At the Philly Farm and Food Fest, you’ll get a chance to get close and personal with your food.
By Denise Clay
The Philly Farm and Food Fest, will take place at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on Sunday, April 10 from 11AM to 4PM. The fest will showcase the wares of more than 130 farmers, artisan cheese makers, butchers and more.
The fest, now in its fifth year, started out as a way to connect farmers with restaurateurs, said Sara Miller, Director of Development for Fair Food, the organization that serves as one of the event’s co-hosts along with Kitchen Table Consultants.
For many of these farmers, the fest is a means of holding on to a way of life, Miller said.
“If restaurants don’t buy more things from local farms, these farmers would go out of business,” she said. “This is a way of getting more people to buy local and keep these farms viable.”
The day begins at 10 a.m. with a VIP meet and greet between local producers and industry professionals designed to connect farmers with those looking for interesting products.
At 11a.m., the public portion of the fest begins giving attendees a chance to go to the PF3 kitchen for tips, tricks and recipes from the city’s best chefs and butchers. For example, you can learn how to make sausage from the folks at Ladavisa Meats, learn how to butcher a pig from Kensington Quarters, a lamb from Russet and Wyebrook Farms or how the folks at Zahav’s Middle Eastern Flavors make an outstanding hummus.
One of the things that stood out was the overabundance of cheese. The fest contains a section called the “Curd Convention” that provides everything from a master cheese making class taught by DiBruno Brothers to curated cheese and cocktail tastings.
You can even learn what pickle to pair with cheese.
The fest will also have opportunities to learn about growing chickens in your backyard, preserving fruit and other things that you can do at home with produce from your garden, Miller said.
For the kids, there will be a petting zoo and other activities.
Fest ticket holders will also be entered into a drawing for a chance to win an evening at Talula’s Table restaurant in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.
Tickets for the Philly Farm and Food Fest can be purchased for $20 at http://phillyfarmfest.ticketleap.com/2016/. The cocktails and cheese pairings at Libations Lounge is an additional $10 (the rest of the Curd Convention is free). Tickets will also be sold at the door for $25.
Children 12 and under are free.
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