Nantucket's Local Market, Pip & Anchor

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
You are listening to Food for Thoughtwith Billy and Jenny, brought to you
by the Box Center. For morethan fifteen years, this dining duo has
been eating their way through New England, mixing it up with top chefs,
jumping behind the line of the hottestrestaurants, and giving you the inside scoop
on where to dine and spend yourtime. So get ready, it's Food
for Thought giving you something to chewon. Hey, everybody, welcome into

(00:23):
Food for Thought, brought to youby the Box Center. I'm Jenny.
I'm coming to you today with asummer cold, something that we wish none
of us ever had. So excuseexcuse the nasal sound. I'm going to
do my best to be as clearas possible. So today I'm really excited
for the show. As you've heardmany times on this program and if you've
watched Dining Playbook, Billy and Iare huge proponents of supporting local businesses wherever

(00:50):
and whenever is possible, and forme, I think to make that statement
a little bit more specific, Somuch of my passionate about supporting local culinary
producers and certainly local farms and farmersthroughout New England. And as a person
who's lived in New England my entirelife, I personally find no better time

(01:12):
of year than sort of the endin summer into fall, when there is
ample local produce that is just soaccessible. And the nice thing about a
lot in the shift is you areable to get a lot of local produce
throughout the year. Two. Butthis is something that we talk a lot
about. It's something that we reallywant to educate our listeners about why it's

(01:34):
so important to support local. Ithink we hear that all the time.
It's certainly a tagline, you know, throughout our country, which as it
should be, but I think toreally spend some time and to think about
what that statement really means and whyit is so helpful to not only the
businesses that you're supporting, but theinfrastructure of our lands, the place that

(01:55):
we live. So our guest todayis a woman who I have admired for
years. Babley Ha Torii is justa renowned chef, certainly on the Nantucket
Islands, and she has a slewof culinary accolades and has worked in some
of the absolute finest kitchens and manyof the restaurants that we've actually had in

(02:15):
this program over the past couple ofdecades. Maybee is now a partner in
tipp and Acre, one of myabsolute favorite places to be in this time
of year, which is a sustainablysourced local market on the islands of Nantucket,
which because of my husband's work,I'm lucky to spend some time.
So maybe thank you so much forjoining us today. Thank you Jaye.

(02:38):
Excited to be here, so greatto connect with you. So we're going
to talk all about Tippet Acre,your mission, what people can expect when
they walk in there, and talkabout you know, why supporting local and
purcing locally and sustainably is so important. But one of the things we like
to do at the beginning of aprogram is sort of gets to know the
person that folks are going to belistening to it. So maybe I know

(03:01):
you a little bit, certainly havebeen following your career as you know,
over the past decade, but Iwant folks to learn a little bit more
about you. So so let's golike way way way, way, way
way back. I love to findout from people like when did their culinary
inspiration start? Who was the personthat sort of brought you into the kitchen?

(03:23):
And tell us some stories about howthat person or those experiences sort of
shapes what you did with your future. Sure, it's I mean it goes
back to my I guess childhood.We I'm first generation born American. My
mother's from Spain, my father's fromJapan. So both countries really rich and

(03:45):
their culinary traditions and meals and thekitchen is just an important place to be
and both are hyper local, hyperseasonal food cultures as well. I was
very fortunate that my maternal grandmother's andmy Spanish grandmother lived with us when I
was growing up. She helped up, you know, help my mom raise

(04:08):
us, and she did the majorityof the cooking in the house. So
she from a very you know forme when I was a very young girl,
probably four or five. Is oneof my first memories in the kitchen,
she had me in they're doing whichever, whatever, whatever I expressed interest
in. In fact, my oneof my first kitchen memories is I was

(04:30):
making espanola, which is we haveit on the menu here. It's a
traditional Spanish dish with like eggs andpotatoes and onions. It's poor man's food.
It's it's only as good as thequality of ingredients you get into it.
And she handed me in mandolin,which is very sharp, and I
was slicing potatoes. She told menot to cut myself, and sure enough,

(04:53):
I cut myself and she spanished meup and right back into it.
So so yeah, I mean,definitely, yeah. She was definitely not
afraid to hand me a sharp toolright from a very young age. But
it was great. And you know, I never thought that this would be
like getting into cooking professionally would bean option. You know, as probably

(05:15):
its first generation immigrants here, you'regetting pushed to do, you know,
to succeed and to carve a differentlife. And you know, the reason
both my parents came here was tocreate a better life, you know,
give me different options than what theyhad in their own countries. And you
know, it's it was one ofthose things where I try to kind of

