Virginia Hunt Country Restaurants and Piedmont Region Food Producers
To Participate in Third Annual Celebrate the Harvest Week, September 10-19

Middleburg, VA, Sept. 10-19 — The restaurants of Middleburg, Virginia, in the heart of Hunt Country, will recognize the year’s bountiful harvest by offering special dishes on their menus featuring fresh and local produce, meats, cheeses, wines and other edibles. Celebrate the Harvest Week aims to bring together local farmers, vintners and food artisans with the town’s restaurateurs, who are excited to showcase locally produced goods. The campaign is part of an ongoing cooperative effort to promote local, fresh and seasonal foods.

Restaurateurs and producers will work together to promote the Piedmont region’s excellent foods and create more of a market for the “farm-to-table” concept. The restaurants and farms hope the effort to use more local products will help their clients understand the importance of knowing where their foods come from and eat more local, seasonal and fresh foods.

In its third year, Celebrate the Harvest is being held earlier in the season to ensure a greater variety and selection of the season’s best produce. With growing public awareness over the benefits of eating locally produced foods, Celebrate the Harvest Week hopes to bring more people into restaurants to support local businesses and learn more about the options available to them. Many of the restaurants involved in Celebrate the Harvest since the beginning now permanently feature local fare on their menus. In addition, most of the products that will be used by the chefs during this week are available to consumers at local farmers’ markets, directly from farms, or through community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs.

“We’d like consumers to realize the nutritional, economic and environmental benefits of eating locally produced foods and begin demanding more of it in their favorite restaurants and grocery stores,” Alyson Browett, owner of Edible Complex, LLC, and an organizer of the event, said. According to the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation, the state’s agricultural sector currently generates $2.69 billion in business annually. However, according to a study conducted by the Virginia Cooperative Extension, if every household in the state spent $10 each week on local produce, that number would grow by $1.65 billion a year.

Celebrate the Harvest Week is sponsored by the Town of Middleburg and the Middleburg Business and Professional Association (MBPA). MBPA, the Town of Middleburg Office of Economic Development and community members founded the Middleburg Restaurant Symposium in August 2008 to explore how local restaurants and producers can work together to take advantage of the region’s abundant fruits, vegetables, wines and culinary talents. The symposium aims to increase the understanding of the “fresh, local and seasonal” motto and how it has become a larger part of customer preference; develop relationships with local farmers, vintners, and meat producers; expand customer base; and use different marketing strategies to sustain and expand clientele and promote a “taste of Piedmont.”

Call your favorite Middleburg restaurant to inquire about specials or reservations. Walk-ins are welcome, but reservations are recommended.

Back Street Cafe 540-687-3122

The French Hound 540-687-3018

The Goodstone Inn 877-219-4663

Home Farm 540-687-8882

Julien's 540-687-3123

Market Salamander 540-687-8011

Mello Out 540-687-8635

Red Fox Inn 540-687-6301

Red Horse Tavern 540-687-6443

Teddy's Pizza 540-687-8880

The Upper Crust 540-687-5666

Visit http://www.CelebrateTheHarvestWeek.com/ for news and events surrounding the week, or follow us on our Facebook group.

For additional information regarding “Celebrate the Harvest Week,” story ideas, or interviews, please contact:

Alyson Browett, Owner
Edible Complex, LLC

Moderator, Middleburg Restaurant Symposium
540-764-0711
abrowett@gmail.com

Marny Birkitt, Co-Owner

The French Hound Restaurant

Restaurant Representative, Middleburg Business and Professional Association

540-687-3018

Cindy Pearson, Economic Development Coordinator

Town of Middleburg

economicdevelopment@middleburg.org

540-687-5152

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