Purdue University’s Department of Food Science has a message for consumers: Don’t let a fear of the coronavirus COVID-19 to keep you from eating fresh fruits and vegetables. 

The main focus of consumer messaging is that there is no research or cases that show COVID-19 is foodborne or transmitted by food, including fresh produce — whether packaged or bulk.

“There are no clinically confirmed cases of COVID-19 linked to the consumption of fresh produce or food sold through traditional retail outlets,” according to a joint statement from PMA and United Fresh. “As consumers select their produce, adhering to food safety guidance is critical. We encourage consumers to wash their hands, and wash and prepare their produce following FDA recommendations.”

“Fresh fruits and veggies are going to support your immune system and gut health through this challenging time”. They suggest consumers take these steps:

suggest consumers take these steps:

* Wash hands frequently, including after a trip to the grocery store;
* Resist the urge to “manipulate” produce items on bulk displays, despite touching different items being a typical part of the selection process;
* Avoid bulk produce if immune-compromised, choosing packaged produce as an added caution, or cook the produce before eating; and
* Wash produce thoroughly.

AGENDA

3:30 - 4:00 Doors Open

4:00 - 4:30 Opening Remarks

4:30 - 5:00 Facility Tours, Food Product Discovery, Invited Meetings

5:00 - 5:30 Guided Tastings (3 Incubator Companies)

5:30 - 6:00 Facility Tours, Food Product Discovery, Invited Meetings

6:00 - 6:30 Guided Tastings (3 Incubator Companies)

6:30 - 7:00 Networking

Satur Farms is honored to join Community Action Southold Town (CAST) for a screening of “A PLACE AT THE TABLE”  A Documentary on Hunger in America Followedby a panel discussion with:

TOM COLICCHIO, Chef/Producer
LORI SILVERBUSH, Film Director/Producer
ELLEN TELLER, FRAC Director of Government Affairs
ROBERT CARPENTER, Executive Director, Long Island Farm Bureau
DR. FATEMA MEAH, Peconic Pediatrics
REV. ROGER JOSLIN, Common Ground Garden

In the past few decades, eastern Long Island has been transformed into one of the country’s best wine-growing regions, and with a cornucopia of high-quality produce grown in a region previously home to miles of commercial potato farms, panelists at a Southampton food conference said Saturday.

The fifth annual Stony Brook University Southampton Food Lab Conference focused on the Island's crops and seafood, and the record attendance of about 150 people illustrated the interest in local products, said Geoffrey Drummond, Food Lab’s executive director and a longtime producer and director of television food shows. 

“It speaks to the growth of a food consciousness and the growth of a food community,” he said.

Cook, Eat, Drink, Taste the Terroir

Coinciding once more with the harvest season, the fifth annual Food Lab Conference will be hosted by Stony Brook Southampton on September 13 and 14.

The FOOD LAB at SBU Southampton welcomes the top chefs, wine makers, brew masters, distillers, mixologists, farmers, fishers, butchers and bakers, food writers and food media stars, and especially, YOU, the FOOD LOVERS

New York growers like Paulette Satur — a leafy greens grower from Satur Farms in North Fork, Long Island, N.Y. — are beefing up the local angle to their products. After all, it’s a competitive advantage to living in the Northeast, the most densely populated U.S. region. 

Why a Four-Star Chef Traded His Whisk for a Spade

This article appears in May/June 2009: Issue No. 5 of Edible Manhattan.

Meet Satur Farms’ Eberhard Müller.

...Says Eberhard, “I had a knowledge of how it should look and how it should taste, but I never could figure out, I had no clue, how to get there. God, I can’t describe how bad it used to look...

We love the rhythm of the seasons and the various produce that presents itself as the season advances.  It's been a cold wet spring, so we've had some difficulty in keeping up with our rigorous seeding schedule. Quality is excellent, but hopefully, now that we're in summer, the rains will become less frequent.

Satur Farms Baby Leaf remains the strength of our farming operation- Mesclun Spring Mix, our Wild Arugula, Baby Spinach, Mizuna, Tat Soi, Red Mustard, Baby Kales are all looking fantastic. We have a new additions to our Baby Leaf family- Baby Red Amaranth and Hemp

We aim to disrupt the refrigerated dressing section in markets with our dressings, producing a product particularly appealing to the health-conscious consumer and one presented in innovative packaging. Therefore, in addition to being superbly delicious, our dressings are Organic, Non-GMO, Gluten-Free, and made exclusively with ‘clean’ ingredients by us.