(05:35):
forge other paths that the kitchen keptkind of calling me back. And so
finally, when I was twenty sixyears old, I quit my job,
said I'm going to culinary school andI don't know, we'll see what happens
with this. If it sucks,then I can always figure out whetting something
else. And it's obviously I've stuckwith it. That's such a great story,

(05:58):
especially coming with so many different flavorsjust from from your parents. So
was did her time kind of thefocal point or did it not necessarily really
matter? Was everything sort of agazed around the kitchen? Uh? It
really matter? There's always food around, you know. We weren't well to
do, but there was always something. My grandmother had grown up in post

(06:21):
Civil War Spain, so she wasused to make and she was the eldest
daughter of seven kids, so shewas used to making a lot out of
nothing or quote nothing, and youknow, there was there was always something
kind of to pick up or toenjoy. Way. Food was very much
an expression of love, you know, That's definitely how she expressed her love.

(06:46):
How she made sure that we allfelt taken care of. That there
was never luck for anything in thatdepartment. And I've always loved that feeling.
You know, that's something that Icould try to resocame cooking that people
she'd feel like they're being chair beforetheir food. Oh my gosh. So
certainly, and we'll talk more aboutwhat you're doing a pimp and anger,
because that's exactly how I feel certainlywhen I bring home some of your prepared

(07:11):
foods and can also say that there'sthere's a soup that you make that my
daughter, You literally think like mostchildren do this for like an ice cream
Sunday or a or something like this, and she does this for your soup.
And anyway, just it is sofilled with so club. We're gonna
take a quick break and we'll beback with Naomi had Tory in just a
minute. You're listening to Food forThought brought to you by the Box Center

(07:33):
and Salem Waterfront Hotel and sweet Welcomeback to the Soup for Thought brought to
you by the Box Center. Chefniand Wei had Tory is our guest.
She lives on Nantucket, the beautifulisland of Nantucket, is doing some pretty
spectacular things here. We talked alittle bit about her history and sort of
her culinary inspiration. Certainly some greatstories. I love the idea of thinking

(07:55):
of her cutting her finger in thekitchen with her grandma and such young aids
in her of us saying okay,let's bandage it up and let's get right
back in there. I think that'sjust such a great lesson to the or
bpcing youth and acentimes helps people findtheir passion. So you mentioned the different
culinary influences. It seems like Stantusfood was certainly up the forefront, and

(08:16):
your dad big from Japan, sothere were a lot of different flavors and
we'd like to share with our audiencesome of those sort of specific ingredients and
spices and biggs that make up thecuisine type. So can you share some
of the specific dishes that you wereeating or making as a young girl with
us. Yeah, I mean wewere really fortunate grow up in southern California
where there's access to auch ton offresh produce, so everything kind of rebolled

(08:39):
around that, and for both cultures, the vegetables are usually really simply prepared.
It's about the quality and you know, if you're eating it right at
the right moment, it doesn't reallyneed much. So tomato salads were like
one of my ultimate favorite foods toeat growing up, and I mean it
was just as simple and as slicedtomatoes with a little bit of red wine

(09:01):
or sherry vinegar and olive oil gersall all over it, and really that's
it, and that's still for me. It's just such an ultimate celebration of
a tomato that you don't need todress it up with you know, a
ton of other things. And notto say that there's nothing anything wrong with
mozzarella or pasta or anything along thoselines, but just that tomato in season

(09:22):
at that moment was just awesome andone of my fondest memories. We Lady
eat Gosh, it was so varied. I mean, we thos ate Spanish.
The as I mentioned, was alwaysa mainstay. We pretty much always
had that available house. When pepperswere in season, they would always just
fry up a ton of peppers andolive oil and those would be kind of

(09:45):
readily available so that you could justgrab a good chunk of bread and put
those on top and eat that.In fact, I was kind of the
weird kid at school because those wouldbe my sandwiches at school as opposed to
you know, slaney or peanut butteror anything along those lines, and nobody
would want to trade with me.And then strangely, like I mean really,
I had foil wrap sandwiches, whichnobody did right, And then there

(10:09):
would either be a piece of dortheaon like sour dough bread, and again
nobody had that and you know,fried peppers or slices of tomato or stuff
like that. And you know,it's funny looking back, thinking like how
badly I wanted to be like theother kids and just eat my bologna sandwich
or peanut butter and jelly, andwe just didn't have those things at my
house. And now looking back,my wow, that was I was really

