Farm to Table with Charleston’s Finest

More than a dozen of the area’s top restaurants and a host of local produce will descend on historic Middleton Place plantation on Sunday, April 24 for the 2016 Chef’s Potluck, an annual fundraiser for local business advocate Lowcountry Local First (LLF).
The featured restaurants list reads like a who’s who of the Charleston culinary scene. CRU Café, Cypress, Edmund’s Oast, FIG, The Ordinary, High Cotton, The Macintosh, Middleton Place Restaurant and Two Boroughs Larder (just to name a few) will be sending chefs to create dishes from locally sourced ingredients. Participating food producers include some of the biggest names in food: Abundant Seafood, Charleston Artisan Cheesehouse, Clammer Dave, Geechie Boy Mill, Green Grocer, Joseph Fields Farm, Keegan-Filion Farm, the Middleton Place Organic Farm, Rosebank Farms, and many more. The restaurants will receive all ingredients in their potluck dishes from said producers. Garage Cuban Band will provide the live entertainment.
“We are fortunate to live in a city where the chefs are committed to quality ingredients and many of them to local farmers and fishermen,” says LLF Executive Director Jamee Haley. “That commitment requires flexibility in menu planning in order to provide a seasonal menu. It has become the norm for those restaurants striving for excellence.”
Haley says the Chef’s Potluck event folds into the LLF mission of strengthening the local economy by building community support for local-independent businesses and farmers. “We’re showing folks the abundance of local food that can be produced here as well as those restaurants that support local farmers and fishermen. LLF seeks to provide the education and demand needed for place-based economy building.”
Much has changed in the food producer-chef-eater relationship over the past 10 years, Haley says. But the onus for creating demand for “local” rests on the consumer.
“We are certainly in a situation where there is greater demand than availability of product,” Haley says. “That is why LLF’s Growing New Farmers program is so important. We often hear about communities wanting a farmer’s market, and West Ashley is one of them. But, when a farmer is going to take time away from his farm to harvest, set-up and attend a market, it needs to be well worth their time. So, those requesting a market need to support it not just as a community event but primarily as a source for purchasing fresh, local food. With markets emerging at a rate faster than we are growing farmers, farmers will choose those markets that are most profitable to attend.”
The Chef’s Potluck at Middleton Place is one of LLF’s biggest fundraisers of the year. About 80 percent of the cost of the event is donated, allowing the organization to put more revenue into programs. All proceeds from Chef’s Potluck will be earmarked for community outreach programs, such as the Eat Local Challenge and Farm Fresh Food Guide. But, Haley says, a big chunk will go to the aforementioned Growing New Farmers program, which trains the next generation of farmers in Charleston. “The average age of a farmer is 59 and only 6 percent of farmers are under the age of 35,” Haley says. “We have had great success considering the difficulty in entering this industry including start-up cost, lack of land access, and labor issues. We have put over 130 participants through the program, some have gone on to run their own farm operation, others are farm managers, and some are doing systems work like Green Hearts and the John’s Island Farmer’s market.”
Additional information and tickets for the annual Chef’s Potluck at Middleton Place are available online at www.lowcountrylocalfirst.org. Tickets are $95 for LLF members, $115 for non-members. Kids 12 and under are free. Middleton Place is located at 4300 Ashley River Road.