By: Andrew Walsh
Awalsh@wbcowqel.com
Offering up a feast for the mind, A Taste of Crawford County not only offered up food from a wide variety of local producers, but also a satisfying portion of education that was sprinkled in amongst the various courses.
Starting at 6 p.m., the dinner was held at the Youth Building of the Crawford County Fairgrounds, and hosted by the Crawford County Farm Bureau. Groups that ran the gamut of the agriculture industry were gathered together with local business people, and hungry members of the community at large, to experience dining and to better understand how some of that food goes from field to table; providing education that might otherwise be unavailable.
Horde Livestock served pork wraps, tortilla shells stuffed with pork loin, lettuce, tomato, barbecue sauce etc. There were shredded lamb sandwiches, flank steak and hamburger samples, and a cheese plate.
Cooper’s Mill had a table where they were showing off the latest round of jams and jellies. With fall quickly approaching the apple butter and pumpkin butter were particularly scrumptious.
Amanda Wagner, who ran the table that featured Troutman Vineyards of Wooster, Mays Valley of Hartville, and Wolf Creek of Morton, Ohio, provided some liquid refreshment consisting of a mix of red and white wines.
“I have the best job here,” Wagner said.
Sarah and Grace Cornell, who featured prominently in the Crawford County Fair for their lamb showing, were representing the Lamb Group. They handed out the shredded lamb sandwiches as Roger High, the Executive Director of the Ohio Sheep and Wool Group, shared information with the diners.
The lamb group was not at last year’s event, something which Tim Flock changed by reaching out to High and his organization. It was felt their presence would help round out the evening and provide much needed information on a food that is not often eaten in Crawford County. High shared technical aspects of the lamb industry and even some guidance on how this product could be served.
Dinner was prepared by A Moveable Feast. Out of Mansfield, A Moveable Feast’s mission is to prepare a seasonal dish, at local venues, using local produce.
Susan Vander Maas, who runs Doc’s Deli in Mansfield, and her partner Rasul Welch focus on finding local produce and preparing it in new and exciting ways.
Another feature of their work is that each meal comes with a bit of a presentation educating the diners on how the dishes came to be as tasty as they are.
Taking the stage, Welch demonstrated how each dish had been prepared, while that dish was being served across the room. He gave fundamental tips about cutting, sautéing, and cooking; and more abstract advice on what makes different types of flavors work together.
Brenda Kocher and Rose Hartschuh spoke a little about the putting together of this event. With a great amount of emphasis on really stressing not just the importance of agriculture to this area, but just how successful it is as well.
“We want to show the people of Crawford County everything that farmers produce,” Kocher said.
Grain from Crawford County travels truly all over the world, from not so far away as the Carolinas all the way to chicken farms in China.
Steve Rinehard of the soy bean booth spoke how soy oil is being introduced into fuels and Sherwin-Williams already has a line of soy based paints. The agriculture industry is a supply line to more than just the table.
The Farm Bureau put in several months of preparation, contacting the necessary groups to put on the event, and reaching out to local businesses and community members to encourage attendance.
Both the Chambers of Bucyrus and Galion sent official attendance members and it was a packed house.
This was also the first year that the event was sponsored, with First Citizens Bank, Horde Livestock, Cooper’s Mill, the Flour Mill, and the Crawford County Cattleman’s Association.
Hartschuh announced that there will be Farm Bureau Play it Safe Farm Event on September 13. Taking place from 10:00 to 2:00 at Sycamore Run Farms (6348 Parks Road Sycamore, OH) the event will to teach safety and quality farm protocol.