(10:33):
lucky. I also, strangely broughtsushi to school, So that was one
of those things which now is probablywhatever, Like you know, you could
get it at every grocery store practically, but you know, growing up,
my dad used to love, likeonce a week or once every two weeks,
bring us to a local sushi restaurantthat he'd befriended the chef there,

(10:54):
and I mean that was just youknow, we we would stuff ourselves to
the gills with that. And Ithink for him that was a joyous moment
too, of being able to sharelike his culture and have his moment as
opposed to you know, are verylike eurocentric, uh you know home that
way. But I have to saymy mom did a really good job of
trying to make sure that at leastone night a week we would eat Japanese

(11:16):
foot so they'd be like little frightfishes, or there'd be you know,
alterts of like you know, simplyprepare pickles, lots of rice. I
don't know. It's just you know, pretty amazing. Yeah, well that
speaks very true to hope for me. I'm gonna have to have my daughter
come chat with you able because wedo. As Vienna often says to me,

(11:37):
why can't we have lunches like everybodyelse. I don't, I don't
necessarily do, but we do.We do sam it and we do rice,
so we do veggies and you know, like I guess I've turned it
into a treat that she can haveor like some kind of thing at the
end of the week where she canhave a sandwich. But it's so she's
like, why can't it be likeeveryone else? And I think you're right
and knowing that, like now,that was such a gift and I hold

(11:58):
someday soon, but Vienna, mydaughter can can feel like that because you
know, there are so many flavorsout there to be able to enjoy.
And I think totally before we shouldnormalize eating the other way. Yeah true.
So you know, well, wellI think something that's so interesting is
growing up in California, which isone of our favorite places to go.

(12:18):
I mean, like you said,there's you have so much access to sort
of the the the ample fresh producethat is just sort of like plussed from
the ground, you know, aminus is before. And I think part
of what you're talking about is thisidea that when things are fresh, they
take on a completely different profile thanthings that oftentimes people are getting in the

(12:39):
grocery stores. And that's one ofthe reasons I think this conversation is so
important. But before we get tothat, I want to sort of fast
forward. So you got into culinaryschool, you you, you obviously came
with probably a step up from alot of folks having been so comfortable in
the kitchen. But then what then, what happened from there? Where did
you go from there? I wasworking at let's see, I had two

(13:03):
jobs at the time. I wasworking at a hotel, a little place
that was called Shutters on the Beachin Santa Monica. They fortunately took me
in as a culinary student who hadno experience, kind of like brought me
into the folds. So I didboth pastry production there for a long time,
which was like the foundation of mytraining, and then ended up getting

(13:24):
moved into their fine dining restaurant andthere there was only three of us on
the line. I was working withtwo other Mexicans on rotation and they were
from Puebla and amazing cook so wecould call this fine dining food. And
then at the end of the shipthe ship was always great and would let
us have like a sake or likesome shrimp or something, and they would
make family meal for the four ofyou know, like three or four of

(13:46):
us basically every single night, andI mean talk it was just for me
such a growing experience as well,Like not only was I getting to work
in a fine dining rest straw andand cut my chops, doing you know,
elegant prepared you know dishes, youknow, had a lot of touches,
et cetera. But on the flipside of it, these guys were

(14:09):
just natural cooks, you know,making you know, these incredible sausas and
sauces and simmer dishes. And theability to stretch like a small amount of
protein to feed you know a groupof us well and you know heartily was
was really amazing and nourishing to finishoff a shift that way, So that's
something that I always you know,take with me as well. And then

(14:31):
on the flip side of it,one day a week, I was staging
at this Freshman that now is closedfor an amazing chef. It was one
of a hot restaurant at the timein the LA and they're also I was
doing the fine dining. What Iloved about working there was, you know,
everything wasn't too complicated. I mean, for even though it looked like

(14:52):
it had, I don't know thatit was super involved. Like the list
of ingredients was really minimal. Hereally saw librated local produce as well,
and these the access to these ingredients, and so he came actually from the
Alice Waters Jeremiah Jeremiah Towers kind oflegacy, so that's probably where the influence

(15:13):
comes from. Like literally every youknow, every list of ingredients with maybe
like six or seven six or sevenitems per dish, which is kind of
unheard of now. And so that'ssimple esthetic really stuck with me that you
don't really need to do much,you don't really need to complicate much to
make really beautiful food, and reallylearning how to edit and stop and know

(15:35):
like okay, what is it thatyou want to taste with? This was
fantastic, So, you know,I to this day I use a decent
amount of spices, but also atthe same time, they kind of play
a very background flavor as opposed tobeing a dominant flavor. And for me,
it's just about like getting that beingto taste, you know, as
incredible as it possibly could, orthat fava or that you know that you

