9 American Farms Changing the Way We Eat

Paul Greive transformed himself from an accountant into a family farmer—all thanks to YouTube. For the former Marine who served in Iraq, a cubicle job proved tedious. His brother-in-law dared him to try his hand at farming, going so far as to buy Paul 50 chicks on a lark. “I had no idea what I was doing,” says Paul, “but I knew that I wanted our chickens to live like chickens. To soak up the sun, pick and scratch, eat bugs and worms and do what animals are meant to do.” He became a farmer partly by watching dozens of YouTube videos: how to build a coop, how to compost manure. Two years later, he now runs Primal Pastures with his wife, Lynsey, his father-in-law and his two brothers-in-law, who all take turns selling eggs, pork and lamb at the farm store. Their breakfasts and suppers (which sell out in 24 hours) are also a family affair. Paul greets guests; Lynsey, an interior decorator, sets tables with linen and wildflowers; and Lynsey’s sister, private chef Jamie McDaniel, cooks hearty dishes like banana-coconut pancakes. Paul no longer needs online tutorials; in fact, he now teaches monthly chicken-butchering workshops. —Julia Heffelfinger
39450 Calle Contento; primalpastures.com

When Tara Derr Webb and her husband, Leighton, started Deux Puces Farm two years ago, they took a straightforward approach, raising pigs for top Charleston, South Carolina, restaurants like Two Boroughs Larder. But then their ideas about what a farm could do began to get interesting. For example, they turned a shipping container into a shop stocked with handcrafted gold jewelry and artisanal jam. Come fall, a Spartan trailer on the grounds will transform into a shrimp shack. The Webbs run a pop-up restaurant, Farmbar, and serve dishes like a “stoner” burger made from chorizo, capers and ricotta. Guests sit at 1800s-era Dutch picnic tables, on midcentury Belgian chairs—all of which are for sale. (Tara travels to Atlanta flea markets to restock.) The Webbs—high school sweethearts who blew off prom to eat at New York City’s La Grenouille—have worked front-of-house at restaurants in San Francisco and Santa Fe. But at Deux Puces, they’re following their own creative impulses. “We get to do everything we want,” says Tara.—Gina Hamadey
7951 Doar Rd.; fiddletreemakers.com.

Cruze Farm evokes a mythic time when fresh-faced milkmaids were the embodiment of good health. The effect is intentional: Colleen Cruze Bhatti, the 27-year-old now helping to run the dairy farm her father, Earl, founded, dresses her sassy-sweet “Cruze Farm Girls” in gingham, cowboy boots and vintage aprons. Their Jersey cows graze freely on pesticide-free land, and the milk is pasteurized at a low temperature (145 degrees) in order to preserve flavor and enzymes. That milk is superlative—pure and rich with a pool of cream on top. Also outstanding are the ice creams the farm sells from its Knoxville food truck, in flavors like saffron-cardamom, as well as the buttermilk, which comes in shots and baked into biscuits. Bhatti claims that buttermilk’s medicinal properties include curing hangovers and settling the stomach, comparing its healthful bacteria to the kind in probiotic yogurt. “I bathe in buttermilk,” she says. “It’s sooooo good for you.”—Allison Glock
7309 Kodak Rd., Knoxville, TN;cruzefarmgirl.com

A few years ago, Molly and John Chester were a typical Hollywood couple—she was a private cook to celebrities, he was a filmmaker. Now, 50 miles from Los Angeles, they run the biodynamic Apricot Lane Farms, beloved by L.A. chefs like Suzanne Goin at Lucques. The farm’s 130 acres produce 80 different varieties of fruit, including pomegranates, mulberries and persimmons; Scottish Highland cattle and Dorper sheep graze on its pastures; and chickens lay eggs for which there’s a waiting list at L.A.’s Farmshop. While the Chesters focus on age-old methods, they also embrace modern technology and social media, documenting everything on the quirky Instagram feed @apricotlanefarms. Molly’s latest project: a new cookbook, Back to Butter (with a foreword by musician Beck), which centers around full-fat, nutritious ingredients. Plus, she and John are working on a plan to ship produce, like their buttery Hass avocados. “We want to become the biodynamic Harry & David,” Molly says.—Meghan McEwen
10700 Broadway Rd.; apricotlanefarms.com

At this 1,000-acre sustainable farm near Louisville, visitors are greeted by pony-size pink snails, one of the avant-garde art installations scattered among the herd of bison. Owners Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson saved the farmland from development in 1996; now it supplies meat and produce to the flagship Louisville location of their 21C Museum Hotels group. On Thursdays, guests can tour the art or purchase organic meat and fresh eggs. —M. Elizabeth Sheldon
Goshen; woodlandfarm.com

Restaurateur Michael Babin (of Washington, D.C.’s Birch & Barley and ChurchKey) started the nonprofit Arcadia to spread the word about healthy, sustainable food. Supporters can purchase produce from a retrofitted green school bus that travels throughout the D.C. area, or make a point of going to the craft apple cider festival at the Woodlawn Mansion on Sunday, October 5. —M. Elizabeth Sheldon
Alexandria; arcadiafood.org

This sheep farm 35 miles north of Kansas City produces phenomenal cheeses with cheeky names, like the ash-rind Dirt Lover. Founders Sarah Hoffmann and Jacqueline Smith organize farm-to-table dinners as well as classes in their covered barn. These include a cheese-and-chocolate seminar with nationally renowned Kansas City chocolatier Christopher Elbow, and a blue-cheese-and-beer tasting with Free State Brewing. —M. Elizabeth Sheldon
Weston; greendirtfarm.com

A necessary stop for next-generation farm nerds (and the hungry and curious), Essex is a 600-acre farm in the Hudson Valley powered mainly by draft horses and solar panels. A new stand, open daily, sells the farm’s full range of sustainable ingredients, including grass-fed beef. Two years ago, owners Kristin and Mark Kimball launched Essex Farm Institute, which offers training in farming through one- to three-month internships or a longer apprenticeship. —M. Elizabeth Sheldon
Essex; essexfarmcsa.com

“Loving pigs is not something you necessarily see in your future,” deadpans Sather Duke. Less than a decade ago, he was living in Brooklyn and designing Shaker-inspired furniture with his wife, Ruby. When they relocated with their infant to a rambling old house in New York’s Hudson Valley, they bought four pigs to raise for themselves and friends. Ruby, who used to bartend at Diner in Brooklyn, figured she’d sell any extra pork to her former boss. But the meat was so good (the pigs roam free and eat excess whey from a nearby dairy farm) that word spread. Five years later, the couple sell their pork to New York City restaurants like Blue Hill and Gramercy Tavern, and their vegetables at nearby greenmarkets. They are also building a Kickstarter-funded charcuterie kitchen and studio on their property. By next year, they’ll be organizing harvest tours of local farms. Meanwhile, they are still making furniture; and under the name Hivemindesign, they helped design the Back Forty West restaurant in Manhattan. “We approach farming the same way we do designing,” Ruby says. “We take great raw materials and make the best products we can.”—Gisela Williams
111 County Route 34; ravenandboar.com