For our first Market Interview we wanted to talk to someone we really admire and who's product is truly exceptional. The obvious choice was Chip from Grazin’ Angus Acres, a grass-fed Black Angus beef farm in Ghent, New York. Chip is at the Union Square Green Market Fridays and Saturday’s selling beef, pasture-raised eggs and chicken. Their beef is out of this world! It's easily the best beef we've had anywhere. It has an intense beefy flavor, a grassy finish and the perfect amount of chew- sounds like we're describing a wine, right? Well it's that good. Our favorites are the Sirloin, Hanger, and Flap steaks, and the ground beef. We always keep a steak and ground beef in the freezer.
Chip is a warm and energetic man who's favorite part about working the stand is "talking to people shopping at the market and helping them eat better.” The farm is all about transparency so when we asked him how they got started, he launched right in...
After September 11th, Chip's father-in-law Dan decided their family needed a change, so they ventured upstate and bought a dairy farm. Not knowing what to do with it they held on to the farm managers, Jim and Ilene Stark, made them partners, and they started selling Black Angus as seed stock in auctions. One day a friend asked how their livestock was raised and Dan explained that they were grass-fed and pasture raised. The friend had two autistic children and was concerned that industrial food had played a part. He then asked Dan if he would be willing to sell the beef, suggesting that Dan read The Omnivores' Dilemma. With his curiosity piqued, Dan went out the next day, bought the book and then read it 5 times in the next 3 weeks.
In the four years since, Grazin' Angus Acres has operated as a 100% grass-fed and hormone/antibiotic free beef farm, using sustainable farming techniques employed by Joel Salatin. They are also proud to be Animal Welfare Approved.
When we asked Chip- formerly a successful IT guy in Midtown- how he got involved with the farm he laughed. As soon as Chip asked Dan for his daughter's hand in marriage, Dan started prodding him about joining the family farm. At first Chip couldn't imagine leaving his urban life, but he soon found himself moving closer to Ghent. Motivated by the dream of opening a farm-to-table restaurant, he started working for the family by manning the stands at markets. And now, after years of planning, they'll finally be opening a diner this month serving all Grazin' Angus hot-dogs and burgers in Hudson, New York!
Grazin' Angus can be found on Fridays and Saturdays at the Union Square Greenmarket and on Sundays in Brooklyn on Carroll Street between Smith and Court and in Manhattan at the Museum of Natural History Market. If you can't make it to a market, you can always write to them with special order's or questions. Hear the complete interview here:
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