10 Reasons For Choosing Tide-To-Table Oysters

Knowing where oysters are from, who grows them and how, empowers people to make healthy choices.

Tide-To-Table oysters deliver a backstory of facts, like the growing method (wild or farmed), originating body of water, how many people handle them, and how far they travel to reach us.

Information like this encourages informed choices about the quality, safety, and freshness of food, as well as an understanding how the environment, and carbon footprint, is affected.

Here’s our top 10 reasons why tide-to-table oysters are an ecologically sound, nutritious and delicious, food source.

1. Safety in Small Numbers

When it comes to delivering food safety, a two-person oyster farm like ours has a big advantage over industrial aquaculture, where commitment to food safety may take a backseat to profits.

Traceability. You know the story start to finish. For example, every oyster we grow has only know two pairs of hands, from the underwater cage, into the tumbler, back into the water, out of the cage and into a bag..

As NY growers, processors, and shippers of shellfish, our operations and temperature logs are inspected four times a year by the NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation.

No genetic modification. We grow the traditional Long Island oyster, which is the Crassostrea Virginica, a true native to North America. Other names include the Eastern, Atlantic, or East Coast oyster.

2. Nutrition without Toxins

Knowing the originating body of water tells you about the quality of their meat. Oysters by nature are rich with nutrients, especially zinc and minerals, which all come from the seawater in which they grow.

Oysters nourish themselves by filtering micro-nutrients found naturally in seawater, usually algae and phytoplankton. Oysters take in minerals like iron, which is prevalent in our Great Peconic Bay, and gives Happy Oyster Co. shells their rich, golden-brown color.

3. Sea-Farmed Oysters Taste Good, Naturally

It’s simple. An oyster tastes like the seawater in which it grows. A freshly shucked, healthy oyster has an exhilarating taste of the sea.

To my mind, a good-eating oyster comes more from the medium, which is seawater, rather than the growing method, whether that be wild on the bottom or off-bottom in a rack or bag.

4. We Practice Sustainability

We use an off-bottom growing method in seawater about 20-24 feet deep. We stack our cages of oysters three deep in our five-acre underwater plot in the bay.

Bart builds our cages by hand, and we maintain them with environmentally friendly materials.

Our spat is hatchery spawned. We introduce the tiny marine lives to seawater from inside an underwater screened tube. The baby oysters can nourish themselves safely and grow without being eaten by hungry marine critters like crabs.  

At about 1 ½”, they go into the deeper bay water of our farm. We use an off-bottom cage growing method that gives them full freedom to nourish themselves with bay water.  Our five-acre underwater farm in the bay is their final home, where they live and grow safely, filtering bay seawater through the tides.

With frequent tumbling, which helps give their shells that beautiful shape, our SMILE oysters grow to market size in about twelve months.

Besides cages, Bart also built the sizing tumbler we use on the boat. We haul the cages, cull for the dead and misshapen, then send the rest through a turning tube of holes. Small oysters that drop through the holes go back into the water. Right-sized oysters are harvested. This means we haul them back to our clean room for bagging and sales. The same day.

5. Tide-To-Table Means Connection is Protection

We are part of the local food system.  Like the land-based farm-to-table movement, TTT encourages good relationships among sea farmers and their customers, both wholesale and retail. Connecting with honest and open communication supports us all and helps the environment. And you gain a richer relationship with your food, knowing the backstory of its origination.

6. Keeping It Fresh

Our farm stand oysters are harvested, bagged, and our cooler stocked all on the same day. Refrigerated oysters can stay fresh and alive up to 10 days. Only eat an oyster when it is fresh. You can spot a dead oyster by its slightly open shell, and, of course, the odor. A fresh and healthy oyster has the briny smell of the sea.  

7. You Speak Directly With Bart and Me

Bart and I personally take your orders and answer questions. You’re talking with the same people who work the boat and bay. We’re transparent, chronicling much of our work on YouTube. Socially, we are @HappyOysterCo

8. We are Independent

Bart and I are incredibly fortunate. We get to share our appreciation for all that an oyster gives to make our planet and our lives healthy. We get to share what we learn along the way, while we nurture these wonderful marine creatures. And we also get to share our respect for nature and our local ecosystem.

We are self-reliant. As small business owners, we make our own business decisions rather than answering to a corporate hierarchy. We choose our gear; our growing methods; and Bart and I work closely with the state Department of Environmental Conservation to meet all regulations.

And hey, we get to make our own mistakes, too. Nothing wrong with that. We chronicle some of the good ones on YouTube.

 9. Everything About an Oyster Is Usable

Nothing goes to waste. Oysters themselves give back to our nutrient-rich bay waters that nourish them. Just one oyster can filter up to 50 gallons a day. Multiply that one by a few hundred thousand oysters, and you’ve got a wonderful natural filtration system helping to preserve our bay waters.

Eat them whole, raw on the half-shell or cooked into any tasty recipe. Then put the shells to use.

Oyster shells are essentially calcium bicarbonate. Crushed shells make great fertilizer in the garden or compost. You can also buy oyster shells powdered and pulverized into a nutritional supplement as a source of calcium and Vitamin D.

10. Respect Keeps It Going

Long Island has a rich heritage of people who earn their living harvesting shellfish. We carry our responsibility to protect the eco-system and keep this tradition alive for up-and-coming generations.

We’re a sponsor farmer with the Long Island Oyster Growers Association of New York. Bart is also works with the Long Island Shellfish Restoration Project through the Cornell Cooperative Extension Marine Program, where he was a long-time volunteer in the oyster program.

Every time go out on the boat to work the bay, we’re mindful that what we do directly impacts the future. This means we handle our oysters, and we don’t mess with them or the water. And we’re pleased with the result: One of the finest-eating oysters on the planet, grown and harvested with an eye for what’s ahead.

Bart on the bay