Cooperative Living May 2015 - 33

FARM TO BUS AND TABLE
Today, the Lillys work with 40 to 50
producers within a 150-mile radius of
Richmond and consider themselves a
full-service CSA. They operate yearround
and offer local and organic dairy,
meat, produce, eggs, bread, and even
smoked trout and maple syrup. In the
summer, they have five to six pick-up
points for customers and even do a few
home deliveries.
" This location has been tough for us, "
Lilly admits, noting he started the market
mainly to have a place to park his bus
after a neighbor complained about him
parking it in his driveway. However, customers
can come to the market to buy
local foods Friday through Sunday.
The Lillys aren't the only locally
minded food purveyors in Richmond.
Right on the corner of Route 360 and
Cary Street in Richmond's Shockoe Slip
area, Kitchen on Cary (opened in 2011)
seeks to create a seasonally changing
menu featuring regionally sourced ingredients.
In addition, the Kitchen's chefs
are also teachers at nearby Culinard, The
Culinary Institute of Virginia College,
and students often practice their arts in
the restaurant's kitchen.
" We use as much local product as we
can, " says Chef David Hughes, who
notes the menu currently features
Moneta-based Scott's Farm greens, locally
sourced honey, as well as Dinwiddie
County's Milton's Local Harvest beef.
" We don't try to reinvent the wheel, " he
adds. " We do simple dishes using local
products. "
As Hughes pulls up a chair at my
table, he tells me seven culinary students
are currently working in the Kitchen.
Hughes himself is a Richmond native,
though being a chef wasn't really part
of his life plan. He was a mass communications
major at Virginia Commonwealth
University, and when he moved in with
his brother, he started cooking a lot. His
brother told him he ought to become a
chef, and so off he went to the New
England Culinary Institute. Hughes
operated his own restaurant in downtown
Richmond for 12 years, so he
knows the local food scene well and has
watched the Kitchen become a noteworthy
part of that scene. " Our main goals
here are to produce quality meals and
quality cooks and chefs. "
May 2015/www.co-opliving.com
The Farm to Family Market seeks to connect
city dwellers with locally produced
food, such as the fresh apples below.
Founder Mark Lilly says he started the
operation with the idea of supporting
small, local farms, and the core of the
operation isn't really the market, but a
community-supported direct-sales entity
that serves a handful of customers in
Richmond and some 250 in the
Washington, D.C., metro area.
Kitchen on Cary (above), located in
Richmond's Shockoe Slip, seeks to
create a seasonally changing menu
featuring regionally sourced
ingredients. Chef David Hughes (left)
says, " We don't try to re-invent the
wheel. We do simple things using
local products. " The restaurant's
chefs are culinary arts teachers at the
nearby Culinary Institute of Virginia,
and students get practical experience
under their tutelage in the Kitchen on
Cary's kitchen.
31
Cooperative Living May 2015

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