SKANEATELES, N.Y. (June 21, 2023) – In honor of National Dairy Month, Emmy Award-winning culinary producer and food stylist Chef Anthony Contrino, is touring dairy farms in the Northeast to cook with dairy farmers and learn how they sustainably produce the milk that is the base of so many of his favorite culinary ingredients like yogurt and cheese.
The “Chef Meets Farm” tour is presented by the American Dairy Association North East and launched earlier this month on chefmeetsfarm.com. Twin Birch Dairy, home to more than 1,700 cows in Skaneateles, N.Y., is one of three farms to be featured in the cooking series.
Twin Birch Dairy is owned and operated by partners Dirk Young, Todd Evans and Jeremy Brown. The farm employs 26 staff who help care for the cows and work the 3,600 acres of crops including alfalfa, corn, wheat and soybeans.
Brown, who attended Cornell University for dairy management, is featured in the episode making the ultimate grilling side dish – Summer Potato Salad – with Chef Contrino. Prior to joining the team at Twin Birch Dairy, Brown grew up on his family’s dairy farm in Pennsylvania and he takes pride in the fact that he, along with others at Twin Birch Dairy choose to farm in a socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable way.
As a farm, Twin Birch Dairy was recognized nationally with a U.S. Dairy Sustainability Award for “Outstanding Dairy Farm Sustainability” in 2020. Twin Birch Dairy, which is situated in a sensitive area between two watersheds, works with local environmental organizations to implement on-farm practices that protect the surrounding water for drinking and recreation.
The farm produces around 45 million pounds of milk each year, which goes to FAGE to make yogurt, as well as Cayuga Milk Ingredients where it is processed and distributed as dry protein powder to over 20 countries worldwide.
In other episodes of “Chef Meets Farm,” Chef Contrino visits Barbland and White Eagle Dairy in nearby Fabius, N.Y., and Schrack Farms in Loganton, Pa.