102
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MARCH 2015
nshoremag.com
a boulder cut open at his relative's
shop and couldn't believe how
beautiful it was on the inside.
"I saw a way to add value to the
fieldstones," Croteau says. "I liken
it to a farmer who has a patch of
wild raspberries, then someone
comes along and says, ῾Try this
jam.'" Croteau started slicing apart
rocks from friends' backyards
and polishing them into "food
slabs"—stunningly tactile slices of
polished stone for serving food.
The useful works of art quickly
gained a following, through Cro-
teau's dogged attendance at trade
shows and a keen understanding
of marketing and the importance
of a good story. American Stone-
craft tableware is now available in
shops around the country and as
far afield as Australia.
Farmers have long known they
can sell their rocks, which rise up
every spring when frost heaves
new stone from deep underground,
to Pasonry coPpanies and for fill,
which pays between $50 and $100
per ton for approximately 80 rocks.
American Stonecraft can take that
same amount of stone and turn it
into , or Pore in profit for
the farmer. And every extra source
of revenue counts for small family
farms in the area.
Joanne and
Mitchell Crosley
Gerald Croteau
III (right) collects
fieldstones from
farmers to make
his "food slabs."
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