Farm to Table...

A Harvard MBA, six-figure job as an investment banker, and TriBeCa apartment didn’t stop Torrey Reade, 56, from wanting to go back to basics, trading her city life for a 126-acre farm in southern New Jersey where she now raises beef cattle, lambs, and grows oats and vegetables.  

Jonathan White was an engineer in Hoboken who made his own cheese on the side, in 1993 he turned his hobby into a career. And, in 2002, he started Bobolink Dairy in Vernon, where he raises his cows and makes his own cheese. In addition to cheese-making (and eating!) White was interested in changing dairy farming. “It’s been a very long time since anyone had questioned the very tenets of dairy farming,” he told the New York Times.  

Reade and White aren’t the only ones, as The New York Times reported, of the 9,924 farms in New Jersey, 25 are run by people who’ve come to farming from other jobs, and that number is increasing, especially young people who are interested in organic farming. It’s a risky business, though, leaving the corporate world and putting savings into a farm that produces little to no return on investment. But, the peace and quiet, and joy of turning hobbies and interests into full-fledged businesses outweigh the financial risk. How far would you go to make your green dream come true?  

Photo of a cow from Bobolink Dairy.