Farm-to-table dinner raises money for local environmental education

Growing the community, knowledge, and good food.

For the first time ever, the Chincoteague Bay Field Station hosted a special dinner Friday night bringing together local ingredients and chefs for a good cause.

“we’re actually funding scholarships and opportunities for field trips for students from our local community from Accomack, Northampton, Worcester, Wicomico, and Somerset, to come and do environmental educational programs with us.”, Said Elise Trelegan, the marketing and development coordinator with the Bay Station.

The “Serving Up The Shore” farm-to-table dinner raises money for multiple Bay Station programs such as SPARK, which stands for Shore People Advancing Readiness for Knowledge.

Trelegan says tells 47 ABC it pays for kids and their families to take part in agricultural and environmental enrichment activities.

“they actually get to go out into the inner tidal, into the marsh, and have these really cool experiences with nature.”

The cause and chefs weren’t the only thing local about the dinner.

From the blackberries, to the oysters, and everything in between, most of the dinner supplies were donated by local farms.

Allowing chefs like Rosie Moot of Pico Taqueria and Lisa LaMontagne of The Inn At Onancock to take advantage of flavors that hit close to home.

“The taste is so much more intense than mass produced corn or mass produced tomatoes.” And “It’s just wonderful that we have that here available to us at such a high quality, such a diversity, of product.”, Said Moot and LaMontagne respectively.

The local produce also shows kids that eating from the earth is not only delicious but healthy.

“I think it’s really important for children to be trained to eat properly, to develop a palette and appreciation for good food.”, Said LaMontagne.

We’re told this sold out event raised about $3,000 dollars.