Dig In! Food & Farming Festival returns bigger and better on Friday-Saturday, March 2-3, 2012, to celebrate local food, farms, and gardens with films, classes, information fair, seed swap, tastings, and more!
“Every day when we make food choices, we get to vote for how we want the environment and our local communities to be. This festival brings people together to learn about and support local and sustainable food systems,” says Cheri LaRue, farmer with Green Fork Farm and co-organizer of Dig In!
The documentary films at Dig In! are selected to uplift, empower, and inspire viewers. Several will be screened for the first time in Arkansas. Films include: Queen of the Sun, Urban Roots, Seed Swap in the Ozarks, Food Fight, Greenhorns, and more. Trailer previews are available at www.diginfestival.com.
“Many of us are concerned with what we eat and how it comes to our plate. Dig In! gives us all a place to learn from others, find out where to get more local foods, be inspired by films showing local food movements all over the country, and meet new friends and neighbors that care about these same issues. Making the connection with our food is all about making connections with our community,” says Charity Lewis, farmer with Chicken Moon Farm and co-organizer of Dig In!
Besides films, there will be classes on organic gardening, cooking from the garden or farmers market, edible landscaping, season extension, food preservation, beekeeping, seed saving, and backyard chickens. GreenAR by the Day will teach beginner’s beekeeping workshop. The Fayetteville Community Garden Coalition will hold their annual seed swap at Dig In! for the first time. The swap is free to all. More special features are being planned for attendees.
“Choosing local, naturally grown food whenever I can, is about putting my food budget toward the world I want. That’s a world with honeybees and songbirds, clean and delicious food, healthy rivers, a strong local economy, and families—my neighbors in northwest Arkansas—able to make a living from small, humane farms. The research on the positive community effects of buying local is amazing: it’s win-win-win, ” says Leigh Wilkerson, gardener, founder and co-organizer of Dig In!
The inaugural Dig In! in 2011 drew 150 attendees to watch documentary films throughout the day and evening. I attended last year, and it was a remarkable experience!
With the addition this year of classes, information fair, seed-swap, tastings, and more, the 2012 Dig In! will be better than ever.
Location: University of Arkansas Global Campus (2 East Center Street) on the Fayetteville Square in Fayetteville
Supporter-passes start at $30 and are available now at www.diginfestival.com. Tickets to individual events will be available at the door. The seed-swap, information fair, and other selected offerings will be free. Sign up on the website for updates and latest news.
Interested in tabling at the info fair, offering a class, or helping sponsor this event? Contact organizers via the website.
Please spread the word to gardeners, farmers, foodies, greenies, chefs, friends, church groups, farmer’s market-goers, and anyone who eats and wants to learn more about eating real food!
Dig In! is a not-for-profit grassroots event organized by farmers Cheri LaRue of Green Fork Farm and Charity Lewis of Chicken Moon Farm, plus founder Leigh Wilkerson from A Larrapin Garden Blog. All funds collected are put toward this festival, and the next.
Visit the website for more information.
Note from Nao to Leigh, Charity, and Cheri: I want to publicly thank you for all that you do! You ladies inspire me everyday to keep doing what I do. I learn so much from you, and most of all, I cherish our friendship. I’ll be sure to bring Eddy’s home brewed beer so that we can pop one (or more) open after the festival. Lots of love and hugs!
