Hosting a Foragable Community Event

Foragable Morganton hosted an evening workshop on resilient food systems led by local resilience planning expert Laura Lengnick and a series of daytime hands-on workshops led by local ethnobotanist Doug Elliott.  So far, these events have been invitation-only, and have been attended by participating resturant staff.  Foragable Morganton is currently discussing how best to invite a broader range of community participation in year two of their program.

Other events under discussion by Foragable Morganton include local farm and garden tours, food processing and preparation workshops, partnering with local history organizations to offer food-themed events at festivals and other community celebrations.  The food business members of Foragable Morganton are considering how best to use their staff’s new expertise to add value to their customers’ dining experience. Some ideas that are being explored including some history and culture info on the menu when a local foraged food is featured, creating a library of food and foraging books for by staff and customers, offering local food and foraging books for sale to patrons and partnering with a local nursery to offer locally-important food plants for sale to food business patrons.

The possibilities for effective events are only limited by your imagination.  The rich interplay of ecology and culture offered by the Foragable Community’s emphasis on regional foodways combined with the ultimate goal of enhancing community resilience through increased awareness and participation in the regional food system invites participation from a diverse group of community members.