What happens when you invite a group of near strangers (to each other) over for dinner? Oh, and you declare small talk off-limits?
That's what supporters Pam Schwingl and Pat Mann set to find out earlier this month when they hosted a hyper-local dinner to benefit Farmer Foodshare.
With the help of chef Cyril Murphy, the pair crafted a meal sourced from an array of local farms and purveyors, all located within 25 miles of their home, and notably featuring two geese raised at their own homestead, White Swan Farm and Forge.
The assembled crowd understood upon arrival that the launching point for the collective dinner conversation was a focused, yet highly open-ended question: What is your connection to food, and what experience helped shape it? Everyone was expected to answer the initial question. But from there, the conversation could morph as guests probed deeper and posed scenarios, open to where the conversation would lead.
They rose to the occasion, leading to a dynamic and wide ranging discussion of food and the forces that influence our experiences of it.
Thank you to the local farms and businesses that contributed to the meal: Botanist and Barrel, Mighty Tendril Farm, New Pasture Farm, Piedmont Wine Imports, Pfohl Pfarm, Sugar Hill Farm, Ten Mothers Farm, Walker Farm, Weaver Street Market, White Swan Farm & Forge, Whit’s Frozen Custard, Whitted Bowers Farm.
Would you be interested in hosting a dinner party to benefit Farmer Foodshare?
Could be casual or fancy - it’s entirely your call. Contact Kate at 919.943.8366 or kate@farmerfoodshare.org to learn more.