Basis: Farm to Chef

PSFN Team Member Lucy Norris just passed on this interesting tidbit about the formation of a new organization in New York called Basis.

The brainchild of former management consultant Bion Bartning, Basis is a newly formed company that recently acquired (and greatly expanded) Farm to Chef, a wholesale distributor connecting small local farms to haute New York kitchens. This fall, Bartning plans to open Basis Market, a 2,000-square-foot prototype grocery stocking the same farm-fresh produce, locally raised meats, and farmstead dairy that Basis supplies to places like Gramercy Tavern and Mas, as well as hot and cold prepared foods made from those stellar ingredients. “No Twinkies, no toilet paper,” says Bartning, who describes his wares as “traditional, localized, and 100 percent traceable”—and, since he’s taking a lower-than-average profit margin, affordable. In fact, although his first shop will occupy the former premises of a law office on the fringes of the meatpacking district, Bartning believes the concept will work everywhere from Princeton, New Jersey, to Bed-Stuy. “Traceability means provenance,” says Bartning. “I think it is the future.”

It’s a great thing to see that from coast to coast people are taking steps and forming ideas on how to better unite healthy, sustainable argiculture. We’ll continue to follow Basis’ new grocery store concept and see how it progresses.

Read more about Basis on their website: http://www.basisfoods.com/