Have you ever wanted to eat pizza that came straight out of the ground? Well, unfortunately, that doesn’t exist, but there’s one way you can get pretty close: pizza farms.
Pizza farms exist all across the country, but a majority of them are in the Midwest. While they don’t directly grow pizza out of the ground, nor on trees, they do grow all of the ingredients to create their pizzas right there on their own plot of land (or – occasionally – the land of a neighbor). Therefore, these pizzas are probably the freshest ones you will ever eat. They range in flavor and style depending on the farm. For example, Red Barn Farm in Northfield, Minnesota’s specialty is Greek pizza, while DreamAcres Farm in Wykoff, Minnesota only serves vegetarian pizzas.
The Hannah Greek-style pizza from Red Barn Farm | Photo Credit: redbarnfarmofnorthfield.com
What’s really unique about these farms, though, is the events they hold. In the summers, or longer if the weather permits, they hold pizza nights: nights where people can come, eat the farm’s pizza, sit outside, and enjoy the night. According to Twin Cities Yelp manager Annie D’Souza, these pizzas “hold up against restaurant pizza.” But, in her opinion, the best part of it all is the atmosphere.
“It feels like another world,” she says. “It’s just so removed from everything.”
Pizza nights are a regular occurrence at farms like Dream Acres | Photo Credit: dreamacresfarm.org
Given that most of these farms are at least 20 miles outside of the major cities of their respective states, this statement makes a lot of sense. Getting to these pizza farms is a bit of a road trip, but it does seem to be worth it. Just as D’Souza, who even got engaged on a pizza farm.
With the popularity, of “farm to table restaurants” these days, it makes sense that these pizza farms are growing in popularity. The wait on pizza night at the A to Z Bakery in Stockholm, Wisconsin, one of the most popular and oldest pizza farms in the United States, can be very long, and other shops have started to include indoor facilities so they can continue their pizza nights throughout the year.
Merry-makers enjoying pizza night at AtoZ Produce and Bakery | Photo Credit: atozproduceandbakery.com
One farm even has a field trip program so children can come learn about how their farm operates. Cobb Ranch in Madera, California is one of the oldest pizza farms in the United States, and the only one in the San Joaquin Valley. In the two-hour tour they give students, they not only get to see the farm and eat the farm’s delicious pizza, but plant their own mini pizza farm as well. It’s educational, and you get free food: so basically it’s the best field trip ever.
At Cobb Farm even the fields are shapes like pizza slices | Photo Credit: cobbranch.com
Pizza nights are one night a week on most pizza farms. However, many pizza farms can also be rented out for private parties. So if you ever need to throw a party in the Midwest, you know where you should go.
Photo Credit: Featured image courtesy of Huffington Post
Amanda Doughty
Amanda Doughty considers cheese to be an essential part of her upbringing, as her family owns Anthony's Italian Kitchen, an Italian restaurant in Portland, Maine. She studied creative writing at Emerson, where she was considered an outcast for refusing to touch the disgusting pizza in the Dining Hall. She admits that is a bit of a food snob, especially when it comes to pizza and cheese.
