By Kat Meadows, April 2025

Rooted in Biodynamics, Growing with Community

Tucked into the rolling hills of Trumansburg, NY, Remembrance Farm is a small but mighty biodynamic and organic farm growing salad greens, root vegetables, and culinary herbs for the Finger Lakes region. Since 1999, Nathaniel Thompson and his crew have operated with a deep reverence for land and life, guided by the principles of biodynamic agriculture—a holistic, ecological, and ethical approach to farming that views the farm as a living organism. Their produce can be found at local groceries like the GreenStar Co-op and Main Street Market, and their work has long been a model of ecological stewardship and integrity in our region.

This winter, a serendipitous encounter turned a simple milk pick-up into something much more nourishing. While grabbing a raw milk share at the farm, one of our volunteers struck up a conversation with farmer Michael at Remembrance. They got to talking about food waste—how the farm, in sorting for market-ready produce, ends up with hundreds of pounds of “seconds.” These are root vegetables that don’t quite make the cut for retail shelves—carrots that are slightly crooked, beets with a scuff, turnips that are just a bit too big, or onions with a slimy top layer but perfect underneath. Still entirely good to eat, these roots were on the brink of being composted or fed to animals.

But thanks to that brief exchange, we forged a partnership that led to over 7,000 pounds of rescued produce making their way into the FDN pipeline. Since then, every week, volunteer Kat M. has met with the Remembrance crew—Hummingbird, Michael, and Kevin—to load up 6 to 12 bins of assorted root vegetables, sometimes with a bonus bin of greens. These bins get delivered to the FDN facility, where Kat and Jim W. quickly sort them, rescuing what’s edible, discarding the true waste, and designating anything borderline for FDN’s beloved “Last Chance Box.” The result? Less than 5% of these veggies ever go to animal feed.

If you’ve passed through FDN’s facility in recent months, you’ve likely encountered the vibrant fruits of this partnership—most notably the now-iconic Remembrance Radishes. Specifically, the watermelon radish: modest and pale on the outside, shockingly magenta on the inside, with a flavor punch far superior to your average grocery store radish. We’ve seen these roots turned into everything from roasts to ferments to slaws. They’ve been sliced thin and pickled, blitzed into soups, and even handed off to the culinary students at Coltivare to experiment with.

And that’s the beauty of it all—this abundance from the edge of waste has not only nourished individuals and families across the county, but inspired creativity in our kitchens and built new relationships in our food system. The Remembrance partnership reminds us how much can grow from a simple chat in a barn, and how even a “blemished” beet has the power to connect and feed a community.

Now is the perfect time to get your hands on some of these radiant roots—and maybe start a conversation of your own.