(15:58):
know, I'll keep going back totomatoes, but you know, getting those
vegetables to taste exactly like they're meantto be and celebrate that. I love
that, Okay, And then youcame to New England. Yeah, and
then I came to New England.That restaurant shuttered. He had a baby,
you know, he and his wifehad a baby, and they said
they want to move somewhere outside ofLA So I had been in California my

(16:21):
entire life, and I was like, well, if I'm really going to
do the seasonal food thing, like, let's let's let's challenge myself. So
I moved to Boston. I randomlypicked Boston out thought all right, let's
give this a go. If itsucks, then I'll move there. I
met Gabriel Frasca. I worked withhim at By a restaurant for a while,

(16:44):
you know, back at the ninezero Hotel, also kind of the
same aesthetic, and there it wasinteresting to really push that that seasonality wasn't
so broad. You know, there'sthere's the months of you know, rudabagas
and cabbage and potatoes and turnips andand and it's and it's harder to suss

(17:07):
out those those beautiful fis, youknow, flavors when you don't have you
know, tomatoes from April through Novemberor something along those lines, you know.
So yeah, and then I endedup working over at Kraggy Street Bistredo
with Tony Monst a little bit.I and then found my way to Nantucket
after that and haven't never left.Gosh, it's some of the sense that

(17:30):
we've definitely had on the show andand and some great experiences that both pay
homage to the simplicity of the foodthat you felt as a child, and
also we're able to bring into thoserestaurants, which I love because the truth
is they don't have to be complicated, I think in life and otherwise it's
a great metaphor for all of life. We're gonna take the work right,
we'll be back with They would bea just a minute. You're listening to

(17:52):
Food for Thought rock, so youbuy the box center and sale and Waterfront
hotel and sweets. Okay, stepsbaby at Tori is our gap. We've
heard a little bit about your historyand sort of coming here to the islands
of Dayan Pocket. I think theday for folks who come to Dayance Pocket
from somewhere else is wash Ashore.So you were a wash Ashore at some
point. And where did you start? I started working at Straight Wharf.

(18:15):
I was there for ten years asGabriel's cheft e cuisine. Amanda Lydon was
heavily involved in the first few yearsas well, So it just was a
powerful duo to work with, youknow, and talk about culinary boot camp.
I mean when height of season andyou're facing Saturday night business like every
single night. Gabriel Amanda did anamazing job and had a great connection to

(18:40):
some of the local forms here.So I mean I just remember getting like,
you know, so much food deliveredfrom Bartlett's, you know, and
the access to this beautiful broccoli andtomatoes and beans and beets and like,
and we just put as much ofit as we possibly put on that menu
every single year, and you know, and it was just kind of this
moment. It always kind of feltslightly frenetic, like you know, hey,

(19:06):
there's this really short window where weget to handle like all this stuff,
and we also have like all thisbusiness, So how do we do
right by this? And how dowe get as much of it onto the
menu? And how do we getthis like you know, uh it done.
It was Yeah, it was apretty a pretty intense intense time,
but I loved it. You know, you had these three three months of

(19:26):
like hyper intensity. It was afive months season, and then you know
you got to kind of rest alittle bit after that and reset and then
have at it again. I mean, I think we would work basically equipment
of like a year's work in thosefive months, you know, if you're
looking at it hourly, so youknow, I would just become a puddle

(19:47):
after the season was over. Butit was great as you did with it
on this island. In hospitality,it is an unbelievable grinds uh, And
it's really spectacular. It takes placein how you guys are all able to
manage and certainly Straight Wharf is thePSA resistults like you know here on the
island and Hazard for so long,an Amanda and Gabriel are so celebrated.

(20:10):
I can only imagine how cool itwas to be in that kitchen with them,
and what a partnership you guys had. And I know that that's where
I first had the opportunity to sortof meet you and get a send some
sort of experiencing the and just likeboth the seriousness and the fun that that
comes out of those kind of kitchensand probably you know, sort of honed

(20:33):
the skills that were already fined insuch in such a robust way. So
from Straight Wharf, another stop andthen and then of course pip An Anchor,
And this is our quick break,So we're going to take a break
and we'll be back with Chef mayumihaTore from here on Nantucket pipp An Anchor
one of the finest local ghoceries storesI have ever been in. We'll take
a break and me right back.You're listening to Food for Thought, Rotty
you boys to Box Center and SalemWaterfront Hotel and Sweets, So chef here

