Meet Your Farmer Dinner featuring Sarahlee Lawrence of Rainshadow Organics, Friday, July 15, Dinner at 6pm, Presentation at 7pm
Did you know that the produce in many grocery stores travels an average of 1,500 miles in order to get to your table? This is not the case at the monthly “Meet Your Farmer” dinner hosted by Central Oregon Locavore where the food prepared for the evening always comes from a local farm within 50 miles of Bend.
Rainshadow Organics, located just outside of Sisters, will be the featured farm this month at Common Table Restaurant in Bend where the monthly event is held. Chef Bethylyn Rider, of Common Table, will be preparing a gourmet 4-course raw, vegan and gluten-free dinner from ingredients grown on their organic, sustainable farm. The menu for the evening will include a summery English Cucumber soup with Thai marinated vegetables, followed by a carpaccio of kohlrabi, radish, carrots and beets while the main course will feature a delicious coconut vegetable pad Thai with almond chili sauce. A meal to satisfy the vegetarian, those with gluten allergies and foodies of all types.
“Rainshadow Organics is a family run farm. I grew up here and continue to run operations with my parents,” says Sarah-Lee Lawrence who will be at the event to talk about life at the farm and it’s processes and challenges. “We raise heirloom vegetables and heritage breeds that are adapted to our harsh desert climate.” The farm grows dozens of varieties of organic vegetables, herbs and berries on 27 acres. “We are happy to be sharing our practices and bounty at this wonderfully community supported event,” says Lawrence.
Central Oregon Locavore is an online marketplace of locally grown and locally produced products. “We are a one-stop local shopping site, kind of like a traditional grocery store only we are online and all of our products are local,” comments Nicolle Timm, founder of the online farmers market operating on cooperative principles. “We support the local economy by providing locally raised grass-fed meats and all kinds of different foods and products that are made right here in Central Oregon. These dinners are another way for us to share and spread the word that buying locally is so much better for you and our local economy”
Locavore is seeing a steady growth in support and customers, they just recently added beer and wine to their inventory and are now accepting food stamps. The “Meet Your Farmer” dinner has featured food from local farms such as from Pine Mountain Ranch of Bend, DD Ranch of Terrebonne and Timber Creek Farm of Prineville in the past. “We’ve been hosting these dinners for a couple of years now”, says Timm. “They are really a fantastic way to actually “see” how your food is grown right here in Central Oregon!”
For tickets, registration to view the menu and for more information visit the Central Oregon Locavore site at http://www.centraloregonlocavore.com. For more information on Rainshadow Organics visit http://www.rainshadoworganics.com. For more information on Common Table Restaurant visit http://www.commontable.net
