Folkways Wines announces 'Food for the Folk' initiative to bring small, local food purveyors to Northern Westchester communities

Croton Falls wine shop Folkways Wines is expanding its efforts to support local farmers and makers through “Food for the Folk,” a new weekly program that will bring grass-fed dairy, organic produce and handmade bread to the shop starting in June.

Folkways owners Natalie Gehrels and Jonas Andersen partnered with Idyllwild Bread, Chaseholm Farm and Deep Roots Farm for the initiative, which will make those businesses’ products available for pickup at Folkways on Wednesdays between 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. beginning June 8.

More about Food for the Folk

In order to make Food for the Folk happen, Folkway Wines has collaborated with Chaseholm Farms, Deep Roots farm, and Idyllwild Bread. With these three additional businesses, Folkway Wines is inviting customers to pick up items from these three businesses at Folkway Wines. This way, Folkway Wines will serve as a meeting place for people, sparking conversation between customers and encouraging people to come together.

Photo By Benjamin Allen, HudValley Photo

Getting to know the contributor businesses

Chaseholm Farm, based in Pine Plains, New York, is a woman-owned and operated, 100 percent grass-fed dairy. Chaseholm produces raw milk, grass-fed beef and yogurt, whey-fed pork and farmstead cheese using principles of grass farming.  Chaseholm Farm pickup is monthly starting June 21, 5:00-6:30 p.m.  

Idyllwild Bread, based in northern Westchester, is a micro-bakery run by Beth Mansfield Scott. Scott makes her sourdough bread by hand using a 26-hour process that involves wild yeast and cold fermentation. Scott’s breads, Gehrels said, “are of the highest quality imaginable. It’s very thoughtfully made stuff.”

Photo By Benjamin Allen, HudValley Photo

Deep Roots Farm is a certified organic 53-acre farm located in Copake, New York. Folkways partnered with Deep Roots to offer locals access to their CSA share, a seasonal box of fruit and veggies. Sign-ups are open through June 5 with first deliveries arriving to Folkways June 8. Gehrels said members will receive weekly recipes and suggested wine pairings that correspond to items in the CSA share.

Gehrels said she has already seen a strong interest from Folkways customers in joining the Deep Roots CSA. “We had a minimum number of shares to sign up in order for the drop-off point to happen. We exceeded that by more than double. It’s become really clear that people want this.”

Emphasizing small, local and thoughtfully made

Food for the Folk, Gehrels says, only serves to fortify the whole premise of Folkways, which is about focusing on small makers. “​​We continue to talk about and think about where things are from and how they’re being made and how the land is getting treated in the process of these things being produced,” she said. “All of these makers are working with a similar ethos.”

Overall Mission

According to Gehrels, she feels it is “possible to be successful and support your family as these makers are doing. You can do things in good ways and make goodness happen.” And that is just what Gehrels is doing with Food for the Folk. Gehrels remarked that “it’s exciting for us to see people’s level of excitement, curiosity, and openness to learn.”