FGKF board member Christy Macy recently interviewed restaurant owner Ned Atwater about his passion for preparing healthy foods and his commitment to sharing that passion with young people through Great Kids Farm.
Q: How did you get into the food business?
A: Yes, I was one of those odd kids who liked to cook. I knew in my junior year of high school that I wanted to become a cook, but my school at the time offered only two options: International cooking (only open to girls) and “boy’s foods.” So us boys practiced opening cans of tuna fish and tomatoes, and the girls learned how to produce three course French dinners.
Q: What was your next step after this setback?
A: There were very few culinary schools when I graduated from high school – and most of them were very expensive. So out of necessity, I went to college classes during the day and then offered myself as an apprentice at the best restaurant I could find – working nights and weekends and during the summers. I was very fortunate to begin working under Chef Michel Beaupin at King’s Contrivance restaurant in what is now Columbia, as this was one of the best kitchens in the area. After seven years, I apprenticed myself to two other chefs, and then decided – after eleven years of training -- it was time to go out on my own and open up my own restaurant, and either sink or swim.
Q: You were one of the first people in the Baltimore area to begin procuring local food for your restaurant. Why were you such a strong believer in buying local ingredients and promoting natural, organic, healthy food?
A: The chef I worked with for so long was born and raised in France, where buying local food was the tradition. That’s the way they were raised, getting their fish at the local fish market or directly from the fishermen; buying their fruits and fresh vegetables at the farmers’ markets. It was much more difficult to do that here in the United States, but they kept at it. I remember the chef spending a lot of time looking for fresh mushrooms in western Maryland and making hundreds of visits to local farmers’ markets. So it’s not that I had any new ideas about how I wanted to get and prepare food. It was simply what I was taught. Today, there’s a lot more attention to having fresh, local, organic food--in part because that’s what more and more customers want. Back then, it was the exception.
Q: How did you hear about the Great Kids Farm? 
A: When I was a member of the Institute of Wine and Food, we started a program called “Days of Taste” that we introduced to the Baltimore City Public School system to help teach kids where food comes from. This was back in the mid 1990s, and that program is still going on. So I was very involved in these issues from the beginning. After that, when Tony Geraci was hired as the nutrition director for Baltimore City Schools, he discovered the land and buildings that eventually became Great Kids Farm (GKF), and my interest began to build. Plus, Greg Strella, currently farm manager at GKF, had worked as an assistant pastry chef for my restaurant making cookies that we sold at local farmers markets. I always loved Greg, so when he joined the GKF – I wanted to support anything he was involved in. Atwaters was already in tune with the whole idea of connecting kids, schools, and local produce so we were all joined at the hip.
Q: In what capacity are you engaged with the farm?
A: A few years ago I joined the advisory board, where a group of us meet regularly to give advice and support where needed. For example, I offered my suggestions for how to build the new kitchen at the farm a few years ago. And last summer, we put a salad on the menu of our restaurant using produce from the Farm. We explained to our customers that we were raising 
the price for the salad $1 -- which would go to support programs at the Farm. We matched that $1 donation through the summer. Atwaters has also catered a number of events and meetings at the Farm. Then this last fall we teamed up with high school students to help them prepare a meal for the Farm’s fundraiser in October. We worked together to produce a salad – made from the greens that the kids had grown themselves – which was part of a culinary competition among five Baltimore City high school teams. I’m also interested in the job preparation work that takes place at the Farm. So, over the years, Atwaters has hired a number of high school seniors who have been interns at the Farm in paid positions to work in our kitchens. It’s great to see some of these kids get some work experience as well as income.
Q: What has been most satisfying about your engagement with the Farm?
A: I’ve loved to watch it come back to life. It’s such a great place for kids to experience, to get the chance to plant, harvest, and weed, and then actually eating this healthy and delicious food. So it’s great to see the progress. If we could get some of these young people into farming, that would be great.
Q: Do you have a vision for what you would like to see the Farm accomplish in the next few years?
A: One thing that would be great to see – depending on income – would be to put more of the land into cultivation. That would mean more food could be produced, more programs for young people, and more opportunities for the older ones to learn the skills that could help them get jobs working in the kitchens throughout the city. The food training program at the Farm is great, and we need more good culinary programs in Baltimore. Also it’s very hard to find cooks here, as there are so many restaurants. The Farm offers young people some training and helps them produce good food. So with the expansion of the Farm, more young people could become more employable.
Q: Why do you think people should support the Farm?
A: It’s a one-of-a-kind place, a true working farm that invites kids to learn and get involved. So many of these children have never been to a farm, or seen fresh produce being grown. Many have never eaten a salad. So the Farm is exposing them to all of this. It’s like our early “Days of Taste” times a hundred in terms of impacting young people. It’s helping students make that connection – between the land and what’s on the table – that’s so valuable.
Ultimately, the Farm benefits young people in larger ways as well. It exposes them to experiences that help them make better choices in the food they eat, and that their family eats. Years from now, will they choose fresh, healthy food, or something frozen from the fridge? Hopefully, we’re helping them make the right decisions today and in the future. We are giving them a choice.