SEQUIM — Farmers, chefs and fleet-footed volunteers stirred their talents together Sunday night to heat up the weeklong Harvest Celebration across Clallam County.
They grew, prepared and served the 100-Mile Harvest Dinner — a $100-per person fundraiser for the farmland preservation coalition Friends of the Fields — starring spit-roasted pork from Nash’s Organic Produce, an autumn compote of fruit from local orchards, mashed potatoes and hot slaw from fields just outside Sequim, bread made with Nash’s grain and other just-picked produce from the Dungeness Valley.
The dinner was sold out and then some, with 184 guests filling Sequim’s Guy Cole Convention Center, said co-organizer Elaine Caldwell.
Her husband, Bob Caldwell, co-founded Friends of the Fields 10 years ago, and was soon joined by other small-farm advocates, including Patty McManus-Huber.
Four courses
As orchestrator of the dinner’s four courses and eight chefs — plus appetizers made with local cheeses and local egg salad on local-rye bread — McManus-Huber scurried around the room like a hen.
She had to stop, though, when Friends of the Fields President Jim Aldrich presented her with a surprise honor: the organization’s distinguished service award.
McManus-Huber, for her part, paid tribute to the scores of growers and chefs who made the dinner happen.
They included head cook Julie Grattan of Good to Go grocery in Port Angeles, who has volunteered in the kitchen for many Friends events.
Grattan saluted Friends’ efforts to save Clallam lands such as the Finn Hall Farm, a 50-acre operation for which the coalition is seeking to raise $1.6 million to preserve.
Farmland’s need
Without farmland, the North Olympic Peninsula would be bereft of its year-round bounty of fresh produce, Grattan said.
“The other aspect of this,” she added, “is that supporting local farmers keeps our economy stable.”
The Harvest Celebration continues tonight with a screening of “Food, Inc.,” a movie about the American food industry, at 7 p.m. in the Peninsula College Little Theatre, 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd. Admission is $5, or $2.50 for students and seniors.
This Saturday, the Harvest Celebration will culminate in the Clallam farm tour.
Nine local farms near Sequim and Port Angeles will open their gates to the public; admission is $10 per carload.
For details, phone 360-417-2279.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
