Whether Raising Food, Farmers or Swag, Amber Waves Mission Continues

When Katie Baldwin and Amanda Merrow first launched Amber Waves Farm, their Amagansett community farm, back in 2008, they were met with some “natural skepticism” surrounding the wide-eyed idealism of their not-for-profit mission.

“In the beginning it was like, ‘Oh, you girls are starting this project?’ We were operating in a space that was mostly male,” said Baldwin. “There was some deserved skepticism, we didn’t really know what we were doing, and people thought what audacious ideas you two have.”

Fifteen years later – over a national recession and through a global pandemic – Amber Waves Farm has firmly established itself as a nationally-known production farm and agro-classroom. The focus is on sustainability, community engagement, and a mission to help people understand and explore how food works, all in a downtown Amagansett setting where you can walk straight off a sidewalk and onto a charming production farm with all the trimmings (and way more).

As former farm apprentices who met at local Quail Hill Farm, it’s what Baldwin and Merrow set out to do when they bid 15 years ago on the showcase 20-plus acre Amagansett property: Pay it forward by helping people learn what it means to work the soil that’s at the very foundation of the food-chain.

The founders, Merrow and Baldwin, have been celebrating Amber Waves’ 15th anniversary this year. The organization now employs over 70 people in the high-season, feeds countless hungry through donations to local food pantries, grows the next generation of farmers through a thriving apprenticeship program, and models a sustainable food system through innovative food partnerships and community relationships.

The Route 27 farm’s retail market has also been key to its steady growth. It sells farm-raised vegetables, fruits, herbs, and flowers, all grown on-site, as well as locally-sourced meat, cheese, bread, grains, and artisan pantry staples.

And then there’s the kitchen, with a menu of house-made breakfast and lunch items like organic wraps, noodles, and burritos, as well as soups and salads made with produce harvested a few yards away. There’s also a full-service coffee bar and barista. All of it’s open year-round.

You might have also heard, or seen, that Amber Waves Farm sells some pretty fashionable merchandise, too. And it’s not just on the East End, either. The organization has close to 25,000 Instagram followers, and both Jay-Z and actor Liev Schreiber (an Montauk resident and regular farm visitor) have been spotted wearing the farm’s now-famous trucker hat, moving the needle on sales.

Baldwin and Merrow said they welcome the attention they get from their branded swag, as long as people know all the proceeds from retail sales go to helping Amber Waves maintain its over 30 acres of farmland, pay staff, and help community members learn what it’s like to raise food from seed to plate.

“We set out in the beginning to teach kids about food and to teach other people like us who didn’t come from farm backgrounds how to farm, and to have a space where the community could go,” said Merrow. “All the other things that have flowed from it are steeped in the authenticity of the goal … I hope that shines through and ultimately makes people excited about this place and the brand and they want to buy a hat because they had a great time.”

Originally, the branded merchandise was conceived as a way to give customers something to take with them that wasn’t perishable, although Baldwin and Merrow would be happy to send you home with a tomato if they could. “If you can’t take food with you, is there something else?” Merrow said they asked. “It kind of became that sort of token of being on the farm.”

With no dedicated public relations team, the rise of Amber Waves’ farm-chic merch — and the farm itself — has been fairly organic by modern standards. Throw in the lofty circles traveled in by Hamptonites, and all of a sudden the Amber Waves brand is at the intersection of fashion, farm culture, and food.

“The East End is a special place and people want to send this message that they’ve been to the same special place,” Baldwin said. “As it turns out, farms are cool clubs.”

The founding duo is also excited about the rise of the farm-to-table movement. In an age where the public is more curious than ever about where their food is sourced, Amber Waves provides the perfect jumping-off point to more deeply explore where your food comes from.

Alongside many free events and activities, Amber Waves also offers seasonal and one-day memberships, as well as a community supported agriculture (CSA) program that provides members with a weekly box of fresh seasonal veggies to take home.

In the beginning, however, they felt a bit like they were winging it. “It felt high stakes, yet low risk,” Baldwin said of the “audacious” idea to make food-growing their life’s purpose and purchase a working farm to also use as a community space. “It was like this is so hard and challenging, we don’t really know what we’re doing, we’re just going to start and try … at first we didn’t even have a bank loan.”

Merrow said they stretched an early grant of $25,000 over three years, and had to finance their first greenhouse, which cost $3,000. Baldwin said lenders were roundly unimpressed with the duo’s pitch.

Fifteen years in, Baldwin and Merrow said Amber Waves Farm has become much more nimble. The farm throws two fundraisers per year to support its not-for-profit mission, and intends to create a larger-scale model for sustainable food, and not just on the East End, either.

“There’s a bigger conversation where there’s a lot of room to take that message to a broader audience,” Baldwin said. “This is still our coming out party even 15 years later … I think there’s opportunity for us to grow more.”

Added Merrow: “The pandemic made people spend more time in the kitchen. The food landscape has changed a little bit recently and we’re trying to take the opportunity right now to ride that wave of curiosity. We’re the beginning of the food chain, so let’s talk about that … it’s opened up the opportunity to have a conversation about how a farm does your food.”

It’s also opened another conversation about what it means to be part of the future of the local farm-to-table pipeline. “How do farmers get a seat at the table when chefs have had a very loud and prominent voice for a long time?” asked Baldwin. “Getting the farmers’ voice [out there] and making sure that perspective continues to resonate with people is really important to us going forward.”

Amber Waves Farm is located at 367 Main Street, Amagansett, amberwavesfarm.org