Comments on: Farm to Table Conference Review

By: sheryl

sheryl — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 12:42:20 +0000

I also felt a little let down by the conference this year—in fact, if sandor katz hadn’t been there I might not have made the trip. the timing seemed weird–not only having a lot of the conference during most people’s working hours on friday, but also scheduling workshops and panels and demos at the same hours when a few adjustments could have made it possible for people to attend any of the talks they wanted instead of having to choose.
I got some great cheese from Pasture Maid, and some great greens from Penn’s Corners, and I found out about the Allegheny Market project and Edible Allegheny. And Sandor’s keynote speech and fermentation workshop were well worth the price of admission. But I really hope next year’s conference has more to offer. Maybe I’ll see if I can get involved in planning?

By: Fillippelli the Cook

Fillippelli the Cook — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:28:38 +0000

I did my own write-up as well: http://lustybit.blogspot.com/2008/03/local-is-as-local-does.html

Agree in some respects - don’t really get what Alaska Salmon has to do with local food, and advising a pregnant women to drink raw milk and not vaccinate her child is absolutely irresponsible. Yes, the Green Chef was up on a soap box, when I suspect most people there already knew much of what she was saying, and when she was supposed to be cooking.

The networking was really the best thing for me. I really enjoyed talking with the producers about how they produce their product, their farms’ history, etc.

The cooking demonstrations definitely need to be improved. Jessica Gibson from Bistro 19 had to cook on these two little crowded burners that could barely hold both of her pans and she could barely be heard. She still turned out an excellent dish, though.

What would really work well would be an Iron Chef like set up, pulling in a few attendees as judges. I know that logistically that would be hard to pull off. But given the popularity of Top Chef and Iron Chef America, something like that might really draw in people who otherwise would not attend. Also combining it with some sort of charitable draw - food donations for the food bank or raffling off dinners to some top-tier Pgh restaurants might also increase attendance, allow for lower booth prices, etc.

Good to see you there, Art. Our herbs also are starting to return, but end of May can’t come soon enough!!

By: Art King

Art King — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 01:30:32 +0000

I was told by the organizer that attendance almost doubled this year. Also, the reason why more farms don’t set up at this conferance is that they charge 150.00 per booth. And this was cut in half from last year! All in all I was happy with the whole conferance. And I will be front and center if you are cooking next year Jesse.

By: Jim

Jim — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 14:22:24 +0000

The Norton grape is grown in Virginia, too. I’ve probably had others, but I specifically remember that Cooper and Horton each produce a very good Norton.

By: jwsharrard

jwsharrard — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:17:07 +0000

I agree—the networking is the best part and it was great to see you; but I wanted to have more possibilities available—more emphasis on the farm. I know that there are many more farms surrounding Pittsburgh than the few that were represented. I had been hoping for an increase in the number of farms that exhibited this year and instead felt there to be a decrease. Some noteworthy farmers that perhaps the conference can woo for next year’s event: Ried Soergel of Soergel’s in Wexford; Ron Gargass; Barbara Kline and Randa Shannon of Mildreds’ Daughters Farm in Pittsburgh; Janice from Walnut Hills Farm; Bob Omlar of Honeydale Farm; Maria Graziani of Healcrest Farm in Pittsburgh; representatives of the Allegheny County Mental Health and Mental Retardation greenhouse in Pittsburgh…. and those are just the several that I can think of off the top of my head!

By: Farmer Troy

Farmer Troy — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 02:34:02 +0000

I personally really enjoyed Farm-To-Table . . . it might not’ve been as intimate a setting as last year, and it was cold and noisy, and the lighting was bad for photos, but I did enjoy most of it . . . especially the keynote and Fermentation workshop of “SandorKraut.”

For me, one of the best things about these things are networking with other people, and meeting interested folks . . . looking forward to next year’s Farm-To-Table!!

I was also glad to see and talk to you too Jesse!!!