Jonesborough’s Locally Grown Farm to Table Dinner Showcases Area Farms

JONESBOROUGH, Tenn. – The 7^th annual Jonesborough Farm to Table Dinner transforms Jonesborough’s Main Street into a dining room for more than 200 people, sitting together at a single harvest table that runs an entire city block 7 p.m. Aug. 19.

Guests enjoy a five-course meal prepared by Chef Alex Bomba and Main Street Catering. A legion of volunteers take part to help set up for and serve the dinner, including 35 community volunteers as well as more than 25 students from University High Key Club, Science Hill, and David Crockett High School.

But the real stars of the evening are the farmers who grow the food used in the dinner.  

“This event is designed to support and spotlight our local farmers,” says Chef Alex Bomba. “The menu is selected based on what’s available. It’s a constant back and forth with the farmers as the season unfolds, and weather affects the crops and the harvest. But we adjust to the farmers’ constraints, and we purchase all our ingredients at the farmers’ asking price—we don’t ask them to donate their earnings.” 

This year’s farms include Clover Creek Farm, Dominick’s Garden, Ranchito La Chiva, Serenity Knoll Farm, Sunset View Farm, and David Thompson Farm, Jonesborough, Tennessee; Buffalo Trail Orchard and Chestnut Ridge Farm, Greeneville, Tennessee; Small Batch Farm, Gray, Tennessee; Squibb Farms, Limestone, Tennessee; Bates Family Farm, Jonesville, Virginia; Rogue Harbor Farm and Salamander Springs Gardens, Marshall, North Carolina; Apple Brandy Farm, North Wilksboro, North Carolina; Ziegenwald Dairy, Gate City, Virginia.

In addition to Bomba and Main Street Catering, the event has several supporting donors including Mountain States Health Alliance; Action Rental, Kingsport; Depot Street Brewery; Jonesborough Wine and Spirits; Woven Creative Studios Photography.

Organizers estimate $15,000 will be raised this year, all of which will be used in support of Jonesborough Locally Grown, the not-for-profit group which operates the Jonesborough Farmers Market and Boone Street Market local food store. The funds raised help keep market fees low to farmers, as well as to enable Jonesborough Locally Grown to offer new educational and market opportunities for farmers and consumers.

For more information, visit www.jonesboroughlocallygrown.org.

Photo credit: Amanda Churchill, Woven Creative Studios

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