A new word celebrates a winning idea: this Friday, the Freshtacular event will raise money for the Fresh Food Partnership, which in one swoop supports local agriculture and brings local produce to area food pantries, community meals and shelters.
Billed as "Dinner on the Farm," Freshtacular will be held at TLC Tomatoes farm, just north of Suttons Bay. The culinary team from Samuel's of Suttons Bay will join forces with TLC Tomatoes owners to create a gourmet feast served at sunset. The proceeds will boost the ability of the Fresh Food Partnership to purchase locally-grown produce from area farmers and donate it to organizations that serve the needy in Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska and Leelanau counties.
The inaugural Freshtacular dinner will also include tours of TLC Tomatoes greenhouses as well as entertainment by Luunappi plus the Beach Bards
"TLC Tomatoes has a farm and a facility kitchen and they're one of the farmers we purchase from, so we had a nice connection," said Laura Otwell, program coordinator of the Fresh Food Partnership.
"It is a perfect fit in that we're trying to support local agriculture as we provide area pantries with fresh healthy produce and having [Freshtacular] on the farm seems ideal," she added. "And I think that people will really enjoy getting out in the countryside and seeing agriculture in action."
Winding down it's fourth growing season, the Fresh Food Partnership is on a pace to top last year's numbers. So far, they have distributed 14,500 pounds with two months of growing season remaining. Last year, the total was 21,000 pounds of purchased produce plus another 9,000 pounds donated from farmers.
"Many of the farmers are extremely generous and donate on top of purchase amount," Otwell said.
The Fresh Food Partnership, which was formed in 2003, lives up to it's collaborative name with projects like one to make cherry marinara sauce to sell as a fundraiser this fall.
"This past Friday, Millie Hathaway donated tomatoes for us to process and students from the Leelanau School picked them as a service project," said Otwell. "The tomatoes were processed yesterday at Food for Thought in Honor at a reduced rate."
Two dozen volunteers interface between farmers and pantries, shelters and community meals providers, 24 different organizations in all. The Fresh Food Partnership purchases from about 20 different small, local farmers, always paying fair market value to support the farmers. The volunteers acquire directly from farm markets, stands or the farms and deliver it in the region.
Otwell cited statistics from the Northwest Food Coalition, part of the Northwest Michigan Human Services Agency, that showed in 2005, area pantries in the five-county area received 106,000 visits. During the growing season, the food supplied is supplemented by fresh local produce — a real hit with the clients.
"The pantries are seeing a steady increase, not surprisingly, and over the past five years that number has probably doubled," Otwell noted. "So there isn't a shortage of need."
Another growing facet of the Fresh Food Partnership is donations of overflow produce from private gardeners. Partnership volunteers can facilitate these donations from citizen gardeners to food pantries, shelters and community meal providers in the region.
"Sometimes it's hard to know where to take the produce," Otwell said. "We're offering to people that they can drop the produce off here."
The Freshtacular "Dinner on the Farm" event will be held on Friday, September 8, from 6 to 9 p.m. at TLC Tomatoes, which is located four miles north of Suttons Bay. Tickets are $30 per person and will be available through close of business today. To make a reservation or for more information about the event or other Fresh Food Partnership programs, call 929-3696