Homeroom Harvest dinner Sept. 24 to benefit school nutrition program
The School Nutrition AgriCulture Foundation will host its first Homeroom Harvest, a farm-to-table dinner featuring local food and drinks, from 6 to 9 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 24, at Twain and Abel Family Farm in Frankford. Local chefs will create one-of-a-kind dishes with food from different vendors and producers that are all within a 200-mile travel radius.
The sit-down dinner will be served tapas style under the ambiance of a candlelit field during golden hour with some of the best jazz and blues music Sussex County has to offer. Chefs will guide attendees through the story of where their food came from.
There will be a six- to eight-course small-plate menu curated with a hefty amount of vegetables and innovative sustainable protein options such as venison and oysters. Guests can look out for other interesting new foods to try if they’re feeling brave – spicy flowers, insect proteins, overlooked parts of plants that normally go to waste. All food will be minimally processed and as close to the source as possible.
Tickets are on sale now for $75 per person and can be purchased at snacgardens.org. Early reservations are encouraged.
The School Nutrition AgriCulture program’s mission is to transform Sussex County schoolyards into vibrant outdoor classrooms and thriving ecosystems where students of all backgrounds and ethnicities have equitable access to structured hands-on STEM learning and health education. It currently hosts gardens at North Georgetown Elementary, Long Neck Elementary and Southern Delaware School of the Arts.
Permaculture gardens feature annual vegetable gardens integrated into a greater landscape of native pollinator gardens and habitat areas. Gardening is one of the most effective tools for cultivating environmental awareness in children, and using ecological agriculture helps nurture a close sense of connection to food and environment.
Currently, SNAC serves about 2,000 students across three schools in the Indian River School District, and hopes to expand to serve 5,300 students across seven schools over the next two years.
