First-time event to put spotlight on local food in Centre County, connect producers and buyers

The first Farmer, Producer & Buyer Collaborative Meetup will take place Monday in Bellefonte. The two-hour, casual event will be held at Studio 1795 and is designed to connect local and regional farmers and producers with buyers — such as chefs, restaurants, markets and coffee shops — to facilitate enhanced relationships along the local food chain.

At the helm of the new event are Travis Lesser, founder of Appalachian Food Works, and Rebecca Larsen, owner at Gather & Co. Sustainable Catering.

Larsen, who has worked in restaurant operations and management locally, said she has connected with a lot of farmers and producers to help bring their products — kombucha, bread, cheeses and more — into local restaurants, shops and markets.

“I’ve worked with some of these folks, too, to write recipes, help promote their products,” Larsen said. “And then Travis ... he’s been really focused with his organization to create a food hub that can help support farmers who do beef and dairy products that aren’t really connected with restaurants and chefs ... to help them build their farming practices by getting their product closer to town.”

Lesser and Larsen’s intersecting goals made them a perfect fit to partner on a local event that would bring farmers and buyers together in a casual setting.

“We’re hoping some local chefs and some local caterers such as myself can meet some new people and create these buying connections, these supportive relationships with one another in the local and regional food world,” said Larsen, who is working to open Gather & Co. Sustainable Catering to the public, with a physical location in Bellefonte, before summer.

While Monday’s event is the first-ever Farmer, Producer & Buyer Collaborative Meetup, Lesser and Larsen hope to go on to hold the event, if successful, three times per year, realizing farmers’ and producers’ schedules are often hectic and difficult to work around.

Though the event’s primary goal is to serve farmers, producers and buyers in the area by creating opportunities for connection, Larsen said the event also has potential to impact the larger Centre County community as a whole.

“By being out there with this event, folks who aren’t any of those three can have an understanding that this is part of their community, that there are farmers and producers and artisan makers out there that are part of the community and their products are in stores,” she said. “(The region) is full of so many amazing local, natural products. ... There are a lot of talented makers and hard-working farmers and they make things that can nourish your body, your mind, your soul. ... Everyone can be financially supportive of what they’re doing as small business owners and farmers (and) get more of these products into the community.”

Lesser and Larsen hope to see 40 to 50 farmers, producers and buyers at the event Monday evening. The event takes place 5:30-7:30 p.m. and will have a happy hour-esque vibe; attendees are welcomed to drop in when they can, for as long as they can. A cash bar is provided by Big Spring Spirits, as are light appetizers from Gather & Co. Sustainable Catering. Tickets to the event are $12 and available for purchase online, on the Studio 1795 website, www.studio1795.com, or at the door. Farmers and producers are invited to bring brochures, information and samples of their products.