3-C's Catering Has 4-H Roots

JAMESTOWN, NEW YORK (October 3, 2025) - 4-H has deep roots in the community, and October 5th starts National 4-H Week. One thing 4-H tries to do is help their members find their spark, the thing that gets them excited to learn. 4-H connects youth to hands-on learning opportunities that help them grow into competent, caring, contributing members of society. Some 4-H members raise animals, some build, some do robotics, and some cook. One child whose 4-H interest was sparked by cooking was Robert Cross.

The path that led Robert Cross to founding 3 C’s Catering happened, in part, because he hated cows and barn work. Cross grew up on a dairy farm and one thing that he truly despised was barn chores.

Whenever possible, he chose to do some of the other hard work of growing up on a farm: canning, preserving, and cooking food. These became the heart of Cross’s 4-H projects over the years.

Dairy cows, however, were his ticket to the 4-H competitions at the Chautauqua County Fair. The fair was life changing. Food was a big part of the competition in the 4-H building at the time, and Cross had a stiff but friendly competition with another 4-H’er to see who could get the most Blue Ribbons. This rivalry inspired Cross to try new recipes, push the limits of his cooking, and continue to improve. One long-term motto of 4-H is “Make the best better”, and Cross worked hard to improve.

At the time, he did not realize how much 4-H was preparing him to run a catering business. Not only was he learning cooking skills, but his club worked on a variety of projects, including electrical work, building lamps and more. Those life skills may not always be used, but the self-sufficiency he learned at 4-H is important. Cross may not build lamps anymore, but he has used those same skills to keep equipment working in the middle of a catering gig.

4-H helped in a lot of ways, according to Cross. “4-H has always been a close-knit community. It’s more like a family. When I launched 3C’s, 4-H members and judges were my first customers.”

Today, 3C’s hires as many as 50 people in the summer to staff two concession stands, two food trucks, and cater events, as well as a couple of people to work in the gardens that grow food for the catering business. While many know 3C’s for their food, others know about them for their long-term commitment to sustainability and local agriculture.

The 4-H Program is one of many programs offered by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chautauqua County (CCE-Chautauqua). CCE-Chautauqua is a subordinate governmental agency with an educational mission that operates under a form of organization and administration approved by Cornell University as agent for the State of New York. It is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The association is part of the national cooperative extension system, an educational partnership between County, State, and Federal governments. As New York’s land grant university Cornell administers the system in this state. Each Cornell Cooperative Extension association is an independent employer that is governed by an elected Board of Directors with general oversight from Cornell. All associations work to meet the needs of the counties in which they are located as well as state and national goals. For more information, call 716-664-9502 or visit our website at www.cce.cornell.edu/chautauqua. 

Last updated October 3, 2025