Food Festivities Celebrating Buy Fresh Buy Local

By Margaret Gilmour

Along with the new Chester County Buy Fresh Buy Local “food-ability” guide, comes a string of events that’ll help you carry on an endless summer while celebrating our local food system.

July’s happenings include a feast of live music, cooking demos and recipes, and tips for preserving and freezing the season’s bounty. There are also discussions on the new movie, Food, Inc., and games for kids of all sizes, including a community game of chess.

See you there.

 

Anselma Farmers and Artisans Market, Chester Springs

Wednesday, July 15th

2:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Free

Anselma Farmers Market Association and the Mill at Anselma kicks-off their collaboration with the Chester County Food Bank Gleaning Program. Take your surplus veggies and this farmers’ market donates the produce to local communities in need.

Of course you can also buy your weekly supply of produce and local goods from the regular crowd of farmers and artisans selling the best, freshest ingredients.

Also at Anselma, little ones who like to dig in the dirt can take part in growing a small garden they can revisit throughout the summer to see how their garden is growing.

There’s plenty of activities around the mill, in fact, including volunteers who show you how to produce your own flour and cornmeal that you can take on home.

Kennett Square Farmers’ Market Buy Fresh Buy Local Festival

Friday, July 17

2:00 – 6:00 p.m.

Free

All the farm stands, producers and artisans you count on each week will be open and set up to sell you the best local goods along with cooking demos, live music and games for everyone in the family (even community chess at the Garage Youth center).

Kennett’s Farmers’ Market is in their tenth year of bringing local flavors to Chester County every Friday afternoon. Special weekly features include free recipe hand-outs, local musicians to keep you humming while you browse and farm fresh food for tasting.

Don’t miss a week as new tables sprout each Friday with local growers or artists sharing their ware. Can’t think of a better way to start the weekend.

Puttin’ Up Pickles

Kimberton Whole Foods, Kimberton

July 28, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

$45

Kimberton Whole Foods is helping launch PASA’s Good Food Neighborhood with a series of hands on, taste this, preservation workshops featuring locally produced goods.

If you’re a foodie, you should check out Good Food Neighborhood. Some of the benefits include links to other fresh food fans, updates on seasonal products, and a subscription to Eater’s Digest, a monthly e-newsletter. Membership is $30/year and supports Buy Fresh Buy Local.

Betsey Gerstein Sterenfeld of Essen Cooking School in Lancaster will host the first workshop where attendees will create their own Giardinara (pickled veggies) and pickled sour cherries.

Kimberton Whole Foods has four locations: Kimberton, Downingtown, Douglassville and Ottsville, and offers a huge selection of organic foods from local farmers and producers.