A trip to Satur Farms on the North Fork

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, Andrea, my garden editor from television and I went on a field trip to the North Fork of Long Island in search of plants and inspiration for new television segments.  I called my friends, Eberhard Müller and his wife, Paulette Satur to ask if we might stop by their farm in Cutchogue for a visit.  I first met Eberhard when he opened the famed New York City restaurant, Le Bernardin, along with Gilbert LeCoze.  His fabulous work in the kitchen earned him four-stars from the New York Times.  He later was the Chef of Lutece after Andre Soltner retired and then became the Executive Chef at Bayard's.  Paulette was working successfully in New York City in the wine business.

Their lives began to change when they purchased a farm on the North Fork where they grew vegetables and herbs for Eberhard's restaurant.  Friends and colleagues began asking if they could buy some of their beautiful produce.  Paulette, who grew up on a farm and has a background in horticulture, decided to move to the farm and expand this new business and Eberhard eventually retired from the restaurant world to join her.  Today, they farm 180 acres on the North Fork and have 150 acres in Florida.  They are dedicated to growing the finest vegetables and culinary ingredients and it's admirable and so much fun to see how their business has grown.

I was so thrilled that Eberhard offered to cook lunch for me and my travelers.  As you can imagine, lunch was fabulous with only the freshest of ingredients used.  After a most pleasant dining experience, Eberhard and Paulette took us on a tour of their farm and facilities, which, by the way, are always expanding.  

Dominant Greens

CUTCHOGUE—Paulette Satur deals in ephemeral pleasures. Tomatoes ripened to near splitting perfection. Pungent leeks with firm, unblemished trunks. Squash blossoms that exist for just two days. And tons and tons of minute, turgid lettuce leaves.

“Think about eggs,” said Ms. Satur, standing in her 3,000 square foot greenhouse with irrigation nozzles overhead, an endless carpet of green below, and a handful of potted fig trees in the corner. “You can taste the difference between supermarket eggs and farm-fresh eggs.” The yolks of fresh eggs have a richer flavor, are a darker shade of orange, and “stand up” when cracked into a pan. “It’s the same thing with salad.” Whether eggs or tomatoes or baby fennel, Ms. Satur has no doubt that eastern Long Island can deliver such timely delights as well as anywhere else in the nation, and perhaps better. In fact, she’s banking on it.

Picture this: it is a perfect, cloudless day on the North Fork and a legendary Manhattan chef isn't driving, no, not a Mercedes convertible, but a forklift, down a country lane. Add to this image the chef's lovely, blond wife off in a picturesque field somewhere, hand harvesting bunches of perfect baby beets in a rainbow of colors. A couple of beautiful city people play-farming? No way. This is a serious endeavor. A real working farm. Just ask Paulette Satur and her celebrated husband, Eberhard Müller. And they have the passion to prove it. "I had been looking for a farm for six years before I even met Eberhard," said Paulette Satur, her blue eyes flashing. "In retrospect, I'm surprised that the real estate broker kept taking my calls because he probably thought that this was a hobby with me, that I wasn't really serious." 

by Susan Whitney Simm

Far from the clang and clatter of Eberhard Müller's restaurant kitchen in New York City, a different sort of commotion is taking place. At Satur Farms on the North Fork of Long Island, the home of Müller and his wife, Paulette Satur, the mood is bustling, but in a quieter sort of way. Here the sounds of voices and motors drift out over the land, rather than echoing back to you.
Müller and Satur purchased their property five years ago - the day after they became engaged. "I had been searching for a farm for six years," Satur says. "I never found one until the first time we looked together."...They're hosting a lunch to celebrate the first spring crops. "Every first crop is an event," Satur says. "We still get excited."

Eberhard Müller, the executive chef of Lutèce, and Paulette Satur found their farm the day after they became engaged. Now it not only nurtures their marriage, it also provides fresh produce for Manhattan's best restaurants.
-By William Norwich
-Photographs by Jason Schmidt

In a quest for perfect produce, Eberhard Müller of New York city's Lutece goes to extremes: he grows his own. Here he shares eight simple recipes for the season's best. 

Even in the world of top New York chefs, where choice ingredients are perennially sought after, Eberhard Müller is a bit extreme. Sixteen years ago, when the young German chef was newly arrived from the kitchens of Paris and cooking at Windows on the World, he searched the coast of Maine for just-out-of -water fish and the gardens of New Jersey for the sweetest tomatoes. And despite the exorbitant prices, he was one of the first to fly mesclun and other fresh produce in from California. Three years after that, as chef at Le Bernardin - the country's best ( and probably best-known) seafood restaurant - he embarked on a project of visiting all his suppliers. That was when I met him; he invited me on a winter tour of the nearly frozen waters off Nantucket to check on his source of bay scallops.