(20:59):
you are in Nantucket really getting toknow the sort of seasonality and sort of
the people that make up this prettyspectacular, very unique island. And then
COVID happens, So so where areyou and what amazing silver lining comes out
of COVID for you and your partners. Well, you know, the local
food movement obviously had been really driveninto me at this point in timing is

(21:19):
part of my DNA, we cansay. And you know, everybody was
talking about how, you know,the farms had no place to sell their
produced since restaurants had been closed.There was a big illumination all of a
sudden, probably not all of asudden, about how the food system was
broken in ways. And so here'sthis contrast of supermarkets being completely empty and

(21:41):
also kind of unsafe to go to. We had no idea what was happening,
and then farmers just not knowing whereto take all their food and destroying
it all, which just seemed criminalgiven how much food and security there is
out there. So my friend RitaHiggins had started a while ago this little
local food club that was called HundredMile Makers, and she decided to reach

(22:03):
out to a nonprofit that's based outin Providence, was called farm Fresh Rhode
Island and got a group of friendstogether and saying, okay, let's try
to get as much local produced aspossible to feed ourselves so we don't have
to go to stop and shop.And so you know, it's it's March,
so there's beads and apples, salad, green, some kale, et
cetera. You know, but abouttwenty of us did that. I called

(22:25):
her up right away and said,can I help with this because I just
need something to do. And itturns out I'm really good at moving food
around. So and from there,Pip and Anchor was born. I mean,
at the time it was just MileMakers. We were a little pop
up grocery once a week. Wouldplace their orders with us on a Monday
and then they could come pick uptheir groceries on Thursday because the farmers basically
would pick to order. When theseason started opening up here, we reached

(22:51):
out to a few of our localguys as well and said, hey,
what do you want to sell?And so everything was very I don't know,
organic, and just kind of snowballfrom there and word of mouth got
out there. So we started withtwenty people and then doing got up to
about one hundred people and we neededuh space, and fortunately our you know

(23:12):
remain ventures UH saw the you know, I saw what we were doing and
gave us a you know, accessto a lovely building on Amelia Drive to
be able to actually make this abrick and mortar and have local food available
to people all the time. Andand and so it was born and it
has it really transformed I think alot of what it's it's transformed when you

(23:34):
sake of a grocery experience and it'ssomething that at least I search and search
and search for and you know,when you're in California, that is your
norm, Like that is what youdo. You find your you know,
your farmer's market and you're there inthe beginning of the week and you're probably
hit another one in the middle ofthe week. And that's just and that's
just how you live. And unfortunatelythat's not something that we have necessarily access

(23:55):
to all year around here in NewEngland. But you've really been able to
create a model where that sustainability becausesomething that could be in the forefront.
So it's evolved like if an acreevolved into this, But was this something
that you were seen as a problem, Is something that you felt like there
was a solution for Yeah, Ijust for years to see people be disconnected
to their food. You know,they had no you know, I came

(24:18):
from the culture of you knew yourfarmer and all of a sudden had no
idea. And never mind the factthat like the food of the supermarket is
flavorless. We can get into thata little bit later, but it just
tasted like a bare shadow of whatit was meant to be. And meantime,
here's my farmer friends. Because Iwas very drawn to them. You

(24:40):
know, we're literally eating you know, carrots just pulled out of the ground,
and man, they taste so goodwith you know, even with a
little bit of dirt on them,They're so delicious and vibrant. And you
know, how do you connect thosestuffs? How do you get people to
get in touch with their food andget so excited about it? And maybe
I guess just farmers are my peoplebecause the fact that their eyes light up
every single time, you know,they're growing this, you know, the

(25:03):
sussments. Their eyes light up whenthey're when they get to provide people with
with this stuff. So it wasborn out of that connection of wanting to
make people reconnect to their community,reconnect to the food that they're putting into
their bodies and becomes them, youknow, and they're all around us,
and you know, the Natucket iskind of a weird place and that yes,

(25:27):
we're very isolated, and so asa result, we were you know,
heavily off of one grocery store,but we also have the benefits.
There's a good amount of farms hereand so there's this bounty of produce that
yes, maybe it takes a littlebit more effort to get to it,
but it's so worth it and stopshop and you definitely are that. So

(25:52):
talk a little bit about what happenedin the offseason though, because we don't
have that saved bounty all year round. But you're able to create a sustain
will business, and I think that'shelpful for people to know, Yeah,
we are trying. So we sourceas far as three hundred fifty miles.
One hundred miles is our priority,but we go as far as three hundred
and fifty miles to be able tooffer a wide variety of things, and
we try to source as we're organicas possible, so most of our food

