Johnny’s Luncheonette committed to donate 10% of its revenue on Saturday, October 4 (8AM-8PM) to help fund the construction of a new barn at Red Fire Farm after the original barn burned down 19 months ago. Kay Masterson, co-owner of the Newton Centre restaurant, told Fig City News this was the first fundraising event of its kind that Johnny’s had undertaken.
Ryan Voiland purchased 50 acres of farmland in Granby, Massachusetts in 2001 to start Red Fire Farm and has since expanded into parts of Montague as well. Ryan met Sarah a couple of years later, and now married with children, they operate the farm together.
Masterson has known the Voilands for a long time and has sourced produce from Red Fire Farm for Johnny’s over the years. She said, “Red Fire Farm is one of the top organic farms in Massachusetts, certainly by acreage, doing an amazing job with a huge variety of crops.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Masterson volunteered to hand out Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares for the farm in Cambridge. Now the farm delivers CSA shares to homes and to many sites in central Massachusetts and MetroWest — including every other week at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Newtonville.
Losing the barn
In February 2024, a fire burned down the farm’s century-old barn, which had been the central distribution center for the annual harvest of organic fresh produce sold to thousands of people. Community members poured in donations and helped the farm continue operations with a temporary storefront for the past 19 months.
Masterson said she cried when she heard the news of the barn fire.
“The barn is the heart of a farm,” Masterson said. “Imagine your house without your kitchen.”
Sarah said the farm is now unable to generate sales “anywhere near” to what it made at the old barn, since the temporary store has limited capabilities.
“We’re in a bit of a hole as a result of the fire,” Sarah said. “We are hoping to be able to put together this store in a way that will bring more income to the farm and help us keep going.”
Ryan noted that inflation over the past couple of years has increased the building costs, and insurance payments have not kept up.
Sarah said the old barn was roughly 10,000 square feet. The new barn will be approximately 4,000 square feet.
“Nothing will replace the barn that burned,” Ryan said.
Community steps up
The farm has begun construction of a new barn at a total projected cost of $1.2 million.
The owners received a state grant and insurance money, and they used all of their available funds, but they were still short $400,000. They set up a fundraising page to cover $200,000 of the total amount, and to date they have raised $58,113.
Sarah Voiland reached out to Masterson to help with the fundraising effort. Masterson donated on her own, but she wanted to take it a step further.
A day at Johnny’s dedicated to Red Fire Farm’s new barn
Masterson encouraged everyone to come out to eat at Johnny’s on Saturday, October 4 in support of this cause. There were informational sheets at every table to tell the story of the farm and provide QR codes so people could donate directly to the farm. In addition, Johnny’s donated 10% of its revenue from that day.
That day, Ryan and Sarah set up a produce stand in front of Johnny’s from 10AM to 1PM to talk with people and provide tastes of tomatoes, peppers, and other fresh samples from the farm’s fall harvest.
Sarah said she is appreciative of Masterson’s support and commitment to local farmers.
“Kay is super passionate and wants to help in any way she can,” Sarah said. “It is such a gift to have her offer this. Today, we have met some of our local CSA members who came to eat at Johnny’s, and we’ve met others from our broader community who share the importance of local produce.”
New barn and new beginnings
Despite the harsh circumstances, Sarah and Ryan are optimistic for the updated features of the new barn.
“We are building what we think will be a really good space,” Ryan said. “We have put a lot of thought into designing it.”
Ryan said store customers will be able to get their produce efficiently. The old barn was designed to keep hay and manage livestock, not to be a produce store.
Regarding the apparent irony of the name Red Fire Farm, Ryan explained that the name was based on two inspirations: 1) an earlier barn burned on the same site about 100 years ago, and 2) the farm grows New Red Fire lettuce year-round.
Ryan noted that the new barn is being built on a different site, a quarter mile away from the twice-burned site of the old barn. The new barn will be on the edge of a much larger field of approximately 25 acres, and this will make the experience more accessible for farm visitors. Visitors will be able to walk out easily to the pick-your-own areas.
“We have always wanted for people to come out to the farm and see where their food comes from, and make a connection to the landscape that we all rely on to be able to eat,” Sarah said.
The barn will include additions for accessibility like bathrooms. People can purchase snacks and drinks when they come to the farm. It will be a more pleasant place for people to hang out, and it will include products from a wide variety of small, local food companies in the network that Ryan and Sarah have developed.
Focus on local, organic farming
Ryan said local farming is environmentally important, in contrast to “industrialized” farming that transports produce from long distances.
“If people want to have these types of amazing tasting vegetables and fruits, then we have to figure out how to maintain the viability of farms in Massachusetts,” Ryan said.
Ryan said you can grow a lot of things in Massachusetts, but there are challenges such as limited pockets of farmland available to use. The landscape can be rocky and hilly.
Ryan said he and Sarah are dedicated to not using herbicides or pesticides due to the detrimental impacts on the environment.
Sarah said organic farming can accumulate high costs, including paying workers.
“Organic farming takes a lot more labor than conventional farming,” Sarah said.
Masterson’s motivation
Masterson said that, as a restaurant owner, she knows what it’s like to be fighting an uphill battle.
“It is such an amazing example of the human spirit to commit to farming,” Masterson said. “It is quite a wonder.”
Masteron said she had multiple motivations for setting up the fundraiser.
“I wanted to raise some money but also raise awareness,” Masterson said. “I’m hoping we can engender a larger conversation around the importance of our local farmers and the responsibility we need to take on as a community to help them when extraordinary circumstances happen like a barn fire. We need to ask, ‘How much of my plate can actually be purchased locally?’ It’s all about nutrition, food miles, biodiversity, and economic sustainability.”
Sarah says that there are many ways to support Red Fire Farm, including donating to the fundraising page, sharing it with friends, and visiting the farm to purchase produce.
Ryan and Sarah recommend people visit the farm this time of year, as they host many family activities (such as a popcorn maze) and are continuing to serve fresh produce to customers.
“To make any gift of any size helps us get closer to finishing the barn and having a place to welcome everybody,” Sarah said.
