New York’s Stone Barns Farm and Restaurants

MBA Candidate 2014, Sustainability and International Business

Baruch College, Zicklin School of Business
Jamie Reinhardt currently works at the Governance and Accountability Institute in NYC, New York. She is working as a Global Reporting Initiative report analyst and exploring different trends in GRI reports from S&P 500 companies. As an MBA-candidate at Baruch College, Jamie is the president of the Sustainable Business Club, which is Baruch’s Net Impact chapter. Previously, she worked for the Center for Creative Leadership on the Latin American Intern Initiative and for an international shipping company in operations and logistics. She hopes to combine her past and present experiences to make a real difference in the future with regards to sustainability in the corporate environment.

New York’s Stone Barns Farm and Restaurant … Worth a visit!

As part of my work this summer on a sustainable development project, I visited a farm called Stone Barns outside of NYC. Stone Barns is an education center for food and agriculture, as well as a working farm. A colleague and I took a train that runs along the Hudson River up to the farm’s location in Pocantico, NY. It’s hard to believe that only 25 miles outside of Manhattan you can find such a pristine natural setting.
Driving up to the entrance of Stone Barns is beautiful. The green rolling pastures are laid out in front of you and the main structure is a barn made out of stone, hence the name. The main building is gorgeous. It looks like original old stone, but the structure is well kept and has been updated so that it is very modern inside. There is a large open courtyard in the middle which was full of school children at the time we were there, since a huge part of their mission is to teach young kids where their food actually comes from. My colleague told me a story about how one of her friend’s children refused to eat carrots from a farmers market since they were dirty and “from the ground”. The child wanted to go get the “clean” carrots from the store. I’m pretty sure I had similar feelings when I was a child which only shows how important Stone Barns’ mission to educate children, really is.

There are two restaurants, Blue Hill Cafe and Blue Hill at Stone Barns, on the premises that are farm-to-table and absolutely delicious. You can taste the freshness in the food that has surely just been picked not long before it showed up on your plate. As well as the fabulous restaurant, the farm is completely open to the public and you can take your own self-guided tour to visit the green houses and animals. The staff is extremely friendly and was happy to
give us a tour of the chicken areas and give us tips on how to raise sustainable chickens both for meat and for eggs. All of their animals seemed very healthy and are well cared for. When we arrived at the main chicken area, where they have egg mobilesto ensure the chickens’ happy and healthy lifestyle, the whole flock ran over to check us out. I have never seen so many friendly chickens! It was a true testament to the kindness and care of the farmers at Stone Barns.
I could talk about this place and our trip so much more, as it was such a positive experience, but I really suggest that you take a visit yourself if you are ever in the NYC area. At least check out their Sunday farmers market to buy some of their delicious, organic produce and meat. It’s a positively lovely way to spend the day.
PHOTO CREDITS: Jamie Reinhardt