Alachua County residents got a taste of local food with the start of the county’s first Local Food Week this weekend.
The celebration, organized by the Alachua County Office of Sustainability, started this Saturday with the 441 Farmers’ Market, 5920 NW 13th St., and an open house and barbecue at the Porters Community Farm, 518 SW Third St.
Local Food Week will continue until Sunday.
Andi Houston, the assistant manager at 441 Farmers’ Market, said that there has been a huge push to promote the event, especially because it was the first event of the week.
“We hope that Alachua County residents see what is available to purchase,” she said. “We also want them to see what restaurants are using local products and to go there.
Eric Bjerregaard, a local grower who has been selling his stock of produce at the 441 Farmers’ Market for the past 18 years, said customers spending money at the farmers market sends a message.
“The message is ‘Please don’t sell your land,’” he said. “We want to eat locally.”
Stefanie Hamblen, founder of Hogtown HomeGrown, a monthly newsletter and website about local food, gave a cooking demonstration at Saturday’s event.
She said she wants to educate residents about purchasing local food and how to cook it.
“I would often watch people pick things up and put them down because they didn’t know what to do with them,” she said.
She said that purchasing food from the farmers market is a cheaper and healthier alternative to going out and buying unhealthy products.
Houston said that by 11 a.m., more than half of the 441 Farmers’ Market was sold out.
“It’s tough to get people out here on a Saturday, but we’ve sold out because of Local Food Week,” she said.”
Meanwhile, about 60 people attended Porters Community Farm’s open house and barbecue to showcase Gainesville’s first urban farm, which opened last fall.
The farm includes ten 55-foot rows used to grow produce for St. Francis House for the Homeless, according to the Florida Organic Growers’ website.
“We bring the food to the St. Francis House by bicycle. We have trailers that attach to our bikes and the charities are right around the corner,” said Travis Mitchell, community food project coordinator for FOG and a UF alumna.
Mitchell said his goal for the first year is to harvest one ton of produce for charity and beautify the farm.
“I want to clean it up and make it presentable, so it can be a catalyst for other projects,” he said.
Mitchell is the only staff member on the farm, but he’s not running it alone.
He has four interns and a handful of volunteers who help him.
Lauren Walls, an intern at FOG, said Saturday’s event was to raise awareness about the farm.
“It’s tucked away, and a lot of people still have no idea that it exists.”
Local Food Week will continue today with an hour-long gardening class hosted by the UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences extension at the County Extension Office, 2800 NE 39th Ave.
It will also continue with other events such as a screening of the documentary “GROW!” at Jolie Restaurant, 12 W. University Ave. and the Union Street Farmers’ Market on Bo Diddley Community Plaza.
For more information about Local Food Week events, please visit the Alachua County’s Office Sustainability’s website at www.alachuacounty.us/Depts/Manager/Sustainability.
Volunteers and interns prepare soil for planting at the Porters Community Farm and Garden Sunday afternoon during a community potluck and barbecue. Alachua County’s Local Food Week runs until Sunday.
