From 65 farms to one table: Allegan County celebrates local food

An opportunity to taste Allegan County will occur on Friday, Sept. 25, in downtown Allegan.

Farmers, food, theater and community conversation will come together for “We’re All Seedfolks: a Farm-to-Table Community Experience” at the Griswold Auditorium.  

The evening will begin at 6 p.m. with “Taste of Allegan County,” featuring samples of many locally grown foods and an opportunity to meet people who grow and produce food throughout the county.  A portion of 65 farms will be represented.

At 7 p.m., a play titled “Seedfolks” will be presented, telling the story of strangers who become a community through a shared garden.  A girl plants a handful of lima beans in an abandoned city lot. One garden. Thirteen voices. A community transformed.

At 8 p.m., 150 people will gather for a farm-to-table dinner and conversation about the food system and the community related to it.

“’Seedfolks’ is a story about what happens when people who might otherwise remain strangers begin growing something together,” says Mary A. Colborn, executive director of Allegan Food Alliance. “That feels deeply connected to the work happening here in Allegan County. We want people not only to watch that story unfold on stage, but then to sit down together, share food grown here, and imagine what we can grow together.”

She says the event will reflect Allegan Food Alliance’s mission “to connect, gather, share and transform, and its ongoing work to strengthen connections among farmers, food producers, organizations and residents throughout Allegan County.”

Colborn continues, “For us, the larger story isn’t simply an event. It’s what we’re discovering about the extraordinary amount of food being grown in Allegan County, the people growing it, and what can happen when a community begins connecting those pieces.  Allegan Food Alliance has spent months traveling the county, talking with farmers and identifying the farms that grow and sell food directly to our communities.”

She notes that food grown in Allegan County reflects the fact that Michigan is second only to California in the diversity of its crop production.

The Sept. 25 event is supported by the Michigan Health Endowment Fund, which works to improve the health and wellness of Michigan residents and reduce the cost of healthcare, with a focus on children and seniors.

There is no charge to attend “Taste of Allegan County” or the play and no registration is needed for those.  Advance registration is required for the farm-to-table dinner because seating is limited to 150. 

A suggested contribution of $25 per person helps make the dinner possible.  Anybody who can’t afford that should still register because many sponsored seats are available so the cost doesn’t have to be a barrier. Register here. 

A $25 Sprout sponsorship makes one place at the table possible. Sponsors may use their seat, invite someone else to attend, or make the seat available to another community member.  Information is available here.