A table is being set for hundreds at Freeland’s Full Moon rising Farm. For the third year in a row, Sunday the farm will host a bountiful day of celebration, food, small farms, music and community at Feast of Fields.
“The day is a chance to introduce the whole concept of a food shed, and where people who don’t otherwise think about how their food is grown or who’s paid for raising it,” said Full Moon rising Farm owner Scott Mauk.
Mauk explains that the food shed concept is similar to the thinking of a watershed. The bigger picture of the land and contributing environment around a body of water is looked at, or in the case of a food shed–the path your food takes to get to your table.
Similar events have been held all across North America for years to encourage citizens to buy and eat food grown by small, local, family-owned farms.
“We want to make people aware of where food comes from, and that if it’s grown locally it’s made with care,” Mauk said. “Our country was founded on the security of a nation, and this was founded on the security provided by the operation of small farms.”
“We need the diversity that small farms offer, if people buy from large agribusinesses we just don’t have that,” he said.
The Feast of Fields menu will include everything from roasted whole organic lamb, wild king salmon, mussels, locally raised natural beef, goat cheese, and produce.
“It’s the way the business is heading,” said chef Tom French of the use of local, organic produce by chefs. “Myself with Tableau, the Whidbey Institute, everyone — it really helps build the relationship between growers and chefs, and helps the growers know what’s possible with their product.”
Expected to contribute to the table are Whidbey Pies Cafe, Whidbey Coffee, Trattoria Parma, Molly’s Island Greens, Penn Cove Organics, the Magic Bakery and the Screaming Banshee.
“It’ll be an opportunity for growers to showcase their product, but also great for them to be able to thin what they have in abundance,” French said.
There will also be locally brewed ales from Merlin Brewery and Rob Lewis, wine from Vino Amore, iced herbal tea from Heart’s Ease herb farm and the Herbal Elder.
And to entertain while you dine, musical lineup will include the stompin’ bluegrass of The Other Side, Rainey Lewis bringing acoustic blues with guitar virtuoso Stephen Bishop, eclectic world sounds of Seattle’s Steve Ball Roadshow, and Whidbey’s omnipresent folk hero Timothy Hull. The evening will be culminated with an all-star group of South Whidbey drummers.
“The day isn’t just about eating. It’s sitting down together and building community,” French said. “There’s been more studies on at-risk youth that show that kids who grow up in a family that doesn’t sit down at the table for dinner are more likely to become at-risk youth.”
In addition to celebrating local agriculture, this year Feast of Fields will also be a meeting place where new initiatives to be placed on the fall ballot will be introduced. Among them will be support of integrating the use of local food in schools, work education programs, and local programs on sustainable agriculture.
At the helm of the Feast of Fields kitchen will be French, the Smilin’ Dog, along with the chefs of Freeland’s newest restaurant, Trattoria Parma.
“Cooking for Feast of Fields is an opportunity to do something for the people we buy from year-round,” French said. “Plus there just something about cooking in an open environment.”
Proceeds from Feast of Fields benefits the Full Moon Rising Farm wilderness camps scholarship fund, and the Bountiful Table, a program of the Whidbey Institute.
Scott and Anne Mauk purchased Full Moon Rising Farm in 1997, and today continue their vision of integrating art, nature, animals and sustainable agriculture. Full Moon Rising Wilderness camps offer daycamps where kids can work with animals, work with wool, make cheese, create herbal salves, write poetry and tons of other family farm activities.
Over 100 people attended the Feast of Fields last year, and once again the table is set. Bon appetit.
