Heard about a pizza farm? No, it is not a place where pizzas magically grow on trees or originate in the soil. It is simply a place where pizza ingredients are farmed and yes, this is an actual thing in the United States.
Americans are known for many things, including their entertainment industry and their love for fast food. However, for many outsiders it might seem a little over the top to establish farms solely for pizzas.
The New York Times reports that a Midwestern farm produces pepperoni, sausages, bacon, potatoes, tomatoes and other vegetables to be used as pizza toppings. Think about something that would end up on a pizza and it’s all cultivated and grown on the Stoney Acres farm.
Apparently, in some parts of the Upper Midwest the phrase “pizza farm” is as cool as “June berry pie”, “butter cow” and “rutabaga festival”.
Journalist Julia Moskin reports that in the last two decades, dozens of farms in this region have built wood-fired ovens, studied the basics of crust, sauce and cheese, and began serving pizza on summer nights.
“Families haul in stacks of camp chairs; couples on dates sip wine on picnic blankets; children poke at the animals and run themselves out by dark. Pizza is usually the only item on the menu, but the homegrown toppings change with the season, from baby onions and roasted carrots in the spring to zucchini, fried eggplant and red peppers as the season closes out in September,” she writes in the New York Times.
In tune with the farm-to-table, local and sustainable food movements, pizza farming has spread across the country.
Extra income for small-scale farmers
Pizza farms in the US has created extra revenue for small-scale farmers who have been struggling with low commodity prices and rising production costs, reports Morning Edition, an NPR radio station. These farmers say pizza farming has helped them survive tough economic challenges.
According to an article by Zoe Sullivan this new farm-to-table strategy is giving a boost to some farmers.
Sullivan interviewed Sarah Llyod of the Wisconsin Farmers Union who said, “You’re just seeing that farms are having difficulty covering their costs of production, the prices that are being paid to them in the market is not enough to cover their costs. One bright spot is you see people venturing into direct markets, and that’s a way where they can have more control over their pricing.”
Meanwhile, Stoney Acres have found a new way of doing business. The farmyard is transformed every Friday night between May and October for hundreds of people to enjoy organic pizza. Two large, wood-fired ovens dominate the outdoor area between the barn and the farm’s commercial kitchen. Old picnic tables are scattered across the yard.
Learning about agriculture
Furthermore, pizza farms have been identified as a fun way to teach kids about agriculture and to show them the link between farming and their burgers and pizza.
In 2005, the Saskatchewan ministry of agriculture and Agriculture in the Classroom in Canada teamed up to create Yorkton’s Pizza Farm where 165 grade 3 students took part in an initiative learn about agriculture and food production as they planted their pizza farm.
The pizza farm is designed to increase agricultural awareness within the community and among the youth. It serves as interpretive and educational tool for teaching school children about where food comes from and the important role that modern agriculture and technology play in food production.
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