D'Agostino to Attend New York Food Supply Chain Summit

Nicholas D'Agostino III, president and COO of D'Agostino Supermarkets, will be one of the high-profile participants in an April 23 event held by Animal Welfare Approved and Alfred State College to unite New York City chefs and food purveyors with local farmers and agricultural experts to plan a supply chain from western New York state farms to the New York City market. A daylong series of panel discussions at the college will address the issues confronting the two groups and identify solutions.

The chief reason for the "Reaching the New York City Market: A Summit on Linking the Supply Chain between Western New York Farmers and the New York City Market" is the lack of a consistent supply chain to the tables of Big Apple. "There are great farmers producing terrific meat, dairy and eggs right in my own state, and I'm having trouble getting their products," noted New York restaurant owner Bill Telepan, who will be a speaker at the event. "It's a dilemma desperate for an answer."

Telepan additionally noted that New York City residents – himself included -- wanted traceability in their foods, in addition to nutrition and good taste.

Others taking part in the summit include David Schuttenberg, executive chef of the Manhattan restaurant Cabrito (Zac Pelaccio group); Patrick Martins and Jeremy Hirsch of Heritage Foods USA, a New York City-based distributor of sustainable heritage breed products; Tom Sleight, executive director of the New York Farm Viability Institute, a partner for the event; Tom Tolputt of Cornish River Valley Meat in the United Kingdom, who will talk about British efforts and successes in reaching the London market; J.H. Bahn, national program leader, USDA-CSREES, Washington, D.C.; western New York State farmers Willard DeGolyer, Mary Howell-Martens and Klaas Martens; Greg Bowman, communications manager for the Rodale Institute; Dr. Patricia Whisnant, president of the American Grassfed Association; and Judith LaBelle, president of Glynwood Center.

"Our farmers look to us for innovative solutions for the issues they face," noted Dr. John Anderson, president of Alfred State College in Alfred, N.Y. "Partnering with Animal Welfare Approved to bring together the stakeholders needed to enhance the marketing and delivery of farm products to New York City is exactly the kind of results-oriented thinking our students, farmers and community need us to be doing."

For more information, e-mail [email protected], call 202-546-5292 or visit www.animalwelfareapproved.org/.
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