THE FARMER AND CHEF SERIES: AN INTRODUCTION.

This past Saturday I spent the morning going from farmers' market to farmers' market with the chef-owner and sous chef of Rolf and Daughters in Nashville ––Philip Krajeck and Owen Clark, respectively––as they did their shopping. This was, as you may imagine, fairly generous on their part. As a farmer who sells them produce, it was an admittedly audacious request to be allowed to tag along to other markets and see how they dealt with other farmers. But Philip and Owen said yes, and I think they said yes because they saw some of the same potential in it I did––that this could be a good opportunity for a farmer and some chefs to sit down and better understand one another.... over coffee and hip hop.So after some mild debate on what to do with what I learned––and what I might learn later when I go in to Rolf and Daughters to stage for a day––I've decided to do a series of posts on the farmer and chef, free for anyone who might be curious. I don't know what the end results will be yet, but I do hope the–-forgive me––journey will be helpful not just to farmers, but to farmers and chefs alike. Because alike is what they aren't, really. They can't be––not entirely. One of them needs to grow the food, and the other needs to prepare it in mass quantity, each profession requiring its own vastly complicated, and vastly life-consuming, skill set.The first post will be going up later today so check back. Maybe we can bridge a few gaps, or just reinforce some bridges that already exist. Because there is no reason that these two occupations, which rely so heavily on one another for success, shouldn't do everything they can to better understand each other.- Jesse.