Berkshire Grown's First Completely Compostable Harvest Supper
Berkshire Grown’s Harvest Supper Will be a ‘Green’ Waste-Free Event, even the spoons and forks will be completely compostable!To celebrate the 10th Annual Beautiful Bountiful Berkshires Harvest Supper, Berkshire Grown is creating a “Waste-Free” completely compostable event this year. In addition to celebrating the fresh delicious food grown by local farms and prepared by sensational chefs, Berkshire Grown is choosing to become even more conscious of our environment by purchasing compostable forks, spoons, dishes, cups and glasses.
“Even our garbage bags are biodegradable!”says Barbara Zheutlin, Executive Director of Berkshire Grown. “Thanks to Holiday Farm of Dalton, MA, we will be able to create a completely compostable event. Holiday Farm will receive all the remains of the festive supper, including the forks, spoons and glasses and then they will transform all of these materials that in the past were thrown away, into “black gold” which is what people call Holiday Farm’s famous compost.”
“We are grateful to Jamie Cahillane, of CET,” Zheutlin adds. “He raised funds from Ward’s Nursery toward helping us to pay the additional costs of purchasing compostable materials. Plus he recruited Bob Daley of Daley & Sons to donate a container for the evening to collect the waste and then Daley will drive the container to Holiday Farm.”
Matt Rubiner of Rubi’s and Rubiner’s Cheesemongers suggested calling Mansfield Paper company, distributors of spoons and forks made from potato starch, and glasses made of corn starch.
“It took much more time and effort to figure out how to create a waste-free event,” Zheutlin reports. “But now I know more about how to recycle garbage than I did last year, and people who hear that we are making this effort are excited. It does mean we need more underwriters and more people to step up and purchase tickets to our drawing – we have fabulous prizes – and we need people to buy tickets to the Harvest Supper to be part of the event!”
Berkshire Grown depends on the Harvest Supper to support its year round efforts to support local food and farms. Spending additional funds to create a waste-free event is a risk; Zheutlin is hoping the community will come forward to make up the difference.
The Harvest Supper takes place on September 15, 2008 at Eastover Resort in Lenox, MA from 6:30 – 8:30 pm. There will be tastings created by chefs from over 20 restaurants featuring farm fresh local ingredients. The Drawing takes place at the event, prizes include a week-long stay at the Barn in the Dordogne, France, shopping sprees at Guido’s and the Berkshire Co-op, one night stays at The Old Inn on the Green, Stonover Farm, and Blantyre, a pass to all films at the 2009 Berkshire International Film Festival, lunch at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, dinners at Wheatleigh and Gramercy Bistro, and the grand prize is a dining package, dinner for two at fabulous Berkshire Grown member restaurants.
To learn more call 413-528-0041, or go online to www.berkshiregrown.org
