BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. – Hosted by Village Square Booksellers, the Bellows Falls Opera House (BFOH), and Saxtons River resident and documentary filmmaker Graham Meriwether, the recent Liberty Food Fest concentrated on a hands-on approach to advocating the importance of the local food economy.
The three-day proceedings included a special dinner hosted by the Hungry Diner in Walpole, N.H., followed by a two-day series of films and guest speakers – including two national experts – at the Bellows Falls Opera House on The Square. Co-founder of The Hungry Diner Caitlin Caserta was also a guest speaker. She and her husband Chris launched their farm in 2006 called Walpole Valley Farms, with a love of food and natural health as their main motivators. She is also a member of the American Pasturized Poultry Producers Association.
Founder of Leave It Better Media and co-founder of Filmshop, Meriwether is the creator of documentary films concentrating on the politics and constant challenges of local food movements and farming. His films include “American Meat,” a pro-farmer look at the grass-fed local food movement, and “Farmers For America,” a mosaic of young farmers who are attempting the vital task of feeding us, which aired on PBS two years ago.
Meriwether invited and was successful in bringing in renowned food experts Joel Salatine and Wiona LaDuke, who spoke at the Opera House events. Salatine, from Polyface Farm in Swoope, Va., is a farmer and author, while LaDuke is an environmentalist and economist in the White earth Land Recovery, and was the Green Party’s vice presidential candidate in 1996 and 2000 under presidential candidate Ralph Nader. She is also an author of multiple books, and an industrial hemp grower.
Salatin, also affectionately known as the “lunatic farmer,” has been an important advocate for regenerative agriculture for many years. Through hosting summits, Joel educates people around the country about food systems, food tyranny, and policies to improve soil, animal, and human health.
This work is very important, helping Americans to overcome the environmentally destructive, profit-driven corporate control of food production in the U.S. The events help unite people in sharing awareness of fresh, local food for community and human health.
Additional guest speakers at the Opera House gathering included Craig Hickman, a Maine state senator, and Dan Kittredge of Bionutrient Food Association, a nonprofit organization based in Barre, Mass., whose objective is to support, educate, and empower farmers and scientists in building human vitality through principles of nature.
Several local food-related businesses participated in a panel session at the event, including local farmers Paul Harlow of Harlow’s Deep Root Farm in Westminster, and John Janisyn of Pete’s Stand in Walpole, as well as Lauren Griswold of Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont, Sherry Maher of the Brattleboro Winter Farmer’s Market, and Richard Berkfield, the executive director of Food Connects in Brattleboro.
Additionally, local food trucks Jamaican Jewelz and Dosa Kitchen provided food for the event. There are already plans in motion to launch the “second annual” Liberty Food Fest some time next year.