46 - New York Beef Tour at Walbridge Farm with Chef Chris McDade

EATYALL: Chefs Tell the Story of Farmers

On this episode, we’re touring Doug Giles’ Walbridge Farm in Millbrook, New York with Chef Chris McDade and his family. Doug is a multi-generation farmer who raised his boys on the farm.

We learned about how his decision to come work for an 80-year-old farmer turned him into a farm owner over a decade ago. He shared his journey showing and raising registered Angus breed cattle. It was fascinating to hear how he decided to start growing out his own beef. You see, when you are a “cow calf” operation seeking to develop the very best genetics - like Doug is - “you don’t know how good you are, or if the decisions you are making are working.”

This revelation led him to grow out his own steers and start a farm store to sell what he harvested to consumers and restaurant owners, so he could improve his genetics to be the best they could be.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• What is Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) and why does it matter to everyone?
• Why can we be confident in the safety of our beef supply from farm to table?
• What keeps this farmer going in the beef industry?
• What farmers feed their families.
• Why do genetics matter to animal welfare and your plate
• How chefs and farmers can work together better
• The Lightning Round

Show Sponsor:New York Beef Councilwww.nybeef.org@newyorkbeefcouncil on Instagram

Connect with our Guests:

• Walbridge Farm on Facebook
• Chef Chris McDade’s Restaurant, Popina in Brooklyn, NY
• Chef Chris McDade on Instagram

Connect with EATYALL:

https://eatyall.com/https://findfamilyfarms.com/ Instagram - https://instagram.com/letseatyall Facebook - https://facebook.com/letseatyall Twitter - https://twitter.com/letseatyall LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/letseatyall

The EATYALL Podcast is hosted by Andy Chapman, CEO and founder of EATYALL. EATYALL provides training & culinary support to the global community of chefs on behalf of food farmers and producers, so they can achieve generational sustainability, chefs can serve award-winning food and consumers can access.