(26:17):
is organic or our farmers are alsopracticing regenerated because we believe that we need
to support farmers that are also treatingthe soil and the land the correct way,
and that goes with the animals aswell. So in the wintertime we
do end up pulling more off island. What I've been trying to do is
also demonstrate to our local farmers thatit is worth it for them to grow

(26:40):
longer season if they can. Theyneed support in terms of being able to
have the infrastructure to do it,you know, they need tunnels, winters
are long here, and and alsojust the financial support too, knowing that
they're making this investment into the landthat it will pay back for them and
for all that labor as well.So that's sustainable definitely key for that,

(27:03):
and I want to talk a lotmore about that fir Needral piece and supporting
both the island and the education forthis as well. We'll be back with
more Food for Thought in just aminute. You're listening to Food for Thought,
Ross do you buying the Box centerand Salem Waterfront hotel and suites?
So set you put upon so manydifferent components that I think are helpful for
our listeners to understand, is thereis opportunity for folks in New England to

(27:26):
be able to cultivate more produce fora longer period of time. But one
of the main obstacles is finances.Is how do you support these farmers to
do the things that we we'd lovefor them to be able to do so,
so it has Does it feel likein that process of connecting with a
lot of these farmers that there's there'sa lot of desire in making this sort
of thing work. Yeah, youknow, I think a lot of people

(27:51):
loved Goal, but frequently Goal there'sa complaint about the price, and so
the matter is is that you knowyou're supporting your neighbor, and you know
it's you want to pay people afair a fair price for the value of
the proof, you know, ofthe food that they're bringing to you.
You know, one thing that wealways talk about too, is that this
local food, since it's recently pickedand also bread for flavor and nutrition versus

(28:18):
long storage capabilities, which is whathappens in the supermarkets, it's a lot
more nutritionally dense, so you're gettinga lot more bang for your buck.
You and you may seem that youknow that you know, five dollars a
bunch of parrots is really expensive,but at the same time you kind of
need less of it because the factyou're actually fussing a little bit more and

(28:38):
if you want to really go downthe rabbit hole with it, you know,
seeing that you know you're most likelygoing to be less sick for it,
You're going to you know, payless in your medical bills, that
your overall health is going to improvebecause of the fact that that that that
care is more nutritionally dense, andin the long run that shouldn't matter,

(29:00):
you know, the five dollars shouldn'tmatter in that because it's a it's a
long term investment in your future self. So yeah, it's important. That's
an important conversation and one that Itry to have with people all the time.
One of the things that Billy andI did, and I urged people
listening to do, is is Ithink there's a there's a conception that this
is kind of not real, right, Like this idea that like the carat

(29:22):
that you eat at the from theyou know, big brand grocery taste differently
than the one that you'd get atPip and Acre, and it is one
hundred percent shu. So I urgeour listeners to do what I did with
Billy. We got ten different items. We blindfolded me and we blindfolded him,
and they knew exactly which one wasfrom a local source and what one
was from had been sitting in thegrocery store for god knows how long,

(29:45):
and undeniably ten out of ten timeswe knew exactly which one was fresh.
I have to say Billy needed alittle bit more education because I think he's
just been eating more bland or foodexcept when he gets to dine out at
some of the restaurants. But butit is, it is. It is
not a question, and it's alsonot a question that older food loses its
nutrius. And so this story thatyou're saying, this education that you're giving

(30:06):
to us all into you know,it's all the folks that come into the
story is so important. And ofcourse it costs more money to be able
to do these things, but thisis more money than in the long run
is going to support you in abig way. And so it's a really
pippotager's goal is, you know,on a small scale, to chase the
way I guess you know, NanPuckert, Nan Pucketers are eating. But
I mean, the hope is thatthis is something that could be able to

(30:27):
be spread far and wide. Isobviously people are coming from all over the
place to visit nan Pucket. Whatwould you say are some of your big
concerns about our our food system Andwe've just talked about some of them,
but but can you go into alittle bit more detail. Sure, I
mean, you know, as Imentioned before, we try to support farmers
that are doing the right thing bythe soil, but it's also what they're

(30:48):
doing the right thing by the people. You know, there's migrant labor and
how underpaid and how horribly they're treatedis no secret. You don't have to
dig very far to find out,you know, about these farmers uni or
these workers unions getting together and tryingto create better working conditions for them,

(31:10):
and people are completely unaware that,for instance, that you know, three
dollars pint of berries that they're gettingis usually coming from farmers that are from
a worker that you know, isbeing paid by how much he collects and
not a fair wage by how manyhours used in the field some you know,
So that for me is a reallybig importance and part of the reason
why you're paying a little bit morefor for you know, for our products,

(31:33):
you know, the other things.You know, there's obviously we touched
on the nutritional density of it andavailability, just trying to it's it's also
the lack of access that a lotof our communities and neighbors don't have to
this food. You know. It'ssince it does cost a little bit more
to have these nutritionally dense vegetables,it does push out a margin of people.

