Chef Randy Dunn opens Zen Hen in Hendersonville, Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ offers Kansas City ‘cue, HomeGrown and Proving Ground Coffee join forces, and more local food news.

Chef Randy Dunn opens Zen Hen in Hendersonville, Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ offers Kansas City ‘cue, HomeGrown and Proving Ground Coffee join forces, and more local food news.
The region’s small farms have been rocked by the coronavirus, but community support and innovative thinking have enabled many local growers to pivot and persist as they work to find a way forward.
“It’s like the playing field that everyone’s playing on — that the economy’s playing on, that companies are playing on, that the government’s playing on — that playing field is starting to erode,” says Josh Dorfman, CEO of The Collider in downtown Asheville. “I think there’s more on the line than many people understand.”
What we often cull, throw away or compost can be the building blocks for new recipes, offering an infusion of flavor to many meals to come. And something deeper happens when we repurpose our scraps: a change of perspective.