Photos courtesy of Greta Mathes (C ’26)
Ginna Allen, News Editor
This year’s Farm to Table brought the Sewanee community together to enjoy fresh foods, live bluegrass tunes, and crafts from local vendors. Over 350 students, faculty and community members attended this celebration of sustainability and togetherness. Everything offered on the complementary menu, spanning from the seasoning to the fresh produce, was locally and sustainably sourced from over 15 farms and purveyors in the surrounding area. The craft fair also supplied a diverse range of unique jewelry, leather bindings, homemade pickled green beans and other charming handmade items.
One of the sellers at the craft fair, Zoe McAfee (C ’29), talked about the uniqueness of the event. “Working at farm to table was such an interesting experience, as I had only visited flea markets but never participated in it before,” McAfee said. “It was a really lovely time because I got to meet people from the Sewanee community I had never met before, like another seller named Hugh who sat next to me and sold pickles. I truly enjoyed it and I look forward to selling my jewelry I made next semester!”
“I think it’s really cool to be able to have an event like that because it’s very open, anybody can come, it’s open to the community, and it’s free too, which is really awesome,” said Abbott Root (C’ 28), who worked alongside fellow students and members of the Greenhouse to plan the event. “I also think a big part of that is community building and being sustainable. We can’t really be sustainable as a community if we aren’t connected and together.”
The event was clearly a collective effort, having also garnered support with over $ 9,000 in donations from the Greenhouse, the Sewanee Integrated Program in the Environment, Greek Life and various other Sewanee organizations. The planning of Farm to Table was also a communal effort among student volunteers and leaders, according to Root.
“It definitely takes a lot of planning. We started talking about it last semester, and then started really getting into it in February. So it takes a lot of planning, and could be stressful at times, but I think the outcome was really good,” Root said.