(32:01):
And so some of the work thatwe do here is we have a
partnership with a nonprofit that and fromthe very beginning we've always tried to provide
boxes of the same food, thesame vegetables that we're providing to our customers
for sale. We have eighty familiesthat we give produce boxes to every single
week, all season, all yearlong. Sorry, so about three hundred

(32:23):
individuals here on Nantucket that we giveproduce boxes to every single week of the
same food to make sure that theyhave access to this this healthy food.
It's it should be a right andnot a privilege, and that's part of
what our work here is as well. God, I mean that miss it

(32:44):
is so important, it's so valuable. It's so I mean, you are,
you're walking the walk in a waythat you should feel so so so
proud of. I want to talka little bit about some of these some
of the vendors that you have withinthe store and some of the so you
know, every he's not going tohave the chance to come into Piper and
Acre necessarily, but I think theythey have the chance to be able to

(33:05):
connect with some of these small businessesthat you are pulling from. So share
some of the highlights of things thatpeople can enjoy when they walk through your
doors. Sure, so, asidefrom the produce, we have incredible salsas
and tomato products from Kitchen Garden Farm. They're known for their sirachas they grow.
You know, their husband and wifeteam that are amazing. They're based

(33:25):
in Sunderland, mass and you knowthere's siracha kind of put them on the
map. They grow a ton oftomatoes and all sorts of different vegetables and
chili peppers are their passion as wellas randomly Ridikio. They spent some time
in Italy, but they are incredibleand you know, their products are shall
stable. So the nice thing aboutthem is that if you do come to
visit us, you can probably getthem to you know, take it home

(33:50):
with you. We also have beautifulchocolates from Vermont that are incredible. They
work with farms in most of themin Columbia, but they you know,
they do single source varietals and justamazing products. You know, there's all
sorts of beans and chips and pastasfrom Boston, from Seddon Hills pasta company.

(34:15):
Gosh, we basically you could do. I would saying about ninety percent
of your shopping here. I meanI certainly do. When you know I
certainly do I and I think oneof your favorites, I know I could
go through, I could go offand down every single component of it.

(34:36):
So, I mean, I thinkone of the nice things about that sort
of shop local, and part ofwhat gets me so excited about kanietas often
as I do, is it's likeyou you start to become more creative in
the kitchen, right, so you'reable to be able to see some of
the produce that just got pulled fromthe ground, and you're like, Okay,
I don't I don't necessarily know thatI've cooked with this before, but
how can I cook with this before? I of course I always ask you

(34:57):
all the things and all the questions, and I look, really made a
round of TWI with everything from inside, tip and acre and the I mean,
I cannot stress enough the freshness,like the flavorful experience you will have
and eating a summer round and TWIwhere all of that produce comes from literally
right outside your backyard or within onehundred miles. It makes such a difference.

(35:22):
And just like and not only howyou feel, but in like in
the sort of the preparation of itall just makes you feel so much more
connected to nature. And ultimately Ithink I at least feel so much happier.
But I know, like, uh, Curio is a great spice company
that you have. It's in therethat we love. Oh god, she

(35:45):
does such such a great job.And and obviously you have different elixirs and
different things, you know, supportinghealth in different areas. But yeah,
yes, I mean, I can't. I can't stress it up. And
then, of course, if youare here, I had the opportunity to
come to Dantucket, you committed havingsome delicious baked goods uh from you,

(36:07):
as well as some prepared foods thatI should reference. The soup that I
talked about before, Babe, youcould tell us more about it. It's
it's sort of your your turkey soupthat has I don't even what what what
grade is it even in there thatmy daughter calls them, she calls them
little pearls, and it's so delicious. So tell us about the soup.
Well, that one right now currentlyhas fragula, but we try to do

(36:29):
it also with like Pharaoh from mainscreens. You know, there's ground turkey
that's coming from the sinoals. We'vegot, you know, kale that's being
grown at Fogtown's far So Rosemary.You know that one of our local gardeners
supplies for us and in pretty steadysupply. You know, it's there's really

