From the outbox of Meyer’s inbox:
Here’s a gem of a story from Annapolis. (Gotta represent the home town whenever possible!) It’s also a nice little eye opened for your intrepid correspondent. I know of trade shows and I know of food shows I just never knew of trade shows for local farmers. Seems like a natural. The Maryland Department of Agriculture (represent!) just put on a such show where the 60 local farms got to show off their delectable goodies to all kinds of restaurants, cafes and eateries. More customers means better food for us and stronger business for the farmers. Now, if only I can get on the mailing list of these food shows I’m sure it would be vital for me to visit them!
Farmer, meet chef. Chef, meet farmer.
By Pamela Wood, writing for The Capitol
When it comes to wooing potential customers, farmers and food producers spared no effort Tuesday, showing off slices of sweet red apples, piles of crispy green lettuce, tiny cups of ice cream, cubes of cheese on toothpicks, and oysters on the half shell.
For four hours, farmers showed their wares to restaurant chefs, hotel managers, shop owners and wholesale buyers during the Maryland Department of Agriculture’s annual “buyer-grower” trade show. The goal is to sell more local food to Maryland consumers.
The trade show has “grown from being in the basement of the Department of Agriculture with 30 people to what we have today,” said state agriculture marketing chief Mark Powell, who was surrounded by hundreds of people who filled Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium’s banquet facility to sample products and make deals.
Powell said the national trend toward increased awareness of where food comes from and how it is grown has reached Maryland. As a result, more restaurateurs and grocery stores are looking for local products to keep their customers happy.
Lew and Marilyn Dodd are more than willing to oblige. They sell beef, pork, turkeys, chickens and eggs at Cedar Run Farm in Sudlersville in Queen Anne’s County. They sell their products at the farm, supply several bed and breakfasts, and participate in farmers markets, including a weekly Sunday market at Westfield Annapolis mall.
“We’re always making new contacts,” Lew Dodd said, in between giving out samples of Cedar Run summer sausage. “Even if you pick up one customer, the word of mouth from that one will get you more.”
The Dodds have been farming in the same spot for 60 years, and their family has been farming in Queen Anne’s since the Revolutionary War. Though they don’t officially run an organic farm, the Dodds eschew giving their animals antibiotics and hormones, and don’t use preservatives in their homemade spices and sauces – a big selling point for customers.
Matt Cimino of Great Shoals Winery, a fledgling operation in Somerset County, was hoping to secure deals to sell his wines to more restaurants and catering operations.
“Part of growing a business is connecting producers with buyers,” he said. “We’re still a young business. We would love to have more demand for our products.”
Cimino makes sparkling apple cider wine, pear cider and a hard apple wine that uses fruit grown at Heyser Farms in Montgomery County. Heyser Farms grows a special breed, the Spencerville red apple – a sweet and tart fruit that’s good for both eating and cooking. The apple was discovered on the property of Paul Feldman.
They’ve had some fits and starts in getting their apples into grocery stores and now are trying to get into schools, Feldman said. The small apples are a hit with kids, he said.
Chew on the rest of this piece here.
