Farm To Table Dinner Celebrates Five Years

Uniontown, PA- "If you ate today, thank a farmer."

It's a phrase that has become popular on social media, but according to Fayette County Farm Bureau President Darrell Becker, many people don't understand just how true it is. Becker said when people think about where their food comes from, they think of grocery stores but often not how the food comes to be at the store in the first place. So, they don't grasp the crucial role farmers play in our everyday lives.

One of the goals of the annual Fayette Farm to Table Dinner is to foster that understanding.

"The purpose of the dinner is to join the producers, who are the farmers, to the consumers, who are the people who buy the products," Becker said. "It also allows the farmers to talk directly to them."

Becker said he likes the idea of having name tags in two different colors at the dinner - one for farmers and the other for consumers. He said he would encourage people to talk to those wearing the opposite color from them.

"We want them to mingle and talk, and it's educational," he said. "It's an educational thing. It also highlights the quality of the food the farmers produce."

The farm bureau will host its fifth annual Farm to Table Dinner on Sept. 19. All of the food is sourced from farms within Fayette County and/or from Fayette County Farm Bureau members.

Farm bureau member Joe Ambrose said the food and beverages will be provided by Anderson Farms, Christner Farms, Diamond Show Pigs, Duda's Farm, Footprints Farm, From Scratch Uniontown, Fruit Hill Farms, Haines Farming and Meat Processing, Harmony Acres, His and Hers Market Garden, Jackson Farms, JP's Farmers Market, Laurel Hill Trout Farm, Laurel Ridge Bottled Water, Maple Bottom Farm, Murph's Meat Market and Packing, Redrange Farm, Ridge Runner Distillery, Simon's Apple Orchard, United Dairy, Winslow Winery and Yough River Brewing Co.

This year's menu will include stuffed sweet banana peppers, smoke trout crostini, bruschetta, salad, chicken piccata, roast lamb, spaghetti and meatballs, eggplant Parmesan, roasted vegetables (yellow zucchini, assorted sweet peppers and sweet onions), and assorted charcuterie - including goat summer sausage. Zucchini bread monkey bars and Dutch apple pie will satisfy any sweet tooth.

Cocktails will be served at 5 p.m., with dinner at 6 p.m. Stone House Catering will prepare the meal, which will take place at The Grayson House at Mt. Hope, 157 Riggin Road, Uniontown.

"It's a new venue. We held several previous dinners at 10 Valley Farms, which is also a wonderful location, but we try to move it around a little bit so our attendees can experience different parts of the county," Becker said.

He said The Grayson House is a beautiful venue. "It's probably one of the key places in Fayette County where you can enjoy a variety of events like dinners and events, and they've been very generous to us."

Becker said owner Ashley Smolenski inquired about the basket raffle that is part of the dinner and then spoke with her husband, Steve Smolenski, who owns JoltBike, an electric bike company in Uniontown. Smolenski donated a $1,500 e-bike to the raffle. Other great baskets and prizes will also be a part of the program at the dinner.

Tickets for the dinner are $75 per person and can be purchased at the Fayette Chamber of Commerce, 65 W. Main St., Uniontown, 724-437-4571, or online at fayettechamberstore.com.

Sponsorships and program ads also may be purchased.

For more information on the Fayette County Farm Bureau, visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Fayettefarmbureau. For more information on The Grayson House, visit www.thegraysonhouse.com.

To learn more about Fayette County, visit www.fayettecountypa.org.

Editor's Note: Image attached (Fayette Farm to Table Dinner)

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This communication, among other initiatives, is funded through the 2016 Fayette County Local Share Account (LSA) in cooperation with the Fayette County Board of Commissioners, Fayette Chamber of Commerce, The Redevelopment Authority of the County of Fayette, The Redstone Foundation and other partners. This funding has been designated for the continued promotion and marketing of Fayette County, PA.

For more information, contact Kristi Kassimer Harper, Public Relations Specialist, at 724-437-4571, [email protected] or Jamie Rankin, Journalist, at 724-437 4571, [email protected].