Two local agricultural businesses hosted a festival Saturday to celebrate local food, music and community and to bring in revenue.
The event, organized by the Citizens Co-op grocery store and Swallowtail Farm, attracted a crowd of about 500 people throughout the day, said Julie Matheney, a worker-owner at the co-op.
Festival activities and demonstrations took place across the fields. Swallowtail farmer Noah Shitama took attendees on a hayride farm tour.
Workshops teaching skills such as tea blending and flower growing basics were scheduled during the day.
“We’ve worked really hard to create an event that would appeal to all kinds of people,” Matheney said.
Humble Pie, Off The Griddle, Daily Green and a food stand from the farm and co-op fed hungry attendees.
“Corn nuggets are the bomb,” said Alana Kiss, a UF economics freshman, as she sat with a friend eating a basket of the fried food from Off The Griddle.
Citizens Co-op will use its half of the funds to expand its bulk section and replace its produce coolers with more energy-efficient equipment, Matheney said. Swallowtail Farm plans to use its money for infrastructural projects, adding more animals and growing more vegetables to be able to support more people, Shitama said.
“It’s hard to rely just on the sale of vegetables alone,” Shitama said.
A version of this story ran on page 4 on 11/18/2013 under the headline "Festival raises money for co-op, farm"
