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Food and Community On Display at Family Farmed Expo

By Anthony Todd in Food on Mar 21, 2011 6:00PM

If you're a food lover and you weren't at Family Farmed Expo on Saturday, you'd better have a darn good excuse. The Expo, which showcased chefs, farmers, producers and retailers over three days, opened to the public on Saturday for a blow-out event. The delicious extravaganza also included chef demos and workshops, appearances by local celebs, and a lot of great samples. Most of all, the Expo had a great sense of community and purpose - a gathering of people who care about great food, local farmers and protecting the environment.

There was something for everyone. Did you want to buy a CSA? There were tons. Did you want to watch cooking demos? You could've spent the entire day drooling. Did you want to forget "issues" and gorge yourself on samples? You could've do that too - and probably come away 5 pounds heavier. The major sponsors, including Organic Valley and Chipotle, made a good showing, giving away coupons and free soups, but the focus was on the local producers, who sold everything from pickles to ice cream.

More in-depth coverage of some of the "content" of the expo will be forthcoming over the next couple of days - we learned how to be a "Conscious Carnivore" and questioned the Assistant Undersecretary of Agriculture about the FDA's efforts to promote local eating. If you weren't there, look at the photos and drool - and bookmark the page for next year.