Farm & Market Report
2002
2001
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News Releases
2001
2000

State Ag Commissioner to Speak at first of four
Seasonal New England Harvest Celebration
at the Deerfield Inn, Deerfield, Mass.

For Immediate Release

CONTACT: Karl or Jane Sabo, Innkeepers at the Deerfield Inn, 800-926-3865, innkeeper@deerfieldinn.com
Claire Hopley, Writer and Editor, 413-548-9204, claire32@juno.com
Diane Baedeker Petit, Mass. Dept. of Food and Agriculture, 617-626-1752, Diane.Baedeker@state.ma.us
Mark Lattanzi, CISA (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture), 413-559-5338, markl@buylocalfood.com

Massachusetts Commissioner of Food and Agriculture Jay Healy will be the featured speaker at the Deerfield Inn's first New England Harvest Celebration Seasonal Buffet on March 3rd. Healy, a local farmer himself, will speak about the array of fine farm and food products produced in the Bay State and the importance of "buying local."

Three other seasonal buffets are planned for June, August and November; all will feature locally produced foods prepared using recipes from author Claire Hopley's new cookbook, New England Cooking: Seasons and Celebrations. Ms. Hopley will be present at each event to talk to guests and to sign books.

Among the approximately two-dozen dishes being prepared at the first walk around buffet on Sunday March 3, Deerfield Inn chefs will present such items as Roast Leg of Lamb with Apple Mint Jelly, Pasta with Smoked Salmon, and Salad of Massachusetts Blue Cheese with Pears and Walnuts. Since this is maple season, they will highlight the first harvest of the year with specialties such as the Inn's own Maple Barbecue Flank Steak and a favorite from yesteryear, Fannie Farmer's Maple Parfait.

Just like the maple syrup used in these winter treats, ingredients for the other dishes come from regional growers and producers, most of them from neighboring villages. CISA (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture) is collaborating with the Inn to source products such as lamb grazed on the rolling pastures of Amherst, beef from the hills of Wendell, apples and squash from Deerfield, cheeses from dairy farms in Warwick, and fresh salad greens - yes, even in winter -- grown in greenhouses in Granby.

Enhancing the foods from the regional farms will be wines from New England's vineyards and orchards. Westport Rivers Winery, located in the wine region of Massachusetts' south coast, will serve their prize-winning wines including a chardonnay, rose, pinot noir, and cabernet sauvignon at the March 3 event.

Mark these dates for the Seasonal Buffets:

· · Sunday, March 3 - Raiding the Root Cellar and Enjoying the Early
Spring Harvest
· · Sunday, June 30 - Summer Strawberry Festival and Lavender Tour
· Sunday, August 25 - High Summer Harvest Celebration, Farmers'
Market/CISA benefit
· · Sunday, November 3 - Fall in New England: Apples, Cider and More

The cost for the March 3rd walk round buffet, including wine, tax and gratuity is $35 per person. Reservations can be made by calling the Deerfield Inn directly at 800-926-3865.

Please visit the Celebrating New England's Harvests with Seasonal Buffets web site located at: http://www.deerfieldinn.com/