The Hospitality House held the first installment of their Local Summer Food Series on Tuesday, June 30.
The three-part series is meant to highlight the local farms and crops of the Watauga County area. The events take place on the last day of each month all summer long, and each meal is free and open to the public.
“We have an expansive agriculture program at the Hospitality House, and so we want to highlight local farms and local food,” Todd Carter, Director of Development for the Hospitality House said. “One of our initiatives is to make sure that kids know that our food doesn’t come out of a can, that it doesn’t come out of a serving line at school—that it actually comes out of the ground.”
The entrees in June’s meal shone a spotlight onto North Fork Farm of Zionville, North Carolina, which provided beef stew with potatoes and mushrooms and sausage with peppers and onions. Classic southern sides such as collard greens with dried cherries and cheesy zucchini casserole adorned the plates as well, and Stick Boy provided bread. Members of the Boone Advent Christian Church on East King Street provided deserts.
“We don’t know what (July’s meal) is going to look like,” Carter said. “That’s the beauty of growing a crop. We will see what comes up and people have in abundance, and what we want to highlight.”
The next installments of the Local Summer Food Series will take place at Hospitality House (338 Brook Hollow Road) on July 31 and August 31 at 6 p.m.
Story: Cole Cummings, Intern Reporter