Page 11 - Valley Table- Winter 2025

can’t make it to the farmers’
market? No problem. Wildkale
Online Farmers’ Market, a
collective of micro family farms, will bring
fresh, locally grown products to you. Founded
in 2015 by Ana Jakimovska, Wildkale works
with farmers to help them ship their grass-
fed beef and pasture-raised chicken and pork
directly to consumers.
The idea came naturally to Jakimovska, who
grew up in North Macedonia eating healthy
food cooked with local ingredients. Wanting to
replicate this experience for her two children,
she visited hundreds of farms across the state,
and struck gold in Central New York. “I realized
more people needed better access to these
quality products. I started Wildkale to help to
bring these farm-fresh proteins and ingredients
directly to the doorsteps of New Yorkers in the
city and all over the state,” she says.
Wildkale’s partners utilize regenerative
practices in their farming and steer clear of
synthetic fertilizers and hormones. Once you
place an order, the farmers pack your box by
hand with dry ice—whether it’s a whole chicken
from Nature’s Acres or pork chops from Apple
Tree Farm (both in Morrisville). Items are then
shipped out for next-day delivery. For more info
and to place an order, visit wildkale.market.
—Megan Wilson
Chef Doherty
demonstrates
how easy it is
to prepare his
shelf-stable
meals.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF RESPECTIVE BUSINESSES
Farm to
Doorstep A Healthy Helping
Nutritious shelf-stable meals cooked up by a local chef are
satisfying hunger in the Hudson Valley.
BY MICHELLE GILLAN LARKIN
food insecure
residents who
often wonder
when and where they’ll sit
down to their next meal have
a nourishing new option to
depend upon: prepackaged
lunch and dinner dishes
created by an award-winning
area chef.
Shelf-stable and ready-to-
eat, the meals are conceived
by John Doherty, executive
chef/owner of BLACKBARN
Hudson Valley at Diamond
Mills in Saugerties, in
partnership with Regional
Food Bank Hudson Valley,
based in Latham, with a newly
opened distribution center in
Montgomery.
“My life has been all about
feeding people at a very high-
end level,” says Doherty, who
is also the founder of Hope
Kitchen, an organization that
aims to combat hunger and
food insecurity across the
state. “The whole goal is to get
these into the hands of people
who need them.”
Convenient and complete
with a balanced nutrition
profile, Doherty’s easy-to-
prepare meals are being
distributed to food pantry
partners of Regional Food
Bank, with a special focus on
Montgomery-based Garnet
Health’s Food as Medicine
program and regional
school backpack initiatives.
Individuals who receive
them will dig into single-
serve portions of 3 bean chili,
macaroni Bolognese, and red
beans with rice and chicken.
“Is this something you are
going to eat every day? No,”
acknowledges Doherty. “But
when you don’t have the time
or the ability to prepare what
you get from a food bank, this
is definitely a quick fix.”
Each year,
approximately 5,000
patients managing
chronic disease—
including those who are
homeless—benefit from
medically supportive
food bags handed out
at healthcare facilities
throughout the region,
while about the same
number of in-need kids
go home on weekends
with backpacks of food
to nourish them when the
meals they receive at school
are not on the table.
In 2023, Regional Food Bank
Hudson Valley distributed 48
million pounds of food across
23 counties in the northeastern
part of the state, which
translated to 40 million meals.
With the addition of these
chef-led shelf-stable dishes, life
will be fuller—and tastier—for
those who hunger most.
December 2024 – February 2025 | valleytable.com 9