Homegrown Festival September 10, 2011

Held under the historic Ann Arbor Farmers' Market pavilion, the fourth annual HomeGrown Festival will take place on Saturday, September 10th, 2011 from 6-11pm at 315 Detroit Street in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The HomeGrown Festival showcases a vibrant local food system and seeks to strengthen community food security in Southeast Michigan. Over 6000 people attended in 2010. Admission to the Festival is free.

Affordable small-plate portions ($1-$6) prepared by creative chefs committed to cooking with seasonal, local food will be available for purchase. For adults over age 21, tasting portions of dozens of Michigan's small producer beer, wine, mead, and hard-ciders will be available for purchase.

In addition, the Festival hosts a line-up of popular bands (with dancing), special activities for kids, a silent auction, a Farm Stand, an artisan market, tastings and chef demonstrations, and many opportunities for learning about the people and places that make up this region's diverse and productive food shed.

MUSIC: Four local bands will be playing at the HomeGrown Festival’s Main Stage. Starting at 6pm, Mayaeni takes the stage, followed by Saints of Soul, Orpheum Bell, and Hullabaloo.

HEIRLOOM/TASTINGS Project Grow Community Gardens will bring more than 50 varieties of heirloom tomatoes to taste - from Snow White to Aunt Ruby's German Green to Black Zebra. In addition, the Dyer Family Farm will showcase a tasting selection of up to a dozen different garlic varieties. The Slow Food Huron Valley Great Lakes Heirloom Project will showcase over 30 heirloom vegetables that have been grown in this region for more than 60 years.

SUSTAINABILITY: The HomeGrown Festival showcases principles of zero waste. This year we are working with ReValue Waste, a local business, to compost Festival tableware and food waste. We choose re-usable materials and recycle as much of the Festival infrastructure as possible. In addition, organizers have asked the Washtenaw Biking and Walking Coalition to offer their "bike valet" parking and security service to make it easy to arrive by non-motorized transport.

ART: HomeGrown Festival logos and artwork were designed by local artist Melanie Boyle, whose medium is traditional Chinese paper cuts. All logos feature the foods of Michigan.

LOCAL FOOD SUMMIT The HomeGrown Local Food Summit, an annual local food conference, grew out of the need identified at the HomeGrown Festival for networking and strategic planning among food system stakeholders. Over 300 attended the 3rd annual Local Food Summit in 2011.

HISTORY: The HomeGrown Festival, first held in 2008, is a grassroots phenomena, completely organized and staffed by volunteers. In 2010, the HomeGrown Festival drew over 6000 people to the Ann Arbor Farmers’ Market.

Although Washtenaw County spends over $1 billion dollars per year on its food, less than 1% of that food is grown within the county. Keeping food dollars circulating in Washtenaw County would not only help to create more farms and stimulate the local economy, it would also support community food security. Community food security is defined in part as the ability of our region to be self-sufficient in producing enough to feed our population, and also as the ability to ensure that everyone has sufficient nutritious food.

FESTIVAL SUMMARY
- 12 area chefs who prioritize local food in their restaurants and businesses have been matched with local farms to prepare affordable ($1-$6) small-plate tasting portions.
- 12 Michigan beer and wine, vendors will each bring multiple labels to taste, in addition to Michigan-made mead, kombucha and traditional hard cider.
- 4 popular local bands will provide live Main Stage music, with smaller acoustic sets throughout the Festival, from folk to Latin jazz to blues to funk and soul.
- Chef Demos scheduled at the Festival include mozzarella making and cake decorating.
- 40 Silent Auction donors.
- 20 Food System (and related) Non-profits.
- 35 Local food and artisan vendors (with tastings!)
- 50 Heirloom Tomato varieties in the Project Grow Tomato Tasting.
- Hands-on kid and educational activities including the "Farm Stand" educational display highlighting area farms and the Great Lakes Heirloom Seed Project.
- Dancing, tastings, demos, panel discussions and more.

Official Website: http://homegrownfestival.org