The Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture Was Not the Model Farm It Claims to Be, Former Workers Allege | Eater
"Opened in 2004 on former Rockefeller family lands with major Rockefeller funding, this high-profile nonprofit farm positioned itself as a test bed for regenerative agriculture, a source for a CSA and farm store, a training ground for apprentices, and a supplier to an on-site Michelin-starred restaurant. Reported strengths include experimental crops, soil-health work, and multispecies livestock systems, but former employees describe a pattern of operational and cultural problems under long-time farm director Jack Algiere: a rapid expansion of acreage and animals that strained staff capacity; repeated livestock-management mishaps (including a prolonged cattle escape that ended with a police marksman shooting a steer and the carcass being butchered and stored); a troubled pastured-duck program and large freezer backlogs; outbreaks of flystrike and other animal-welfare incidents; alleged unsafe work practices and hazing of apprentices; top-down management and a persistent, largely male managerial culture that several women said produced sexism and drove resignations; and the eventual phasing out of the apprenticeship program. The organization has disputed or contextualized many of these claims, framing its choices as consistent with whole-animal, no-waste practices and emphasizing investigation and training efforts." - Meghan McCarron
