By Benjamin William Stephens
Original Article: https://www.danspapers.com/2024/09/north-fork-foodie-tour-2024/
The annual North Fork Foodie Tour is returning this Sunday, September 8 to showcase some of the best farms and food and beverage producers in the region.
The tour offers participants a behind-the-scenes look at about 20 different establishments, but participants are not required to visit them all and can visit whichever they choose in whatever order they like during the hours of the tour. It also offers a selection of talks and demonstrations presented by various professionals such as Chef Jeremiah Johnson, who will demonstrate Caribbean-style cooking using local ingredients — with the lineup getting bigger every year.
“Sometimes people call us up and say we want to be on the foodie tour,” said Ellen Zimmerman, one of the event’s organizers, who noted that she and her colleagues try to mix up the businesses included in the tour each year to keep things fresh and interesting.
Other demonstrations will be put on by the likes of Page Pfeiffer of the French Picnic, who will teach attendees how to make their own cheese board, and the development director of the local nonprofit organization East End Food, Miranda Capriotti, who will give a talk on what East End Food does to help local farmers turn their produce into products. In addition, Slow Food East End will be present at the Peconic Land Trust’s Charnews Farm, where representatives will offer attendees the opportunity to meet their team and learn more about the organization as a whole.
Some of the locations on this year’s tour include Lavender by the Bay in Calverton, Mattituck Mushroom, Red Barn Farm, which offers all the traditional produce you may expect from a farm as well as honey and eggs, and Goodale Farms, which offers traditional produce as well as dairy, eggs and meats. Also participating are Disset Chocolate, which produces artisanal chocolate, and Catapano Dairy Farm, which specializes in goat milk and goat milk products.
This year’s newcomers are Breeze Hill Farm, which grows about 72 acres of apple orchards, Oregon Road Organics, an organic family-owned-and-operated farm that grows produce, Sweet Woodland Farm, which specializes in growing elderberries and herbs which are used to make products like elderberry syrup and various teas, Farrm Wines in Calverton, which creates its wines using organic and biodynamic farming techniques, and boutique winery The Old Field Vineyards.
Peconic Land Trust’s Charnews Farm serves as the headquarters for the tour hosting the various talks and demonstrations and is also where Sweet Woodland Farm is located. Peconic Land Trust, a not-for-profit organization focused on conserving Long Island’s farmland and open space to protect it from development, also has programs to help farmers like their Farms for the Future Initiative that leases land to small farmers in order to help them get a foothold in the industry. Charnews Farm is an example of their Farms for the Future Initiative, as it is split up into one-acre sections and leased off to various small farmers. Some of the land trust’s properties also host community gardens such as the one at Charnews Farm.
The North Fork Reform Synagogue created the North Fork Foodie Tour in 2006 and remains the main sponsor and presenter of the tour. This year’s tour marks the 18th annual North Fork Foodie Tour.
The North Fork Foodie Tour is scheduled for Sunday, September 8. For tickets, locations and more information about the event, visit northforkfoodietour.com.