Oswego’s Dunsmoor Farms have added flavor to cooking for over eight decades
By Tom & Jerry Caraccioli
Often, when superfoods with antioxidant properties are discussed in diet and health conversations, popular foods like dark chocolate, blueberries, kale, beets and spinach are at the top of the shopping list. Rich in properties that help quell and combat high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, arthritis inflammation and some forms of cancer, superfoods high in antioxidants are high on people’s daily menus.
One superfood that has been often overlooked but deserves recognition has been growing in the muck-rich, black soils of Oswego-for decades by local farmers John Dunsmoor and Judy Queale-Dunsmoor and their family — New York Bold onions.
What started with two acres and a roadside stand selling potatoes and onions more than 80 years ago has today expanded into multiple family farms growing some of the most-pungent and best cooking onions in the world.
The name Dunsmoor and farming have been connected to Oswego and the surrounding area since 1941 when patriarch Ross started sharecropping two acres of onions while still in high school. Those two acres eventually grew to 60, and more through the years before he turned over the farm to his second oldest son, Danny, in 1982. As business grew, so did Dunsmoor Farms to 250 acres.
In 1988, Danny was joined by his youngest brother, John. That same year John married his St. Lawrence University sweetheart, Judy. Two years later Judy and John purchased their first farm, 35 acres, from Rose Tesoriero in New Haven. Like his father, John and Judy also started with a small roadside stand selling onions and potatoes before growing their first full crop in 1992.
In 1999, Judy and John bought their second farm from Ruth Cerklavitch and expanded their business and farmland to 360 acres. Over the years, they acquired rental properties along with the purchase of some of the farms.
Known as “America’s cooking onion,” Dunsmoor Farms specialty — yellow and red New York Bold onions — are part of this superfood category that is under-appreciated when it comes to culinary benefits and healthy living. One of the most appealing attributes of the locally grown onions are their superior cooking characteristics.
Taking advantage of being grown in the rich, thick, black, organic “muck soils” that were formed by the glaciers, New York Bold onions are some of the finest cooking onions in the world and have excellent health benefits. The onion produces an enzyme that contains a very high level of antioxidants which research shows helps fight cancer and promotes coronary health.
According to reviews published in the “Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry” and studies performed at Cornell University, red and yellow onions are richer in antioxidants and possess disease-fighting qualities not found in other white and sweeter-tasting onions.
Along with their health benefits, they taste good. The onions which are pungent when eaten raw, become “sweet in the heat” and are the perfect choice for chefs and at-home culinary enthusiasts. The low water content and cold Oswego winters also make for an onion with superior shelf life.
While onions had long been sold as a commodity vegetable, the Dunsmoors recognized a marketing opportunity to brand their premium crop. In 2001, in collaboration with the other Oswego County onion growers, they created the New York Bold brand with the tag line, “Onions with attitude.”
Replacing the historic mesh bags with no identity, New York Bold onions were launched on the shelves of Tops Friendly Markets, Ontario Orchards and Paul’ Big M with a revolutionary-designed carry fresh package that included consumer information about the origin and attributes of the premium cooking onion.
“Branding and marketing our onions have allowed us to educate consumers about their superior cooking characteristics in a way that wasn’t being done and distinguish them from the so-called sweet onions like Vidalia,” Queale-Dunsmoor explained. “We utilize our packaging to feature recipes that highlight the delicious flavor of the onions and have done a lot of grassroots marketing like sampling at the New York State Fair and cooking demos. It has been very rewarding to see how much consumers love our onions when they cook with them, as well as their appreciation for the whole process of bringing them to the market.”
One of New York State’s most important vegetable crops, onions account for annual sales of $52 million and 97 percent of the onion production in the northeast United States. This ranks the Empire State as sixth in the nation in onion production.
The Dunsmoors, who became the sole owners of the brand in 2012, also have continued to market the brand in a myriad of ways over the years even creating a cooking trailer and mascot for store openings. While John concentrates on the growing, harvesting, packing and selling to the wholesale customers, Judy concentrates on the marketing, office management and selling to retail customers.
Though it hasn’t always been easy, the Dunsmoors wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Onion farming is not for the faint of heart,” John says. “It requires a huge investment, high risk and a lot of volatility depending on the market prices and, of course, Mother Nature. As the weather gets more volatile the challenges get larger. Still, farming has been a great life for us and our family business.”
