Fresh from the farm to the table: Annual event supports arts center

Tickets are currently on sale for the 11th annual Dr. Danielle King Farm to Table Dinner, which serves as a fundraiser for the Gateway Regional Arts Center.

The money raised goes directly back into community arts and culture programming, Jordan Campbell, GRAC executive director, told the Advocate.

The dinner is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12, at the Adena Trail Market Pavilion. Tickets are $60 and can be purchased through the arts center.

Included in a ticket is a multi-course meal featuring Kentucky Proud and locally sourced items from farms and producers throughout our region, as well as Ale-8 and wine from local wineries. There will be music and community engagement activities.

“The Farm to Table Dinner is really a celebration of the culinary arts, the food culture of our region and the farmers who continue to feed our communities,” Campbell said.

“Food carries memory, family history, culture and identity,” he added “The ingredients come from the earth, but what people create with them—the flavors, the recipes, the presentation—that is certainly an art.”

Campbell said the dinner also celebrates the farming community.

“It is also incredibly important to celebrate our farmers. Kentucky has a rich legacy of family farms, but unfortunately, those farms are dwindling,” Campbell said. “We want to continue supporting and recognizing the people who grow our food, raise our livestock, care for the land and make it possible for the rest of us to gather around a table.”

This year the Farm to Table Dinner honors Dr. Danielle King, who originally launched the event.

“Dr. King started the Farm to Table Dinner 11 years ago, and what began as an idea has now become a rich and beloved community tradition,” Campbell said. “We are so grateful for her can-do spirit and everything she has done for Mt. Sterling. 

“She was truly the backbone of the revitalization of our downtown,” he added. “She helped spark the initial change that we are still seeing today—change that is creating real economic and cultural benefits for our entire community.

Campbell said even the location is important.

“There is also something incredibly special about the location,” Campbell said. “We will be gathering at the center of the Adena culture in this area, right near the site of the former Little Mountain Burial Mound. The Adena people are believed to have settled here in part because of the fertile soil and the excellent climate for growing vegetation. To think that, thousands of years later, we are still gathering on this same land to break bread together and celebrate farming, food, music, culture, community and fellowship—that is a beautiful story that spans centuries.”

At its heart, Campbell said the Farm to Table Dinner “is about honoring where we come from, the people who sustain us and the traditions that continue to connect us.”

Campbell thanked People’s Bank of Kentucky for sponsoring the event.