Fast-Casual Spots are Revolutionizing the Farm-to-Restaurant Relationship

Brands like Dig Inn and Sweetgreen disrupted the fast-casual model with Instagrammable buddha bowls, and now they’re going one step further to attract their environmentally-conscious customers

Dig Inn and Nico Schinco

Roughly 60 miles outside of New York City, in the Hudson Valley’s Black Dirt region, Larry Tse is growing heirloom fruits and vegetables on 15 acres of land. In 2018, the farm harvested roughly 70,000 pounds of produce including summer squash, Persian cucumbers, Sungold tomatoes, and honey boat delicata squash. But unlike other upstate New Yorker farmers, Tse doesn’t sell the fruits of his labor to farmers markets, grocery stores, or even distributors: He is the resident farmer for the fast-casual restaurant brand Dig Inn, with locations in Boston and New York.

“We’re in a position where we can put more resources towards trialing new and different varieties of vegetables for our research and development team to use,” said Tse. “Ultimately, the goal for our farm and my role as a farmer is to help Dig Inn better understand the intricacies of farming and how to be a better partner to our supplier.”