Farm Food Fork: Raising the Steaks is a sustainable meat-focused gathering for hundreds of Kootenay Boundary residents: farmers, producers, retailers, chefs, consumers, advocates, food groups, policy makers, butchers and ranchers. This was an issue raised as being of key importance in the Kootenay region during the 2014 conference, and this focused event will allow greater exploration of the issues and challenges that the subject of local meat production and consumption presents. The goal is to create a diverse, strong food future for the Kootenays that includes a resilient livestock community. On March 27th, hundreds of people will gather to address these issues and work together towards putting in place solutions. This year’s event is divided into two sections

STEAKholder forum : Friday March 27th, 2015 : 9.00 am – 4.30 pm

@ The Spirit Bar in the Hume Hotel, Nelson

The stakeholders daytime event invites anyone involved in food or the local economy to attend, including farmers, economists, policy makers, funders, chefs, butchers and passionate consumers. The aim is to dig deeper into the issues we face in our local region and identify solutions and actions that will enable our local meat production and economy to grow in a sustainable way.  Some of the key issues we will be addressing include the local abattoir debate, capacity building, capital investment and feed sourcing. The day will feature several expert speakers from the local region and further afield, including our keynote presenter, Felix Schellenberg, who will be sharing his family’s experiences of building an on-farm abattoir, selling direct to consumers through the Vancouver based Pasture to Plate butchers shop, and incorporating rotational grazing and biodynamic principles in the farm practice. There will also be facilitated panel discussions, solutions-based discussion groups, and the opportunity to meet and network with other stakeholders in the area.

Schedule for the day coming soon!

STEAKeater FEAST : Friday March 27th, 2015 : 5.30 pm – 9.30 pm

@ The Spirit Bar in the Hume Hotel, Nelson

The evening event will invite consumers to indulge in snout to tail tastings, enjoy a live butchery session and cooking demos. Attendees will learn about the challenges of sustainable local meat production through keynote presentations, short ‘grassFED Talks’ and films.

The aim of the event

Producing more local meat will offer significant economic benefits to the region and increase employment opportunities for our farmers, as well as provide fresh, healthy and low food-mile meat to consumers and local businesses. As a platform understanding the various challenges the region faces, as well as focusing on identifying some potential solutions to these issues, Farm Food Fork feels that it can provide a significant contribution to moving our region forward in a more effective and cohesive way. This is a great opportunity to gather together as a community to look at how we, as a region, can produce more of our own meat and strive towards better food security.