HCI Local Food Summit Held in Spencer County
More than 58 people gathered at the Spencer County Extension office on March 22, 2017 to learn and discuss issues for their local food system. As part of the Hometown Collaboration Initiative (HCI) Placemaking Track, the group has embarked on the Purdue Extension Rebuilding Your Local Food System program. As part of this six-month process, the food summit was a community engagement event planned and hosted by the Core Team. Many individuals, businesses and organizations attended with the interest in building a more robust local food system for the county.
Summit attendees enjoyed a brunch prepared by Schnitzelbank of locally raised pork, eggs and homemade muffins, apple butter and jams. Farmers and businesses set up vending tables to sell products and talk with community members about what they grow, where they sell and how their farms are part of the local food system.
Suzanne Cecil, from Cecil Farms, kicked off the morning with their family farm story about diversifying, creating a local marketplace for their farm products, and how and where they engage many members of the local Kentucky community at their farm.
Bill Potter from WJTS Channel 18 moderated a diverse panel of farmers, regulators, technical assistance providers and community members to learn more about the value of ‘local.’ Thank you to Channel 18 and the other sponsors for making this a free event for the entire community.
