Innovation

The farm-to-fork movement is not new, however, Teri's use of this idea is innovative in the local area and is a true testament to the movement. As she says, "I don’t believe this notion is new or groundbreaking, I think sometimes it just gets lost." The food system that she has built for her company is centered around sustainability and will help the community thrive in the long run. She grows a lot of her own fruits, vegetables and also contracts with local farmers to bolster her inventory levels. As a result, her company's idea is innovative, since its base ingredients are local, fresh, and healthy, and the end product is a healthy meal that promotes wellness. This sustainable concept is a profitable one as well, and is something that can be created in other communities similar to Springfield.

TLS Foods business model is simple: Love people; provide them with amazing food. Teri not only wants to feed her customers, and feed them well, but get to know them on a personal level. Her philosophy: "I built a restaurant in a storage closet. In this closet, we greet people with sincerity, a chuckle, and delicious food built with loving hands." She says that her food is not only meant to feed the body, but also the soul. She is tired of all the processed foods that are in our grocery stores and wants to educate people on what they are consuming. Her vision ten years from now: "Hyper-local gardening is no longer a growing trend in the food service industry; it is a way of life."

Inspiration

Teri is passionate about the concept of feeding her customers well and getting to know them on a personal level. "It is my grandparents that instilled my passion for creating amazing food and to know the people you are serving." Teri has worn many hats in her 30+ years of culinary and nutritional career. She has a strong family connection with food that constitutes one source of her inspiration for TLS Foods. She is passionate about feeding healthy foods to her customers and would like to educate people on how they can lead healthy and nourished lives.

As Teri explains: "the plethora of processed foods that line the grocery store shelves; the worry I was feeling as the health of the citizens of our country continued to decline. The often-erroneous nutrition messages that float out in the cyber world. All these life experiences enabled me to open the door to a storage closet and turn it into a restaurant. Some say I have delusions of grandeur, for me it truly is a passion for feeding people good food."

Overall impact

The overall impact of Teri's innovation and business model for TLS Foods has had a tremendous effect on her own company. Furthermore, it has shown other local restaurateurs ways to improve their business. The trend in the food industry is evident; people like to eat but they want to eat healthy. People want to know where their food is coming from, how is it sourced and prepared. Teri's concept of farm to table is different than simply using what is grown on her farm to prepare a meal; she uses her own in addition to other local farmers to create healthy food in Springfield. This concept of food sustainability for an urban downtown location can be scalable to larger cities and communities. Teri is proving that we, as a society, do not need large food distributors. She has a vision of having rooftop gardens and gardens in vacant lots which would be able to supply a restaurant with the food they need to cook with local natural ingredients. Her overall impact is to provide locally sourced food to enable healthy eating and positive attitudes.

Business benefit

Teri started TLS Foods with a concept to feed people nutritious food and get to know them on a personal level. However, her business has boomed after opening up her restaurant, Nosh. She was attending a local farmers market once a week when someone brought her to an unused closet and asked what she could do with that space. She used her creativity to open Nosh in that closet and hasn't looked back since. Teri's business is profitable because of the quality food she prepares for her customers with the locally grown vegetables/fruits, and also because she has found a new stream of revenue for her business by baking baked goods (breads, pastries, cakes, etc.). Teri is dedicated to offering ways for people to develop healthy lifestyle habits and enhance the quality of their lives while offering quality, fresh, locally grown and delicious food to her community.

Social and environmental benefit

At TLS Foods, the main goal is for the company to grow its own produce or use as many local purveyors as possible. A Rutgers University study explained that the Farm-to-Fork movement is, "a community food system in which food production, processing, distribution and consumption are integrated to enhance the environmental, economic, social and nutritional health of a particular place." Teri's concept uses produce and ingredients from the local community to help nourish the people who shop at her restaurant. Teri thinks her concept can help in two different ways:

School Systems:

• Local farmers plant and grow produce for the school systems in their area. Farmers are given a concrete idea of the production they will need and be given a fair wage for their work,
• Restaurateurs provide culinary education to students and parents
• Vocational schools have well developed horticulture and culinary programs assimilated into their curriculum.
• Schools are incorporating this philosophy into their school lunch programs.
• Typically closed during the summer, school kitchens are used to process food for the school year.

Cities:

• Gardens are on rooftops, in vacant lots, grown in containers
• Gardens to produce vast amount of product.
• Hyper-local gardening is no longer a growing trend in the food service industry; it is a way of life.

Interview

Teri Skinner, Owner