New York chef and restaurateur Dan Barber wants to disrupt the seed business. A longtime critic of the industrial agriculture system, Barber has become known in recent years for working with not only farmers but also seed and wheat breeders across the country to develop ingredients for his tasting menu restaurants in New York. With his new company, Row 7 Seed Co., he makes his obsession official.
Launching today with seven varieties available to the public — that means major farmers and home gardeners alike — Barber and his breeder partners aim to eventually build a large collection of seeds optimized for flavor as well as agronomics (yield, robustness, etc.).
High-end chefs like Virgilio Martinez and Sean Brock have famously evangelized for their regional native heirloom seeds but are often unable to grow them to scale; meanwhile, big chemical corporations like Monsanto et al (who own most of the seeds in the world) breed seeds with ability to travel, uniformity, and yield in mind. Barber’s company hopes to bridge that gap — and in the process, identify the willing market for seeds bred for flavor.
“I had the realization that the cake is baked once the seed is there,” says Barber, noting there’s only so much a chef can do to an ingredient once it’s grown and harvested and that recipes should be written at the seed level. He adds, “If you’re not talking to the breeder then we’re actually hopping into it too late even if we’re at the farm level. This is taking farm-to-table and dialing it back even further.”
Barber has dabbled in hybrid seeds for years. He was inspired to turn his hobby into a full-fledged business partially because of the success of the farmer’s market favorite Honeynut squash, which stemmed from a conversation he had with breeder Michael Mazourek almost a decade ago. Barber joked that he should shrink the butternut squash to make it actually taste good and Mazourek — who is Row 7 Seed’s breeder co-founder — responded that no one had ever asked him to breed for flavor before. Now the squash is everywhere.
These are non-GMO seeds bred using “old world wisdom” and techniques (hand pollination, careful selection in the field) with today’s selective breeding tools (DNA sequencing, genomic selection) — a “look don’t touch” method, Barber explains. The seven launch seeds include hybrids like Badger Flame Beet (a mild and sweet orange beet without earthiness), Habanada Pepper (a habanero without the heat), and Upstate Abundance Potato (creamy, nutty, golf-ball sized, and resistance to disease).
Row 7 Seeds aims to fund seed development by sponsoring the work of breeders at public universities with the input of chefs and hopes farmers will see a market for these vegetables, spreading them beyond the white tablecloth restaurants of Barber’s friends and brethren. Their seeds will not be patented, making it a potential risk for investors. But Barber argues, “If chefs are talking about this and advertising and promoting what they believe in, it’ll be hard to knock it off.”
Barber has already raised funds for Row 7 Seeds, including from former executives at Sysco and Whole Foods, who recognize the big grocery brands aren’t keeping up with the demand for flavorful produce. He’s partnered with 15 breeders and brought on over 50 world-renowned chefs — including Renee Erickson, Thomas Keller, Daniela Soto-Innes, and Ben Shewry — to dream about their ideal vegetables and bring them to life.
Hear Barber explain the concept in full on this week’s episode of the Eater Upsell podcast: