The Southern Highland Reader

FRANKLIN-On Saturday July 25th at the height of the summer season, The Land Trust for the Little Tennessee (LTLT) will hold its first annual “Local Food Gala” at Cave Creek in the Lower Burningtown area of Franklin. This fundraising event will include an open-air evening of music and entertainment with a multi-course dinner prepared by local chefs using exclusively foods grown locally. This event is part of LTLT’s strategic goal to directly align with local food production with the intention of bringing awareness to the value of locally produced food and fiber. Not only do local foods reward our sense of taste, but locally produced food nourishes and strengthens our families and communities, sustains our mountain farming traditions, and protects our natural resources through productive land conservation practices.

LTLT has received generous enthusiasm from growers in its entire six county program region. Gala guests can look forward to a delicious menu artfully prepared by chefs Lisa Thordarson of the Frog and Owl Mountain Bistro in Franklin, Rodney Sanders of Big Mountain Bar-b-Que and Mill Creek Country Club; Jeff Southerland from Riverblaze Bakery, and others. Guest will be entertained by Singer/Song writer Tom Quigley and special guest North Carolina Poet Laureate, Kathryn Stripling Byer.

Please join LTLT in supporting your local growers – buy from their farms, their stands, their booths at the farmers market, and purchase tickets to attend the Local Food Gala to support LTLT in conserving productive land to keep farmland available for future generations. Gala tickets are available for sale at the Franklin Chamber of Commerce, Jackson County Chamber of Commerce in Sylva, Swain County Chamber of Commerce in Bryson City, and through the LTLT office in Franklin or web site www.ltlt.org

LTLT thanks local growers for their support and enthusiasm for our local food gala and recognizes their sponsors: United Community Bank; Macon Bank; RBC Bank; Farm Bureau in Jackson, Clay and Swain Counties; the Smoky Mountain News; Sylva Herald; and Macon Printing.

Since 1999 the Franklin based Land Trust for the Little Tennessee (LTLT) has conserved over 12,000 acres including 1,000 acres on working farms in Macon and Cherokee Counties. LTLT serves the six far western counties of North Carolina – Jackson, Macon, Swain, Graham, Clay and Cherokee.

Tags: farmers market, Food, kathryn stripling byer, land conservation practices, local foods

Related posts:

1. Mountain Xpress columnist questions “local food”
2. Food/Farming: Local dairy beats the odds
3. LTLT celebrates ten years of stewardship at Tessentee
4. Fifth annual Great Smoky Mountains Book Fair this weekend
5. DSA partners with Community Table for food drive

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