New Story: Explore the History of Appalachian Food at the Heritage Foods Dinner

BY JENNY TOTTEN, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT COORDINATOR, THE HUB

The Hub is in the final planning of what feels like a marathon for New Story 2018 and we are incredibly excited!  New space, new town, fresh ideas, and hopefully new people to share and learn with all abound and we can’t wait!

This year at New Story, among the dozens of other themes, we’re featuring local food and the intersection of community and economic development over the course of the two days, as well as a host of ways to experience this in a more experiential way.  

Thursday night of New Story, join The Hub in The Town of Alderson as Mike Costello and Amy Dawson wow your taste buds with traditional Appalachian dishes and new takes on old favorites as part of a heritage dinner served on the pedestrian bridge.  Mike and Amy of Lost Creek Farm have been taking their traveling kitchen on the road around West Virginia and into other states for close to two years now and it’s been a fabulous experience for those of us lucky enough to join them for dinner. More than just food, Mike shares the stories of the meal and gives diners a window into the life of a chef focused on preserving traditional dishes.  This dinner is part of the Hub’s way to give back to a town that’s been a part of our programming with the Innovation Acceleration Strategy and we hope you’ll join in the meal and stories for the evening. Registration is separate from New Story and you do not have to attend the conference to take part in the dinner, but we hope you will want to come to both!

At New Story on the state fairgrounds in Lewisburg, we will have two Friday sessions focused on utilizing local food in your community.  The first, which concentrates on utilizing local food for economic development, will share stories from the field of farmers, market growers, and towns who have placed food at the forefront of building a new economy in West Virginia.  The second session, which focuses on placemaking, will include presenters from farmers markets, community gardens, and others who have utilized local food as a strategy to build place in their communities.

For more information, and to register for both New Story and the Heritage Foods Dinner, please click here!