Wed 4/27 @ 9:30am – 4:30pm
By John Benson
We all hear stories from our grandparents how back in The Depression milk and ice were brought to your home by delivery. Normally the tale involves a man who did so with a horse and carriage, followed by a calculated digression regarding the topic of why can’t you find a nice girl and settle down.
Nevertheless, the notion of food being delivered – and not some pricy high-end meal on wheels service either – is coming back in spades with Northeast Ohio’s Fresh Fork Market.
In 2007, Case Western Reserve University students launched a service to deliver fresh local products directly from local farmers to local restaurants. Then two years later individual customers were added, along with a subscription grocery program. Today, nearly 3,000 people meet Fresh Fork Market at one of its pick-up locations and receive a grab bag of fresh ingredients sourced from local farms.
As part of its mission to promote buying local, supporting local family farms and increasing the health and vitality of subscribers, Fresh Fork Market offers a variety of classes to promote more cooking at home, as well as offers tours of farms. Now the outfit has scheduled something new with the free Fresh Fork Farm Fair taking place Sat 4/27 at the Urban Community School in Cleveland.
Cool Cleveland talked to Fresh Fork President and Founder Trevor Clatterbuck about his special organization and why overalls are optional for this unique event.
Cool Cleveland: What exactly is the Farm Fair?
Trevor Clatterbuck: Our basic concept is it’s a one-day plant-your-own-garden workshop free to the public. All of the courses are going to be taught by actual practicing farmers. It’ll be different from a university-taught or school-based workshop. There will be four types of activities that day. We also have kids activities like face painting and a cut-out station where they can get their photos taken. They can compete in the egg-toss competition and pie eating competition. There will be food trucks, as well as vendors selling and educating people about different things they can do in their backyard. The idea is we want to raise awareness about eating local, eating healthy and being concerned about your vegetables.
How does this workshop tie into the Farm Fork mission?
In the summertime there’s a saying that you make hay when the sun shines. And we are so busy in the summer that I feel guilty we don’t get [to] give the proper attention to different charities who reach out to us, just because we don’t have time. So this year we said we have a budget and let’s find a way to give back in a meaningful way. This is one way we think we can really have a positive impact on the community.
What kind of turnout are you expecting for the Farm Fair?
Our goal is to have 500 people there and we already have 500 RSVPs. So it’s going to be an excellent event.
Why is Fresh Fork important for Northeast Ohio?
There are a lot of reasons why people eat local, and I think this dovetails directly with why we’re hosting this event. People are always concerned with how things are raised and there’s no better way to understand what went into your food production than to do the production yourself. The second thing is being in touch with your food and learning to eat healthy.
Finally, should we bring our matching garden gloves and overalls to the Farm Fair?
It depends on what you want to do. There will be seed planting stations and things inside really geared towards children. The workshops will be some hands on components and different demonstrations that will be passed around but I don’t think you’ll get so dirty you’ll need bibs or overalls.
The free Fresh Fork Farm Fair takes place from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sat 4/27 at The Urban Community School, 4909 Lorain Avenue, Cleveland. For more information, visit http://freshforkmarket.com
Freelance writer John Benson spends most of his time writing for various papers throughout Northeast Ohio. When he’s not writing about music or entertainment, he can be found coaching his two boys in basketball, football and baseball or watching movies with his lovely wife, Maria. John also occasionally writes for CoolCleveland.com.