Local Food Week 2020 Connects Community to Food & Farms
During Local Food Week, families enjoyed visiting the cattle on the pastures at Fry Farms Co-op near Ligonier, Indiana.
Tours & Events Celebrated Local Food & Local Farms
Northeast Indiana celebrated our first Local Food Week with socially-distanced farm tours and special events held across our region. From September 11-20, eighteen different farms and local food businesses hosted over 300 participants for a variety of events to connect our community to local food from our land to our tables.
Myron Metzger hosted tours of Berry Hill Farm near North Manchester, Indiana to teach his customers how he grows a wide variety of vegetables all year long.
Local Food Week offered both in-person and virtual farm tours on both rural and urban farms across Northeast Indiana. These tours offered families the chance to visit a working farm and to teach their children where food comes from. For many of the farm tour hosts like Myron Metzger of Berry Hill Farm, the farm tours gave him the chance to show his loyal farmers market customers his farm and teach them how he grows the vegetables they enjoy throughout the year.
Ben Hoffman of Hoffman Certified Organics in Huntertown, Indiana introduced his farm tour guests to his mangalista pigs
Local Food Week also gave our local food markets and artisan local food producers the opportunity to highlight the many products they sell that are made using locally sourced ingredients.
Samantha Yim, founder of True Kimchi offered samples of several of her authentic kimchi products made with locally sourced ingredients at The Health Food Shoppe in Fort Wayne during Local Food Week.
A HUGE Thank You to our
Local Food Week Sponsors
Tolon - A Farm to Table restaurant located in historic downtown Fort Wayne on The Landing.
Fry Farms Co-op - Committed to providing outstanding, nourishing foods to families from our farms near Ligonier, Indiana.
Fresh Food Hub - A one-stop marketplace in downtown Auburn providing local, whole food nutrition to our community
Generous Support from these Local Food Week 2020 Sponsors made this week-long event possible. Their belief in the value of this inaugural week-long local food event during the COVID-19 pandemic was invaluable.
(L-R) Nicky and Chef Matthew Nolot from Tolon with Janet Katz, Founding Director of the Northeast Indiana Local Food Network and Dennis and Matt Wood of Wood Farms at the Meet the Farmer Dinner.
We are so grateful to Tolon, Fort Wayne’s first farm-to-table restaurant, for being our Premier Sponsor of Local Food Week 2020. Nicky and Chef Matthew Nolot hosted a special Meet the Farmer Dinner with father & son farmers, Dennis and Matt Wood of Wood Farms. Diners at this special event learned how Wood Farms raises their beef and enjoyed Wood Farms filet mignon at Tolon for the first time.
Did you participate in Local Food Week?
Please share your experiences with us! We welcome your suggestions to improve and expand Local Food Week in 2021. What farm tours and events would you like to host or attend next year?
Share your Local Food Week photos with the hashtag #ourlandourtables
Our Sincere Thanks to all our Local Food Week Hosts:
We are grateful for the time, effort and enthusiasm of each of our Local Food Week hosts! Thank you for helping our community connect to the local food that comes from our land to our tables.
Berry Hill Farm, year-round, nutrient rich produce farm near North Manchester, IN
Denney Farms, year-round, urban farm growing produce on 1/3 acre in Silver Lake, IN
Eel River Bison Ranch & Event Center, grass-fed bison ranch in South Whitley, IN
Fresh Food Hub, market for local, whole food nutrition in downtown Auburn, IN
Fry Farms Co-op, producers of nutrient dense meat and dairy near Ligonier, IN
Hawkins Family Farm, regenerative farm raising cattle, hogs, poultry & produce in North Manchester, IN
Health Food Shoppe, health and wellness market featuring many local products in Fort Wayne, IN
Hoffman Certified Organics, producer of USDA Certified Organic poultry and mangalitsa pigs in Huntertown, IN
Johnnie Mae Farm, Fort Wayne, IN
Merry Lea Farm of Goshen College, educational, demonstration and experimental farm near Albion, IN
Plant Happiness, urban farm growing annual & perennial fruits, vegetables & flowers in Fort Wayne, IN
RiverRidge Farm & Store, four season garden & greenhouse selling products from other local farms near Roann, IN
Seven Sons Farms, producer of 100% grass-fed beef, pastured pork and eggs near Roanoke, IN
Southwest Honey Co., Fort Wayne, IN
Tolon, farm-to-table restaurant featuring seasonal menus on The Landing in historic downtown Fort Wayne, IN
Windrose Urban Farm, nonprofit urban farm growing mushrooms & other produce in downtown Fort Wayne, IN
