Portland chef Marjorie Banks has integrated sustainable sourcing into her acclaimed restaurant Crust & Crumb through a unique hands-on approach that begins in her own garden. Beyond her technical innovations in pastry, Banks maintains a half-acre garden plot that supplies specialty ingredients and shapes her entire culinary philosophy.
“Growing even a portion of our ingredients fundamentally changes your relationship with food,” explains Banks. “When you’ve watched something grow from seed, you develop a reverence for it that makes waste unthinkable.”
This reverence manifests in techniques designed to utilize entire vegetables, including oddly shaped, imperfect specimens that traditional restaurants might reject. Her signature root-weave tartlets incorporate these irregular vegetables, transforming potential waste into culinary art.
While her personal garden provides specialty items, Crust & Crumb sources most ingredients from a carefully cultivated network of local farmers within a 50-mile radius. Unlike traditional restaurants that create menus and then source ingredients, Banks reverses the process—first asking farmers what they’re growing and what they need help moving, then designing dishes around those ingredients.
This approach has created economic stability for small-scale producers like Sarah Winterson of Willamette Valley Organics, who explains, “Before working with Marjorie, we struggled with surplus crops. Now we plan collaboratively. She’ll commit to taking our entire carrot harvest if we grow specific heirloom varieties she wants to feature.”
Banks formalizes this relationship-based sourcing through quarterly planning sessions with farmers, discussing not just ordering but crop rotation, soil health, and long-term agricultural sustainability.
“True sustainability means considering your impact throughout the entire supply chain,” Banks emphasizes. “That includes supporting farming practices that regenerate rather than deplete soil.”