Fork Fest: Carving delicious dialogue

The 2016 Local First 6^th annual Fork Fest, presented by Brewery Vivant, has so many delicious reasons why you should attend this year, but it is the chance to see a live demonstration unlike anything I have ever witnessed at a food-themed event that is sure to be the talk of the town the following morning. 

While this event will feature dozens of food and beverage providers from our region (see list below), as well as great music from returning act Fauxgrass, it is the butchering demonstration that has my interest.

Louise Earl Butcher — which is provide this butchering demonstration — believes in sourcing its meats from area farms as much as its possible and ensures the quality of their offerings by insisting on visiting those area farms to ensure they uphold the standards their clients have come to enjoy.  Owner Matt Smith hopes that this Fork Fest butcher demonstration will enable guests to connect to the food system in a meaningful manner by creating community dialogue about how our current system works or doesn’t. 

Fork Fest is a popular event, as it enables the hundreds of the public who attend each year to directly talk to the food entrepreneurs who play key roles in our local food system. The addition of a live butcher demonstration adds another critically important layer to the education opportunities of this wildly popular event.

“Food is such a communal thing; it’s something that naturally brings people together,” says Elissa Hillary, Executive Director of Local First. “Fork Fest expands on this bond. It builds our connection to place, contributes to the uniqueness of our community, gives people the opportunity to see our agricultural abundance, and makes it easy to support local food entrepreneurs.” 

With each paid admission you get to sample a diverse array of food and non-alcoholic beverages from Local First’s partner organizations. If you would like to imbibe an adult beverages, those are available for purchase, including options like Brewery Vivant’s Pumpkin Tart and other of their craft brew favorites, wines from Fenn Valley, and crisp Vander Mill Cider.


Area businesses participating this year include:

Black Heron
Brewery Vivant
Byron Center Meats
CitySen Lounge
Cultured Love
Daddy Pete's BBQ
Donkey Taqueria
Doorganics
Essence Restaurant Group
Fenn Valley Vineyards
Furniture City Creamery
GB Russo
Gilmore Catering
Grand Rapids Cheesecake Company
The Grilling Company
Heffron Farms
Herb & Fire Pizzeria
Irie Jamaican
Koeze
Lindo Mexico
Louise Earl Butcher
Love's Ice Cream
Madcap Coffee
Malamiah Juice Bar
Masen James Bakery
Mokaya
Nutcase Vegan Meats
Paul's Mom's Cookies
Pietro's Italian Restaurant
Redwater Restaurant Group
Riverside Hostdogs
The Score
Slow Food West Michigan 
Supermercado Mexico
Terra GR
Twisted Rooster
Uccello's Ristorante
The Winchester


Adult beverages available for purchase: 

Brewery Vivant
Long Road Distillery
Fenn Valley Vineyards
Vander Mill Cider


Admission: $30 in advance, $35 at the door