Laurel Mountain Inn and Hometown Pizzeria in Belington have partnered with the Heart and Hand House Community Garden Market to integrate locally grown food into their menus throughout the rest of October.
The partnership kicked off Oct. 17 with a "homegrown breakfast" at Laurel Mountain Inn and pizza's featuring locally grown toppings at Hometown Pizzeria.
The Rev. Robert "Bob" Wilkins, executive director of Heart and Hand House Inc. in Philippi, said the restaurants are providing a more healthful meal to customers and helping local farmers financially by purchasing and serving locally grown potatoes, onions, carrots, tomatoes, eggs and other items.
"I think one of the greatest outcomes of the restaurants using locally grown food was the great amount of discussion it generated," Wilkins said. "Folks were aware of the promotion and there were lots of comments about the idea of using food produced in a neighbor's backyard for breakfast and lunch. The food seems to taste better and the whole concept of locally grown food makes you feel better, too. It was such a great idea that next time it will be done more often and during different peak growing seasons to add more variety to the menu selection. To paraphrase a quote from the astronauts when they landed on the moon: 'This is one small step for a restaurant but a giant leap for Barbour County.'"
Wilkins said this could be the beginning of many new opportunities for local farmers to sell their produce. He said a project like this has not been done before because of limited quantities of food. Now through the joint efforts of the WesMonTy RC&D and Heart and Hand Garden Market and a grant from the West Virginia Department of Agriculture, locally grown produce is being marketed to area food businesses.
Mike Cvechko, speaking on behalf of Laurel Mountain Inn, said the restaurant likes the idea of marketing locally grown products to the community. He said they have offered several specials including fried green tomato sandwiches and vegetable soup made with locally grown carrots, onions and potatoes.
"I think it gives our local farmers a unique opportunity to sell their goods in the market place," Cvechko said. "With these tough economic times, it definitely helps everyone. It was a wonderful opportunity for our restaurant. Everybody loved the eggs and fresh produce. In the future we hope to utilize a lot more of the locally grown products. We can market that and it helps our business. It's really a great thing for everybody involved."
Hometown Pizzeria co-owner Eddie Weese said the promotion helped generate lots of interest in his restaurant.
"The community is definitely talking about it," Weese said. "We got a lot of good comments about it. We're just happy to help the local farmers. They support us, so we should support them."
Matt Finck, an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer working with the WesMonTy RC&D and Heart and Hand House, is working to help promote local food and increase the strength of communities through the development of local food markets. He said this particular event was a great way to begin connecting local producers with local restaurants and consumers.
"By purchasing food locally, community members can keep more dollars circulating among the people and places they know," Finck said. "In the next growing season we can begin a larger effort to better connect growers to local businesses as part of an approach WesMonTy and the Heart and Hand House are taking to help develop markets for fresh, healthy and local food. This was just the first step in working on creating an innovative local food system that helps strengthen local communities. Being a VISTA is a great way to focus your energy on projects that truly help and affect many people. I just happened to luck out also because local agriculture is a passion of mine. Laurel Mountain Inn and Hometown Pizza are both great establishments to begin this program. It's a great thing to be able to eat food grown within miles of the restaurant where it is being prepared. "
For more information on the Heart and Hand House Community Garden Market, call 304-457-1295 or visit the Web site www.heartandhandhouse.org.
