Farm-to-Table
Farm-to-Table ideas are beginning to find many expressions in various geographic regions throughout the country. Our research has shown few such opportunities in the Park City and Summit County areas of Utah. Our overall plan is to provide high-quality, organic produce delivered through a variety of channels AND to provide consumers with educational and dining experiences related to healthful food production and consumption. Our goal is to preserve the agricultural and rural setting of Summit County as it increasingly becomes a high-end ski area and tourist destination.
Splendor Valley Farms intends to act as a produce exchange, more similar to a farmers' market than as a restaurant. As we finish our barn, we will use it for a number of activities. First, we intend to match our local users of fresh organic food products to those who produce the goods. We will host dinners for those who operate restaurants and ski resorts, private chefs and community-supported agriculture to those who produce the goods locally, such as produce and dairy farmers and artisan crafts. Second, we will use the barn for a local farmers' market, especially during the winter growing season.
In addition to the barn (also in the future), we intend to build a roadside stand to distribute mainly products from our farm, but expect to open it to other local Summit County producers to include salads, eggs and other dairy products, DIY goods, flower bouquets, dried flowers and yarns, all of which are produced locally.
We will provide:
Our idea is simply to provide high-quality products to the local market. Our goal is to provide a more directed approach than is currently in use, allowing more profitable activities from the community. Summit County has much more to offer than farm produce. We have found bakers, craftspeople, meat and dairy producers, fruit producers and many other agriculturalists seeking expanded marketing opportunities. There is an interest in educational opportunities, from gardening to environmental preservation. We intend to encourage residents and visitors, including tourists, to learn more about agriculture in the County by allowing educational and tourism uses on our working farm.
As Splendor Valley Farms develops, we expect to become more technologically able by applying aspects of digital marketplaces to bring buyers and sellers together. We will develop our own online venues for farmers and consumers. Future initiatives may include developing microbes that could be applied to seeds to produce hardier, higher-yielding crops.
