BELLOWS FALLS-The second annual Liberty Food Fest, featuring national and regional leaders in the local food movement and newly elected Vermont Lt. Gov. and hemp farmer John S. Rodgers, will be held Thursday through Saturday, Dec. 12–14, at the Bellows Falls Opera House and The Hungry Diner restaurant in Walpole, New Hampshire.
Rodgers, who operates his family's hemp farm in Glover, will speak on "Growing Cannabis and Freedom" on Saturday, Dec. 14, at 1 p.m. at the Bellows Falls Opera House.
He'll be joined at the three-day event by a compelling lineup of national and regional champions of the local food movement, including self-styled "lunatic farmer" Joel Salatin of Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, Native American activist and former Green Party vice-presidential candidate Winona LaDuke of Minnesota, and national thought leader and filmmaker Matt Kibbe.
Organized by documentary filmmaker Graham Meriwether of Saxtons River and sponsored by Windham's Meadows Bee Farm, the Food Fest will kick off Thursday, Dec. 12, with a sold-out dinner at Walpole's popular Hungry Diner restaurant with remarks by Salatin.
Other local agricultural leaders speaking include farmer and politician John Klar, leading organic dairyman Pete Miller of Miller Farm of Vernon, and Teresa and John Janiszyn of Pete's Stand in Walpole.
Both days there will be a holiday market in the basement of the Opera House with a variety of local vendors selling clothes, artwork, and food. There will also be live music and kids activities.
The event then will move to the Opera House with a full lineup of speakers and films Friday and Saturday. There will also be a special dinner Friday night in the Bellows Falls Opera House with warm chili from local favorite Smokin' Bowls, as well as fire-roasted, pasture-raised suckling pigs.
For more information, contact Graham Meriwether at [email protected], or 802-335-5059, or Heath Meriwether at [email protected] or 860-806-3073.
This Town and Village item was submitted to The Commons.