Farm & Fork Society Fall Events

Farm & Fork Society, a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture group), has partnered with The Book House in Millburn, The Film Society of Summit and the Soup Sisters to host local events to highlight the impact that food has on our body, mind and the environment. The events are designed to bring people together for not only nourishment, but to share different cultures, practices, and build stronger community relations around food.

“Food is not just something we use for fuel but is deeply important to the social and emotional needs of our community,“ said Melissa Goldberg, founder of Farm & Fork Society. “For 11 years, Farm & Fork Society members have connected with our local farming community. Now we are creating and co-hosting food-related events furthering our thesis and expand our roots . These events are a natural extension of what my members have already discovered — community getting together to socialize and learn about the impact that food has on our personal and social wellbeing.”

Farm & Fork Society and The Book House in Millburn have teamed up to present an event series entitled Book to Plate. Attendees are invited to meet cookbook authors, watch cooking demos and sample a selection of their recipes made from locally grown produce. These are one of a kind events, planned monthly, to bring sustainably grown produce, authors, and books, all in one place. From local book authors to unique cocktails, Farm& Fork Society events have something for everyone in the Fall line up.

In September, local author Laura Zinn Fromm, who grew up eating chocolate mousse with a silver teaspoon, will talk about her book Sweet Survival: Tales of Cooking & Coping – two parts memoir, one part cookbook. October brings Beth Ritter Nydick and Tara Roscioli, holistic health coaches and authors of Clean Cocktails: Righteous Recipes for the Modern Mixologist. While sipping “mocktails”, attendees will learn about this resource guide on all things cocktail. Ian Knauer and Shelly Wiseman will visit the store in November to discuss the health and environmental benefits of eating locally and in season - giving guests approachable and realistic methods to incorporating these practices into their own lives. They will demonstrate how too cook recipes from their The Farm Cooking School Cookbook appropriately named after their cooking school where cooks of all levels can come together to learn about and enjoy great food.

To shed light on the epidemic of food waste and the needs of our local food pantries, Farm & Fork Society has joined up with the Film Society of Summit to have a special showing of WASTED! THE STORY OF FOOD WASTE on September 28th at Mondo in Summit. This movie aims to change the way people buy, cook, recycle, and eat food. Through the eyes of chef-heroes like Anthony Bourdain, Dan Barber, Massimo Bottura, and Danny Bowien, audiences will see how the world's most influential chefs make the most of every kind of food, transforming what most people consider scraps into incredible dishes that create a more secure food system. The screening will be followed by a special lunch catered by Carolyn Hough of Panetica and a conversation led by Dr. Tisha Bender of Rutgers University who teaches on the ethics of food. Lunch will incorporate vegetables from Farm & Fork Society’s farmers, Circle Brook Farm and Coeur et Sol Urban Farm. A portion of the proceeds of this event will support Farm & Fork Society’s Generation Zero: Working to Reduce Hunger in NJ campaign and purchase produce to be donated to Isaiah House.

Also starting this Fall, Farm & Fork Society will host monthly cooking classes with the Soup Sisters, non-profit charitable social enterprise dedicated to providing comfort to women, children and youth through the making, sharing and donating of soup. Under the guidance of a chef, attendees will chop, dice, and stir their way to create hundreds of fresh containers of soup. These events will also support of Farm & Fork Society’s Generation Zero: Working to Reduce Hunger in NJ campaign. All soup will be donated to Isaiah House. The October date is still being finalized.

Farm & Fork Society is always looking for news ways to connect with the community via food. If you are interested in partnering with the group, please email us at farmandforksociety@gmail.com

For more detail or to register for these events, please visit https://tinyurl.com/FallEventsFFS Webpage will be updated as more events are added. Please bookmark.

Event Schedule

September 27, 6:30 PM

Book to Plate - Sweet Survival: Tales of Cooking & Coping

Author Talk, Book Signing, Recipe Sampling

The Book House, 281 Essex Street Millburn

September 28, 10:30 AM

Wasted! The Story of Food Waste

Matinee, Lunch

MONDO Summit, 426 Springfield Avenue, Summit, NJ

October 24, 6:30 PM

Book to Plate - Clean Cocktails: Righteous Recipes for the Modern Mixologist

Author Talk, Book Signing, Mocktail Sampling

The Book House Millburn, 281 Essex Street Millburn

November 7, 6:30 PM

Book to Plate - The Farm Cooking School Cookbook

Cooking Demo, Authors Talk, Book Signing, Recipe Sampling

The Book House Millburn, 281 Essex Street Millburn

Date: TBD

Soup Sisters: Hug in a Bowl

Soup Cooking Class to provide soup for Isaiah House