BUCKHANNON - Whether it's because of his work with the Collaborative for 21st Century Appalachia (WVFarm2U), the New Appalachia Farm and Research Center, West Virginia Farm to School or Fish Hawk Acres, his company with long-time business partner Teresa Lipps, Chef Dale Hawkins' name has become synonymous with the farm-to-table movement in West Virginia.
"I've been on board pretty much since it started," Hawkins said. "I've seen a lot of change."
Hawkins praised the West Virginia Department of Education's Office of Child Nutrition, Division of Tourism, Department of Agriculture and Department of Commerce for their involvement, as well as the increase in farmers markets and the support between his fellow chefs for this development.
"As a whole, I think we're ahead of the curve," Hawkins explained.
"The reason I say that is, if you look at someplace like North Carolina, they have pockets. If you compare the statewide system, no one is doing what West Virginia is doing. You can see success stories all around the state. There are all kinds of places where you see things happening."
One of those places is downtown Buckhannon, where Hawkins and Lipps plan to open a storefront at 5 W. Main St. in October.
"Think Trader Joe's or Whole Foods and condense it," Hawkins said. "It's stuff that you can't get really anywhere else."
Hawkins will also run their successful catering operation out of the back.
"I believe that downtowns can be revitalized by food," Hawkins said. "And not just restaurants, but also places like markets and bakeries."
While Hawkins said that there will most certainly be locally grown and produced food available for purchase and used in the limited menu, there will also be specialty items like artisan breads and pastries, imported pasta, olive oils, cheeses, good salami and other meats.
"A lot of the stuff is going to come from the farm," Hawkins said. "We will source as much local product as we can, but it's not always possible. You're never going to get olive oil locally. There are certain things that West Virginia doesn't produce, but there's so much good food in the world. Why limit yourself to this myopic box? Why do we have to stay in the box? You don't, but you can still incorporate and promote and support as much local as you can. That's kind of where we come from."
The soon-to-be deli/market is another extension of the Fish Hawk Acres brand, which has expanded substantially since it was developed in 2005 while Hawkins and Lipps were employed at Stillwaters Restaurant at Stonewall Resort.
"When we were at Stonewall Resort we were sourcing as much local as we could, and it was really difficult to find," Hawkins said. "That's really how this segued into going back to the farm."
At that time, the business was nothing more than a single acre of farmland in Rock Cave, and the beginnings of a CSA (community supported agriculture), but word quickly spread.
"The next season, we had 100 CSAs, and then the next we split the seasons up so it wasn't a full year," Hawkins said, "Then we started doing it year-round."
After three years of working both jobs simultaneously, Hawkins went to the farm full-time. Lipps followed suit in 2009, and the two integrated a CSK (community supported kitchen) into their business model.
"Probably around year four is when we integrated the CSK, which is the Community Supported Kitchen for the people that don't want to cook," Hawkins said. "They want the veggies, but they don't want to cook. So they got meals prepared."
Hawkins said that the CSK was popular, even more so than the CSA.
"We hit a point where we were preparing 200 meals a week," Hawkins said.
Balancing that with a burgeoning catering business and farming over 20 acres was tough.
"We had to make a decision," Hawkins said.
That's where where Pati and Lupe Espinoza, owners of Green Acres Farm and Greenhouses, LLC. came in. Hawkins leases part of his property to the couple and serves as an aggregator, meaning he partners with them and other farms to sell products under the Fish Hawk Acres label. They now have 40 acres of land and operate 5 days a week.
"We've kind of been a liaison to help them be in business for themselves," Hawkins said. "In return we get beautiful product. As far as the business goes we buy and use their product. Pati and Lupe are gifted at growing so we get to cook again."
They haven't done the CSK for a couple of years now, but that's what the two hope the storefront will replace.
"The CSK is turning into this," Hawkins said. "You'll be able to come in here and get, say, a quart of soup to take home and heat up."
No matter the direction that Fish Hawk Acres has taken, Hawkins said his focus remaind on building local food systems in West Virginia.
"The model of Fish Hawk Acres has changed every year because we had to," Hawkins said. "It was growing fast. Our true love is cooking, and cooking with high quality, local and international ingredients."
Reach Dawn Nolan at dawn.nolan@wvgazette.com, 304-348-1230 or follow @DawnNolanWV on Twitter.