When the food and travel editor of The Washington Post tells you to eat your veggies, you better grab a fork. Joe Yonan, author of Eat Your Vegetables, is a two-time James Beard award-winning writer. His focus is on vegetarian cooking for one, but his writing is just as applicable to those with with a few extra mouths to feed – and anyone with a passion for food and farming. Yonan will present a book signing and cooking demo featuring farm-fresh food at Dough on Sunday, Oct. 6.
The event is a true collaboration between food-lovers and agriculture enthusiasts. Scott Paquin of Firefly Farms will bring seasonal produce from his small-scale farm in Yancey County, where he and Elizabeth Gibbs grow vegetables, fruits and grass-fed beef. Brian Ross, chef and owner of Dough, will add his expertise to the event. Part of the proceeds will be donated to Go Kitchen Ready, a food-service training program for low-income individuals.
The event is part of Farmer and Chef South’s larger vision to capture the excitement of the region’s local food economy. The project is the brainchild of nationally-published cookbook author Debby Maugans and Christine Sykes Lowe, the Asheville-based owner of T3 Creative Group.
“Christine and I are excited to bring Joe Yonan into Asheville to promote his new book. His philosophy of cooking and eating is like ours; that is, we eat by the rhythm of the farm. We endeavor to support farms and the educational efforts that feed our communities and enable people to eat well,” says Maugans.
The pair are hard at work on a Farmer and Chef South cookbook and website (slated for 2014) that will spread the word about food events. The website will share seasonal recipes and help the public learn about local food and family farms. The plan is to bring Southern chefs and writers to Asheville on a regular basis and pair them up with a Western North Carolina farmer for cooking demonstrations and other events.
Yonan’s book-signing and cooking demo will be held on Sunday, Oct. 6 at 5:30 p.m. at Dough, located at 372 Merrimon Ave. Tickets are $35 and available at doughasheville.com. Find out more about Farmer and Chef South at farmerandchefsouth.com.
That picture offends me as that patriarchal male is
ripping a poor defenseless plant from the earth whilst he is smiling.
Plants have feelings and feel pain too.
Why can’t we humans just absorb sunlight for sustenance?
Just say no to farming.