(36:51):
not you know, and we makechicken stock every few days or so from
we have We're lucky to work inpartnership with Walden Local. They're you know,
out of just outside of Boston,and they provide us a good amount
of really beautiful meat and so youknow, we also you know, do
a lot of do a lot ofour prepared foods that use meat like with

(37:12):
their products as well. Yeah,they're incredible. We're gonna we're gonna We're
gonna take a break, and we'llbe back with our last break, because
I think this conversation is so importantto be having, and just like hearing
you talk about your connections makes mefeel more connected to the food that I'm
eating and lucky to eat a throughPip and anchor. We're gonna take a
break. We'll be back with moreFood for Thought in just a minute.
You're listening to Food for Thought broughtdo you buy the Box Center and sail

(37:36):
and Waterfront Hotel and sweet Well,this has been a total thrill for me.
I mean, I I this isone of the things that I really
sort of I guess you'd say,geek out about. Hopefully, you know,
we've been able to on the showintroduce you to some really interesting people
that are on the forefront of makingus feel more connected to our food.
I think in some ways, accessibilityI think to a variety of different things,

(37:59):
or I say, like certainly bigbusinesses has made us be less connected
to the folks that are right inour own neighborhood. And that's why it's
so wonderful that there has been sucha big focus on supporting local and that's
been a Mission, and so manyacross the country. But I think what
hopefully you've cleaned from this conversation iswhat it really needs to collect locally and
what someone who is connecting locally likeyou, sef, what you're doing to

(38:22):
make sure to make that connection bestrong. In terms of educating folks,
in terms of helping other people getaccessibility to food. I mean just said
in a lot of ways, it'sa big problem, so sept for there
are other organizations that are doing somethingsimilar to what you're doing, and I
want to talk about how people cansort of take the next step to connecting
more with their food. Yeah.Sure, I mean there's probably nonprofits in

(38:44):
every single state. We work closelywith Farm Fresherod Island. They're a nonprofit
based out of Providence. They havea great outreach they do. I think
we've reached all the New England,throughout most of New England and then they're
are you know, there's a CoastalWatershed or sorry, coastal foodshed program also

(39:05):
based out of New Bedford, Ibelieve. But throughout there's a bunch of
people doing the same kind of work. For profit businesses make a remain and
Worcester is stands out to me.They're amazing and have been an inspiration.
She's been doing this for for quitea while and it is about to reopen
her brick and mortar and you know, just peppered throughout New England. There's

(39:27):
they're they're all over the place.You just have to look ask questions.
You know, if you go toa it doesn't take much. A lot
of these farms too, on theirwebsites, for instance, will link you
to there to either their site orwho else that they work in concert with
to get their food out there.And a lot of times they'll list a

(39:50):
lot of different local food shops thatthat carry their produce. It's an easy
way to get access to it.Yeah, it doesn't take much, but
do you have to do a littlebit of legwork for it? But if
it means something to you, it'san easy way of making a big difference
really quickly. Oh, it's sotrue, and it makes a difference.
It makes a difference on so manydifferent levels. And hopefully that's something we've

(40:13):
been able to convey to you allduring this hour, is that your your
culinary experience at home will feel better, your children will feel better, you'll
you'll physically feel better after you eat, knowing that this is something that not
only knowing, but feeling that thisis something nutritious that's come from somewhere locally,
and obviously all of the people thesort of reverberation of people that you're

(40:34):
able to support by doing so.Well, maybe we've in my family,
You're you're you're sort of one ofour heroes on this island for the work
that you're doing, and your partnersare so wonderful and just sort of the
opportunity and education that you're bringing toso many is just so admirable. I
want to ask, Okay, onelast question. We're entering into the fall,
what is the thing that you get, like what piece of produce or

(40:58):
fruit or whatever it is you getmost excited about entering the fall? Well,
right now, we're just about toget Jimmy Nardello's our first Jimmy Ardelos
from the island. So those Ifreaking love. The story is fantastic.
You know this man, Jimmy Nardello, his mom brought them over from Italy
when she immigrated to the United States, and she kept a little garden and
out of the nine children, hewas the only one that had an interest

(41:20):
in the gardening, and he savedthese season, donated them to a seed
bank, and now they're available toa lot of places. And they're just
these delightful little red sweet peppers thatI absolutely adore. I can't bring myself
together say squashes, so I'm justgonna say those. Oh, I love
that and I we can't say squashyet, but so many wonderful stories coming

(41:43):
out of coming out of hipp andanger. Thank you so much for joining
us, step Mayumi. It's agreat pleasure to have you on the show.
Thank you. Jenny. All Right, we'll be back next week with
more food for thought.