Healthy Food for All

 

The farmers around here supply not only markets, restaurants and customers like me who buy into their farm-shares (called CSA--Community Supported Agriculture), but they support a "Healthy Food for All" program that makes the fresh, local produce available to limited-income families.  We went to one of their fundraisers, called "Harvest Dinners on the Farm."

There is a whole series of events, each hosted on a different farm by volunteers, including local chefs and winemakers from the top restaurants and wineries in the area. You can purchase tickets to one, or all of the dinners.  We started with an evening at Stick and Stone Farm.

We were greeted by the winemaker from Hosmer Winery.  First course was bubbly!

Next was a tour, where I learned a few things, like chickens are used to fertilize the fields.  They also eat the bugs and the farmer gets to eat the eggs!

There were 80 guests attending the evening we went.  I loved how the men wore collared shirts and the ladies were in skirts and boots.

The Professor isn't into small talk and is not the type to hand out business cards.  Most of his mingling is with me.

But sometimes he makes a new friend.

We enjoyed an amazing four-course meal created by the Simply Red Bistro chef.  Most of the produce came from the farm with some fruit, meat, cheeses and breads coming from other nearby Finger Lakes growers and purveyors.  It was magical how they transformed the barn into a dinner party with little white lights strung up all around.

The best part was that after all that delicious food and wine, we went home knowing our small contribution helped over 15 families eat fresh, locally grown produce for a year.