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Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture & Local Restaurants Team Up to Offer Food Hub Farm-to-Plate Dinner Series

Dona Dowlan and guests enjoy a farm to plate meal at new public house. Photo by Shauna Caldwell.

The High Country Food Hub, a program of Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture is offering a special dinner series this spring that celebrates local food and farmers. This dinner series highlights the unique flavors of High Country agriculture through food and inspiring presentations from local farmers, chefs and food entrepreneurs.

Each ticketed dinner will highlight local farms and food entrepreneurs that sell their goods through the High Country Food Hub, Boone’s new online farmers’ market. Each chef will share about the unique meal that they prepared using the local ingredients and the farmers will share about their business, explaining why building a strong local food system is so important and beneficial.

Executive Director, Courtney Baines explains, “The mission of Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture is to build a sustainable and equitable local food system and we believe connecting consumers and producers through celebration and enjoyment is one key way to help our food economy thrive. We’d love to see local residents and community leaders attend these events to gather around a table together, hear from their local food producers, and feel inspired to invest in the future of agriculture by supporting High Country farmers.”

The first sold-out dinner was held at The New Public House Hotel and Restaurant in Blowing Rock and featured presentations and ingredients from Carol Coulter of Heritage Homestead Goat Dairy, Dave Walker of Daffodil Spring Farm, and Larson Smith of Sunshine Cove. The family-style “Southern Sunday Supper” menu was designed and prepared by Chef John Dean and featured a variety of pork dishes, tomato pie with goat cheese and microgreens, sorghum roasted turnips, and other southern favorites.

The next ticketed dinner is Sunday, March 24th from 4:30 -7pm at The Gamekeeper Restaurant & Bar near Blowing Rock and will feature a French-inspired family-style meal with ingredients and presentations from Heartwood Farms, Creeksong Farm, and Faith Mountain Farm. As an added treat, Grandfather Vineyard will be hosting a wine tasting, complimentary wine, and specials on bottles and cases. Plus the talented Gamekeeper staff will be offering local brews and a special “NC spirits” cocktail menu at the cash bar.

More information and tickets can be found at www.brwia.org/DinnerSeries.

Tomato pie with Sunshine Cove microgreens at New Public House. Photo by Shauna Caldwell.

The remaining spring line up is:

The Gamekeeper: French Style Family Meal
Sunday, 3/24/19, 4:30 – 7:00 pm
3005 Shulls Mill Rd, Boone, NC
Featuring Heartwood Farms, Creeksong Farm, and Faith Mountain Farm

Reid’s Cafe & Catering: Spring Flavors Four Course Meal
Thursday, 4/18/19, 6:00 – 8:30 pm
4004 NC 105 Suite 8, Sugar Mountain, NC
Featuring Trosly Farm, Devorah Artisan Chocolate

Gideon Ridge: Plated Five Course Meal
Sunday, 5/19/19
Featuring New Life Farm, Mountain Memories Farm, The Hive Bakery

Follow the conversation and stay up to date on how to support local agriculture and your local economy on Facebook and Instagram @HighCountryFoodHub & @BRWIA. This event is supported by the partnering restaurants and the Watauga Economic Development Commission.

Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture is a women-owned nonprofit founded in 2005 that helps build a sustainable and equitable High Country local food system by supporting producers and cultivating community connections that inspire, educate, and increase demand for local food.

The High Country Food Hub is a program of BRWIA that facilitates the aggregation, storage, distribution, and marketing of locally produced food and other products. The goal of the Food Hub is to help strengthen the regional food economy by providing farmers and producers with cost-effective storage space, an innovative online market for their products, and business support services to ensure the success of small family farms and local food businesses in the High Country. Partners include Watauga County, the Town of Boone, Heifer USA, the Appalachian Regional Commission, and Carolina Farm Credit, among many others.

Chef John Dean welcomes guests to New Public House. Photo by Shauna Caldwell.