprised at how small an order Guercio's will deliver to a restaurant. The model is not that much different than home delivery (scaled up), and one would think the margins would be greater. At one point I talked to Hutch about providing finished meals for such a service.
I realize billions have been lost trying to deliver groceries to homes. In my opinion, a big problem is all the services were web based, and took too much time to order through. With an application running on a pc, you could tie the service into a person's lifestyle...as well as compute reordering based on usage, etc.
Anyway, I have a home based applicaton near completion. I've backed off the food delivery side of it.... but at some point... I'd like to take a stab at it.
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ChristaSeychew
benfranklin,
I think that sounds very interesting. I do know that Guercio's will deliver to your home for a small fee, a fantastic service that is not known to many. Using a CSA is a little bit like ordering directly from a farmer, as many of them ask shareholders what they'd like to have before they plant their crop.
I think that prepared meals to go and home delivery are burgeoning markets. I think that anything that allows people to have fresh food in their home with the least amount of effort required to produce a meal will be a very profitable business model for next decade or so. I'd be interested in hearing more about your program.
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viking
Benfranklin you may be interested in this old rule of thumb, at each level of distribution after origination 20% is the targeted markup. (although not iron clad.) Generally farmers enjoy more profit by selling directly to the public, the public gets fresher product with less value added expense. Farmers like the cash from retail, but need the volume that wholesale gives them. Restaurants ( food service) operate at cost of product between 20% & 50% depending on the type.
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