"agraria" news and stories

A group of farmers from North Dakota opened Agraria Restaurant, a high end restaurant in Washington DC, to show "urban diners" exactly who is raising their food. The restaurant cost $4 million to open and was a big risk for the co-op, which has approximately 40,000 members and almost no experience in the restaurant industry. They felt strongly that there was too much of a disconnect between people and their food, and wanted to bring the two closer together.

The menu uses seasonal produce from family farm suppliers, purchased directly from the farmers and/or their co-ops. For example, most of the their produce comes from Tuscarora Organic Growers, an organic farm co-op in Pennsylvania, flour and beef come from North Dakota, and their seafood is from places like Louisiana and Alaska. The ultimate goal is to expand the "limited bistro menu" of the newly opened restaurant to one that varies widely and changes daily, letting diners know how dependent meals can be on the seasons and how much higher quality the food is when the restaurant stocks don't come from Sysco.

Source