Claremont, NC – The Eat, Drink and Be Local Food Festival is an annual week-long celebration of local food in Catawba County featuring farmers market cooking demos, farm tours, and educational programs throughout the week.
The Farm Feast will be on Saturday, June 13, 6pm-9pm at True Cut Ranch in Claremont, NC. True Cut Ranch is a newer farm offering pasture-raised beef, pork, lamb, chicken and duck as well as many educational classes in food preparation and preservation. This spring was the grand opening of their brand new farm store featuring a variety of proteins and local NC products. Hours are Fridays and Saturdays from 10am-6pm and Farm Feast tickets will be available there at a discount. They are very excited to be hosting Farm Feast this year and providing a chance for people to explore their farm, meet their animals and feed them some treats. The “explosive one man band” Cameron Matthews will be our musical guest playing a variety of genres such as rock, soul, blues, funk, country, folk, reggae and pop.
To help us celebrate and elevate our local, farm fresh food we have a great line up of local chefs: Ben Sullivan, Cranford Hospitality; Bart Weber, Smolder n’ Smoke; Zack Harkins and Rilke Witherstine, Hatch Sandwich Bar; and Jeremy Salig, Blanton House.
We will be sourcing from many farms in the area who you may recognize from our farmers markets, farm stands and U-Pick operations. New farms this year will be Bumble Berry, a U-Pick strawberry, blackberry and pumpkin farm in Catawba, NC, and Tenacious Agrarians, a new fruit, vegetable and cut flower farm in organic transition. Other farms we will be sourcing from are Hedge Family Farm and Honey Tree Farm offering a variety of Certified Naturally Grown produce, Mai’s Farm, Free Folk Pastures, True Cut Ranch, Catawba Mushroom Partners, Walker Farms, Dauphine and Sons, Conover Farmers Market vendors and many more. Tickets are $50, and available through Eventbrite or from the True Cut Store Fridays and Saturdays 10am-6pm if you want to avoid fees. For groups with eight or more people or more, please contact April Vigardt at alvigard@ncsu.edu or Melissa Falcone at melissa@truecutranch.com for a discount.
Get inspiration for your next meal by visiting one of our great farmers markets during Eat, Drink and Be Local. Cooking demonstrations and tastings will be at the Hickory Farmers Market on Saturday June 6, from 9-1pm and Wednesday June 10 from 10-1pm, the Conover Farmers Market on Saturday June 6 from 9-12pm, the Public Health Farmers Market on Thursday, June 11 from 11-1pm, and the Newton Farmers Market on June 11 from 4-7pm.
We also have two great farm tours this year. If you are interested in growing unique Asian vegetables such as Yu Choy greens, Thai basil, or Szechuan peppercorns, or interested in preparing and eating bamboo shoots, then come visit Mai and Kao Yang at Mai’s Farm on Monday, June 8 from 6-7:30pm located at 248 Bowman Hills Rd in Taylorsville.
We are also very excited about Tenacious Agrarians, a new vegetable, herb and cut flower farm seeking organic certification. On just over 1 acre, they have created a beautiful farm with young orchards, small fruits, vegetables, herbs and many native and perennial flowers. They have become a great place for young potential farmers working through the Willing Workers on Organic Farms (WOOF) program to visit from all over the world. The farm tour will be on Wednesday, June 10 from 6-7:30pm located at 7481 R H Rd, Hickory. You can find them both at the Hickory Farmers Market on Saturdays from 8-1pm.
Our educational program this year will be “Wool Processing from Start to Finish” with Susan Proctor of Windy Wool Windings on June 9 from 6-8 for $15. Susan will walk us through the transformation of fleece to yarn. Wool has been her lifelong passion and her fleeces are widely sought, with the wool often pre sold to fiber artists who have their favorite sheep. A link for registration will be available on the Eat, Drink be Local website, https://catawba.ces.ncsu.edu/eat-drink-and-be-local/.
For more information, contact April Vigardt at 828-465-8243 or alvigard@ncsu.edu. For more information on local farms and where to find local foods visit catawbacountyfood.com.
