My photographer and I braved the somewhat nasty weather to attend Baltimore Wood’s Local Harvest Dinner. We tried pretty much all the great, local food the fundraiser had to offer and I thought it was a great event. Produce, dairy, and meat from several CSAs and small farms were plentiful and had many guests going back for more. I also got a chance to try coffee from what may be my new favorite roaster. We documented some of the highlights for you.
I got a chance to meet most of the Baltimore Woods staff. Everyone was so enthused about local food and the many excellent producers the Upstate region has. The Local Harvest Dinner is essentially a showcase of New York regional edibles but also provides an education. When we talk about lowering our carbon footprint, the most direct action is to commit to buying local produce only. This means that you can’t get certain fruit and veggies whenever you want, but I guarantee you’ll be amazed by what’s available right here. If the Local Harvest Dinner is any indication, you may find yourself eating even better after going local. I think going all local is a bit rough for most but it’s reasonable to consider switching 10-20% of you food dollars to produce that’s actually in season instead of having it flown and shipped across the country (or world). Between the CSAs and other food producers, it’s not so hard to do. Now on to the pictures!
First of all I gotta talk about the coffee. The stuff we sampled was from Forty Weight Coffee Roasters. The variety was an organic fair trade Timor Maubesse from East Timor. This type of coffee is of the absolute finest quality and is treasured for its syrupy mouth-feel and seriously heavy body. Forty Weight’s coffee must be experienced to understand. A friend and I decided on the word “phenomenal.” While Forty Weight’s cafe is actually in Brooklyn, the beans are roasted locally in Freeville, which isn’t far from Ithaca. Most of the distribution happens in NYC but you can find the brand all over Ithaca and at the CNY Regional Farmer’s Market every Saturday. I suggest you seek it out, this stuff is no joke. More info.
Here are a few shots of the menu and other event-related items, click the gallery:
Next up I’d like to share some of the food we had a chance to try. As I said, all kinds of local producers were represented. I want to highlight Stones Throw Farm (CSA), Armory Square restaurant LoFo, Flour City Pasta, Marigold Farm (CSA), Wake Robin Farm, Early Morning Farm (CSA), and Bernhards Bay, NY meat and poultry producer W. W. Texas Longhorn Ranch. These are only some of the stations we found at the Harvest Dinner, each with a unique, homemade item to try. First I’d like to share a picture of LoFo’s brand new bacon jam, which seems to be the talk of the town. I think it’s very tasty and definitely excellent on toasted Heidelberg:
Last but not least, here are the rest of our pictures–these are all food focused.
Let us not forget my good friend Neil Miller of Farmshed CNY, an exciting app that makes findiing the best local produce (and more) very simple. They have a new website in the works.
Hope you enjoyed this piece, the old Guru’s back.
All photos by Joelle Rotella Photography. Please provide credit where it’s due if you share any of these photos.
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